Some of the German ones had V-16 or even V-24 engines , and sometimes as many as three of them , made of course by D-BPetrol V12s were also widely used in tanks and coastal motor boats (MTB, MGB, HSL, etc.)
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Some of the German ones had V-16 or even V-24 engines , and sometimes as many as three of them , made of course by D-BPetrol V12s were also widely used in tanks and coastal motor boats (MTB, MGB, HSL, etc.)
Not sure that it is a purely UK thing , there are historic vehicle classes throughout the EU , sometimes , like in Germany , they are given ‘H’ plates so they can be recognised, and sometimes there are restrictions , like in Belgium where they can’t go more than a certain distance ( 50Km ? ) from their registered address after dark !!!You already know the answer to this question... the government is obviously not encouraging people to run 40 years old cars
In fact, cars aren't automatically exempt when they become 40 years old, instead you need to apply for 'historic' vehicle classification and accept the restrictions that come with that.
This is how the authorities can ensure that these are real collectors' cars, as opposed to cars bought by penny-pinching motorists looking for a jalopy that they can run on the cheap.
And, yes, there will always be some tight geezer who will happily buy a surviving 1982 Austin Metro to use as his daily runner, have it classified as 'historic' vehicle, and keep boasting at the pub how much money he's saving every day....
But you knew all that.
At Largs perchance ?My grandfather was in RAF air sea rescue, up in Scotland
Indeed , but once we have a nuclear war , it will be the 200D’s that will still run and all the electronics will be fried , apart from the Russian stuff that still uses thermionic valves .That's partially because technology progressed at a slower pace at the time, and cars were kept running for longer.
Cars were designed so that their service life span corresponds with their technological life span.
And it isn't a coincidence that the pace picked up. Developing and making progress with the production of mechanical stuff is a slow and expensive process. Changes in engine design, for example, were made once in a decade, if that: cam in crank, cam in head, overhead camshaft, dual overhead camshafts - this took a hundred years.... and there wasn't a single single major breakthrough in car engine design since the early days of the previous century (bar the ****el, which didn't catch on). Yes, they made V engines and boxer engines, and even a W engine, but that's essentially just moving things around rather than a breakthrough.
Once you introduce electronics, it's a different ball game. And cars now rely heavily on electronics. Once we get rid off the redundant mechanical bits - engine and transmission - there's no reason why car tech won't develop as quick as computers or mobile phones.
And , here in Scotland , they become LEZ exempt on their exact 30th birthday , hence I took mine , first registered 1st August 1994 into Glasgow city centre on the 1st August this year , and numerous times since , also into Edinburgh and Dundee - just because I can !Good luck with trying to get a car that is just 40 years old classified as historic, in practice they have to be 41 years old at least. The reason is typical government bureaucracy :
"You can apply to stop paying for vehicle tax from 1 April 2024 if your vehicle was built before 1 January 1984 "
So using the current year example if your vehicle was built on the 2nd Jan 84 you will have to wait until 1st April 2025 to register it as historic when it will be 41 year and 3 months old - You couldn't make it up.
And yes my bike was registered on the 4th Jan so it was 41 years and 3 months old before I could get it registered as historic. It was actually manufactured the previous Oct and it is the manufacture date that counts but the DVLA wont believe you even when you provide evidence using the serial number. They would much rather believe the impossibility that it was manufactured, then transported from Germany to the UK importer, distributed to the dealer then sold and registered all within 3 days, one of which was a bank holiday.
Bizarrely vehicles become MOT exempt on their exact 40th birthday. A bit of common sense simplicity that must have accidentally slipped through the bureaucracy net.
Not only that , but the service providers turn off the infrastructure that the older phones operate on , turning them into bricks .Be careful what you wish for.
Computers haven't developed that much in the last couple of decades.
Mobile phones are supposedly better with each generation - but the changes as opposed to the hype are about small increments.
