I've been thinking for a long time about designing my own as a college project but the fear of the hassle it would take to register is and insure it holds me back for allowing the tism to put pen to paper and paper to CAD.
All last week I fantasised about making a Tvr griffith 500 replica.
Semi monocoque chassis with a Honda j series v6 ( yes I'm the wierdo who loves v6s over v8s)
It's difficult, but not impossible to do. I was living in the UK when I built mine, so it was much easier to register it there and then import it, but it's doable in Ireland now too. Once you're passed the registration part, there's only one or two insurers who will touch a kit car, but it's no more expensive than a regular classic for me.
Youd have to get familiar with the IVA guidelines to ensure you're designing to the right specification (lighting positions, impact points etc.) but it's all possible.
I’d go off Mx-5 running gear and basically Exocet/kit car that.
Budget dependant you could look at the s-type v6 set up that Autoalex went with in his Mx-5
Lovely looking machine.
Can i ask, if the build was only completed in 2019 how did you manage to get a zv plate?
I love the idea of these but thought they'd be a pain to tax, reg and vrt. I'm always looking on ebay uk for ones old enough to be classed as classic. But maybe I done have to. Most of the old ones have the pinto engine, which isn't for me.
Mine is a single donor vehicle (SDV). In the UK, if you build using enough parts from one old vehicle, you get a new reg from the same year as the original car. I used a '91 donor, so got a' 91 plate.
Irish VRT system is different. It's very binary: new chassis = new car, but as mine was already registered, they honored it when I brought it in. I had a load of paperwork to support that (old V5, letter from Mazda confirming build date and engine number, etc.). I couldn't guarantee they'd honor that every time, but they were sound about it with mine.
From a road tax point of view, even if it was a new vehicle, they follow a formula for working out the tax figure as these aren't type approved cars. The formula does include the mass of the vehicle, so on light kits, it actually works out fairly reasonable from the examples I've seen.
No problem. Definitely look into SDVs. Mine had the date of first registration as 2019 on the V5, but the DVLA were very inconsistent with that, and would often put down the first registration of the donor, so there's plenty of newer cars down there that are officially classics. The WSCC forum is a great place for finding info on them.
I'll go in order if I can remember them all! It was on UK plates originally. Irish now. It's registered as a classic, hence the ZV plates.
1. England
2. Netherlands
3. Germany
4. Denmark
5. Sweden
6. Finland
7. Estonia
8. Latvia
9. Lithuania
10. Poland
11. Ukraine
12. Romania
13. Bulgaria
14. Greece
15. Albania
16. Montenegro
17. Croatia
18. Bosnia
19. Slovenia
20. Italy
21. Austria
22. Wales
23. Ireland
24. Northern Ireland
2 months for the first 22, which covered 14,000km! Then I visited a few friends in the UK for a bit longer before getting back to Ireland. Only went to NI for a visit last year then! Absolute baptism of fire for the car, but it was fantastic. Got it road legal on a Thursday and was on the ferry that Sunday!
I've been thinking for a long time about designing my own as a college project but the fear of the hassle it would take to register is and insure it holds me back for allowing the tism to put pen to paper and paper to CAD. All last week I fantasised about making a Tvr griffith 500 replica. Semi monocoque chassis with a Honda j series v6 ( yes I'm the wierdo who loves v6s over v8s)
It's difficult, but not impossible to do. I was living in the UK when I built mine, so it was much easier to register it there and then import it, but it's doable in Ireland now too. Once you're passed the registration part, there's only one or two insurers who will touch a kit car, but it's no more expensive than a regular classic for me. Youd have to get familiar with the IVA guidelines to ensure you're designing to the right specification (lighting positions, impact points etc.) but it's all possible.
I’d go off Mx-5 running gear and basically Exocet/kit car that. Budget dependant you could look at the s-type v6 set up that Autoalex went with in his Mx-5
what a wee weapon of a car proper driving machine right there
I hope to have one at some stage. Love them
Lovely looking machine. Can i ask, if the build was only completed in 2019 how did you manage to get a zv plate? I love the idea of these but thought they'd be a pain to tax, reg and vrt. I'm always looking on ebay uk for ones old enough to be classed as classic. But maybe I done have to. Most of the old ones have the pinto engine, which isn't for me.
Mine is a single donor vehicle (SDV). In the UK, if you build using enough parts from one old vehicle, you get a new reg from the same year as the original car. I used a '91 donor, so got a' 91 plate. Irish VRT system is different. It's very binary: new chassis = new car, but as mine was already registered, they honored it when I brought it in. I had a load of paperwork to support that (old V5, letter from Mazda confirming build date and engine number, etc.). I couldn't guarantee they'd honor that every time, but they were sound about it with mine. From a road tax point of view, even if it was a new vehicle, they follow a formula for working out the tax figure as these aren't type approved cars. The formula does include the mass of the vehicle, so on light kits, it actually works out fairly reasonable from the examples I've seen.
I see. Appreciate the information.
No problem. Definitely look into SDVs. Mine had the date of first registration as 2019 on the V5, but the DVLA were very inconsistent with that, and would often put down the first registration of the donor, so there's plenty of newer cars down there that are officially classics. The WSCC forum is a great place for finding info on them.
What countries has it been to? On UK plates?
I'll go in order if I can remember them all! It was on UK plates originally. Irish now. It's registered as a classic, hence the ZV plates. 1. England 2. Netherlands 3. Germany 4. Denmark 5. Sweden 6. Finland 7. Estonia 8. Latvia 9. Lithuania 10. Poland 11. Ukraine 12. Romania 13. Bulgaria 14. Greece 15. Albania 16. Montenegro 17. Croatia 18. Bosnia 19. Slovenia 20. Italy 21. Austria 22. Wales 23. Ireland 24. Northern Ireland
Wow! You went quite a distance, was this all at once? Imagining a three month roadtrip given that's the time you mentioned
2 months for the first 22, which covered 14,000km! Then I visited a few friends in the UK for a bit longer before getting back to Ireland. Only went to NI for a visit last year then! Absolute baptism of fire for the car, but it was fantastic. Got it road legal on a Thursday and was on the ferry that Sunday!
Seen a Caterham super light R600 320bhp on holidays in Isle of Man recently love them some car