Morris Minor Owners Club

Anybody out there done this? We are NOT leaving Fifi the little black moggy behind when we run away to France this summer. For all those who expressed concern at her being t-boned a while back, she's currently being rearranged into something more Morris shaped by the wonderful Johnny Morris at Bristol Classic Cars - she will be back
If there are any experts in the French vehicle legislation area I'm also going to need clues on getting a custom Q plated, 1986, Suzuki engined trike re-registered. I'm sure that won't be fun...

Hi I once made enquiries regarding moving my reliant scimitar to france where my son lives with his family,MY son has transfered an MGB to his address and believe me its a burocratic minefiled.One of the problems being type approval. The reliant people never applied for type approval in fance and so I could not effectively import it to france. However I you go to the scimitarweb site forum and do a search there is a guy who managed to bypass the sytem.Dont know if the minor was type approved in france(probably was I should think) With the MGB we had to notify DVLA that it was permanently exported and they give you a certificate to this end.You then have 6 months(I think) to reregister in france and pay a bloody massive charge I think my son paid about £300,not sure about the figure.But since there is no road tax in france they collect revenue for the roads buy chargeing at each register or re register.You also need a controll techinque (MOT) There is also some facility for registering the vehicle as historic but you are only allowed to use it in your home region or regions adjacent to the home region. I have seen an article iether in minor matters or classic car mag re this but can't find it,will re post if I do.We also prior to notifying DVLA of the export did a number change to retain the old reg number on a retention certificate,because when you re reg in france they will issue a french regional plate.DVLA will wipe out the old reg number and if its valuable you will lose out. I,m sure there are other members who can help further. Also we found Right hand dipping sealed beam head light off the shelf at the local mgb store.You may be able to do the same. One thing to warn you about ,up till a year ago the local british living in my sons area just used british cars,on british number plates with french insurance and a english mot(they came back over to get the mot done) The local police do nothing very few can read or speak english. But the Gendarmeries,Have been taking english lessons and are having an absolute purge on this practice,so stick to the 6 months rule or get done(Def not cricket by them is it) Hope all goes well with your move there bound to be another member somewhere who has done the same cheers ken

I remember hearing somewhere that only the 948 Minors were type approved in France and if it's been modified then there's even more red tape than usual.

Hope it all goes well.

A mate has lived in Belgium for nearly 15 years.
He has a farm in France.
He speaks and writes fluent French.
He has a VW that was sold, when new, in France but subsiquently reregistered in Belgium.
He thought therefore there would be no problem registering in France again so first obtained their equivalent of an MOT and sent off the paperwork.
Despite two attempts and no joy on the phone he's given up and kept on Belgian plates
He's now buying a new van and will register in France from the start as he's learn that registering a vehicle that has previoulsy been registered elsewhere is a nighmare.
Just hope your spoken and written French is good as you might struggle if you expect the authorities to make any allowance for English being your main language.
Good luck but be prepared to a lot of hassle if my friends experiences are anything to go by.
BTW I've got a old French registered vehicle (Microcar) and virtually impossible to register in UK unless SVA / Q reg so the beaurocracy work both sides of the channel.

Paul Humphries.

hope this helps extracted from the scimitarweb

We run a 1970 SE5 which I am about to register in France. My famous last words are that it seems to be fairly straight forward if you are going to register it as a "Vehicule de Collection". The guy in slice obtained single vehicle approval which can be an expensive & time consuming process, it is also very difficult if your french is not up to scratch.

The process (not necessarily in the correct order) is to obtain
1. Certificate of permanent export from the DVLA
2. Certificat D'acquisition D'un Vehicle Terrestre a Moteur from your local tax office in France. You'll need proof of residency (i.e. Leccy/Phone bill)
3. A Controle Technique (MOT).
4. Contact the Federation Francaise Des Vehicles D'epoque (FFVE) - you should be able to find their website. Pay them about 50 Euros and send copies of your documents.

The FFVE will then send you an Attestation pour l'obtention d'une carte grise Vehicule De Collection which should then enable you to register your Scimmy at the local prefecture. This is the stage that I am currently at so I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

The advantage of registering as a VDC is that a CT (MOT) only has to be passed every 5 years. The disadvantage is that you are only allowed to drive in your own & neighbouring departments - unless you send off one of the vouchers that you will be issued with by the FFVE to the prefecture and the FFVE 3 days before you start your journey. I believe the voucher system may be getting done away with in January 2008 but don't hold your breath.

spoke to my son re this ,this what he did with the mgb ,or should I say is still doing,he speaks good french and is a partner in a garage with a french mechanic.Even so ,we took the car over 18 months ago and he is still waiting for everything to be finalised.The local registration seems to be the hold up.He's laid the car up ,the police stopped him (they knew him through the garage) and warned him about using the car without having french plates.They know its been in the area for 18 months. It does seem to be a bit of a nightmare so again good luck cheers ken

kennattrass wrote:
The advantage of registering as a VDC is that a CT (MOT) only has to be passed every 5 years. The disadvantage is that you are only allowed to drive in your own & neighbouring departments - unless you send off one of the vouchers that you will be issued with by the FFVE to the prefecture and the FFVE 3 days before you start your journey. I believe the voucher system may be getting done away with in January 2008 but don't hold your breath.

The Minerva I'm having off a friend is on Belgian Historic plates.
All that needs is a brake check !
Again you are only allowed to used locally unless you have a written invitation ot a show elsewehere.
At one time I did contemplate entering it in a UK show, insuring on chassis number (easy) and driving it back (had current equivalent of MOT and historic plates mean no road tax) from Antwerp where it's stored at present.
In the end I chickened out as my nerves weren't stong enough so it's been brought over behind a Transit instead.

My sister was thinking of living in France. She wanted to take her approx 12 month old LHD Mustang over. The charges worked out over £3000 ! I think this was something to do with she bought it new in the US, registered it at her holiday home, shipped to the UK as a personal item and therefore was exempt on certain aspects of the duties payable. No such allowance is given in France so the charges were the same as if she had brought from US new rather than from UK.
Like as been said - the French registration is a minefield.

Are you in the AA / RAC ?
If so maybe they can advise.

BTW things have probably changed but at one time you registered your vehicle at the local office in France. The charges varied between regions so 99% of hire cars were all registered in one area - the cheapest. There was a warning in the AA magazine not to leave valuables in hire cars as thieves can identify hire cars via the area code on no plate !


Paul Humphries.

I think that's good news about having a 948 then. The chop and trike are going to be hilarious aren't they...

For info about taking & Minor to France & registering it there contact the French Morris Minor Club, Amicale Morris Minor France
morrisminorfrance@neuf.fr
They are v good