Does anyone know what the deal is with 7's in France.

My mate has his Q plate '92 Caterham up for sale. No donor that I am aware of, was built from a fully supplied kit from Caterham.

I think it's properly registered rather than some Ford Special!

Anyway, I've had an email from a French bloke, asking to see a copy of the VIN / V5C and the original donor reg?

Sounds a bit odd to me? Anyone?

Cheers

Mike

I was lead to believe that cars with exterior exhausts were not allowd in France apart from outside visitors. May not be tru but........

Does sound a little suspect but i guess you can scan the documents and cover any important numbers and put a watermark through it so it can't be used/coppied.

He's not selling it for £3k is he?

[Edited on 21/2/08 by donut]

£3k? Erm, you can have some of it for that!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/385188.htm

or

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=81174

Cheers

Mike

It may not be dodgy. I think some countries will only allow cars which either have SVA or equivalent, or are older than a certain date. If you have the donor info, he might then be able to claim it was before that date. However, I agree with above - don't give any key details if you do decide to send copies of the V5, etc.

I sold a car to a German bloke, but didn't send pics of the docs beforehand. He came over to England and paid cash, then left the car and went to London for the day before coming back to pick up the car and the documents. In the mean time I legged it to the bank and paid in the cash to check it was kosher. I did a receipt, got him to sign it and the V5 info, and took a scan of his ID card to send off to Swansea.

ooooh thats a nice Caterham!

quote:

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Originally posted by donut

He's not selling it for £3k is he?

[Edited on 21/2/08 by donut]

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nope!

The rules in France relate to homologation. My understanding is that any car would need to go through a homologation test. This is fine for the big manufacturers but far more difficult for small volume and kit car manufacturers.

Apparently although no Caterham or Lotus 7 has been through this test a special concession was made on grounds of the design age and being on the road before the homologation rules came into play. I think a similar concession was made for Morgans.

One thing to remember is that this concession only applies to certain models so although a super sprint may be okay an SV probably wouldnt. Hence the importance of what it actually says on the V5.

Anyone can have a go at getting their car homologated, it is just a matter of time, money and resiliance. I read an article about a French guy who has after numerous attempts and lots of cash managed to homologate a Westy XTR2.

- Jim

[Edited on 21/2/08 by jimgiblett]

There is a French translation of the Chris Gibbs book which has a section about making one for road use in France and what needs to be done so it is possible to register a self built car there. My French is not good enough to have been able to make sense of it on a quick look - it would take a while sat down with a dictionary to do a translation!

I can't help on how, but I have seen several Caterhams that are registered in France.

It is practically impossible to register a home built car over here. Only the manufacturers and importers are able, for practical and financial reasons, to homologate. I believe that there was for a while, a Caterham importer over here. If the car being sold has the same "type carte grise" (that is the serial number that identifies the model) as that which has already been imported and hence homologated he will be able relatively easily to obtain a french registration. I imagine that all he wants to see is this type carte grise. The only upside to all this bureaucratic cobblers is that a homologated car is worth big money. Mail him a scan of the bit of the papers showing the serial number(s) and don't drop your price!!