On The Road!
The final hurdle to leap was to take the Gooster to the local DVLA office for an inspection. After sending in another set of forms to the DVLA along with the first registration fee and tax, the IAC, Insurance certificate and proof of who I was I got an appointment with the inspector.
This meant putting her on a trailer to take her the couple of miles down the road for it - it’s one of those completely insane, bureaucratic things that seem to be the backbone of governmental institutions. I can drive what could have been a complete deathtrap on a near 80 mile round trip to the VOSA inspection station, but now that it’s been proven that it’s perfectly road-worthy, I can’t drive it to the DVLA. Madness.
Anyway, I hired Blue Thunder Transport to take her down there and back in one of their covered trailers:
The inspection took all of 5 minutes. The DVLA guy just looked for the chassis number and the engine number. He then checked a leaflet, asked if I wanted an age related plate (yes) and then told me that the paperwork would be sent in the post.
The supporting paperwork I supplied to them arrived back with me a couple of days after the inspection, alog with my tax disc - so I knew I had an age related plate. But no registration plate certificate... I waited a few more days, and then got fed up with nothing arriving. So I rang the DVLA in Swansea - because you can’t ring the local office direct, that would be too easy - and they contacted the Northampton office to ring me back.
A couple of hours later, they rang back. “Oh, did we forget?”
Er, YES!
“Sorry - it’ll be out in the post tonight”
The next day, said certificate arrived - so that evening I went to get some plates, and put them on. :-)
Yay!
You can see that a lot of things have *ahem* fallen off since the test - the horrible rear wing extensions, several kilos of rubber edging - it’s amazing they stayed on so long!
I also replaced the ugly reversing & rear fog lights with some nice stainless steel ones, and put some replica Lucas reflectors on the bumpers:
The lights are actually meant for an old (Austin / BL / Rover) mini - but they look nice, and fit perfectly into the recesses in the tub. The GB sign may come in handy later for trips to Le Mans & the Nordschleife...
I also found time to put the union flag badges on the side bonnets above the exhaust exits - adds a nice splash of colour there. The tax disc holder is fixed to the chassis using one of the exhaust guard bar mounting bolts. I don’t know if I’ll keep it there yet - I may move it on to the windscreen surround once I’ve fitted it.
But with all that done, there was only one thing left to do:
Tally ho! :-D
2 Comments →
Reader Comments (2)
I discovered your web page today.... I dont know what to say other than I'm speechless! Great detail, great clarity... great car! Congratulations!! Are you going to be a Stoneleigh? I'd like to see your car 'in the metal'.
Congratulations and enjoy it!!
José, in Leicester
José - Yes I will be at Stoneliegh.
Don't know which day though yet. Whichever the weatherman says will be dry! :-)