And I reckon that call reliability on voice calls has dropped noticeably in the last few years - so the phones might have slightly better cameras and a better app experience but when it comes to the *phone* bit they've taken a step back.
If cars go the same way we will have vehicles that slow down and become less responsive after a few years - that glitch and that take longer to start -and where there is a lag in steering input and response - and occasional hangups.
At Largs perchance ?
Fair enough , I just know , being local , that Largs Air Station was where a lot of Catalina Flying Boats operated from and they were primarily used for rescuing airmen who had been shot down over water . It was a Catalina out of Largs which famously spotted Bismarck and guided the RN to engage her , also on some of the signage there is mention that a certain Ludovic Kennedy was one of the pilots who flew out of there .Doesn't ring a bell, I have a vague recollection it might have been Lerwick and/or Wick but I could be wrong.
also on some of the signage there is mention that a certain Ludovic Kennedy was one of the pilots who flew out of there .
You’re right : I knew there was a well known broadcaster who flew Catalina’s out of Largs - it was Hughie Green !I knew he'd served as a Naval officer, but he wasn't ever a pilot AFAIK??
Fair enough , I just know , being local , that Largs Air Station was where a lot of Catalina Flying Boats operated from and they were primarily used for rescuing airmen who had been shot down over water . It was a Catalina out of Largs which famously spotted Bismarck and guided the RN to engage her , also on some of the signage there is mention that a certain Ludovic Kennedy was one of the pilots who flew out of there .
I imagine Lerwick would have been a good location to cover rescues across the North Sea .
My dad spent pretty much the entirety of the war fighting in France , although had a period back home after escaping the German occupation, and later being invalided home after being shot in the rear end by one of our own guys ( although he didn’t put it so politely) !
Which of the two can require authenticity approved by the likes of an owners club?The automatic 40 year MOT exemption and the £nil historic taxation class are two completely seperate and independent things that have no bearing on each other. MOT exemptions are managed by the DVSA and the historic taxation class by the DVLA.
Ludo was a private flyer - there was a story about him hiring a plane while still at Eton for a day trip to France in the 1930's - but his military career was straightforward Royal Navy. I think his family were all RN.I knew he'd served as a Naval officer, but he wasn't ever a pilot AFAIK??
Which of the two can require authenticity approved by the likes of an owners club?
His father was a retired RN captain who went back in at the start of WWII . he was captain of the HMS Rawalpindi which caught sight of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau , reporting their positions to the Admiralty as they tried to break out into the Atlantic .Ludo was a private flyer - there was a story about him hiring a plane while still at Eton for a day trip to France in the 1930's - but his military career was straightforward Royal Navy. I think his family were all RN.
That is a good website . I live less than 10 miles from Largs and have visited the Vikingar Centre ( which was the workshops for the air station ) as well as having seen the memorial , which is just across the prom from the slip , now used by the RNLI . If you go into the centre there is , or at least was when I last visited , 10 years ago , a wall covered with information about the air centre , and books for sale in the souvenir shop . I was also aware of the other two slips as the Cumbrae Ferry uses them , but didn't realise there were so many sunken flying boats in the area .
I know , because we ( Scottish Fire and Rescue Service ) have a training centre at Portlethen , just north of Stonehaven , which used to be part of the Chain Home Link radar system that stretched all the way from the Shetland and Orkney islands , down the East Coast of mainland Britain to serve as an early warning system to detect German aircraft attacking over the North Sea .Doesn't ring a bell, I have a vague recollection it might have been Lerwick and/or Wick but I could be wrong.
Date of first registration is usually the date used for mot exemption, at exactly 40 years old, and the historic tax class, on the 1st of April (start of financial year) following the date of first registration.. An owners club may be able to provide a date when the vehicle was manufactured if the owner wants to try their luck to get an earlier start date but i have no idea what the legitimate process for that is. Used for imported classics possibly?Which of the two can require authenticity approved by the likes of an owners club?
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