GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

[1964 S1]

Reading the current thread about Stu's new +2 in Canada, I was struck by the line where repair was being done 2,200 miles from home to pass local inspection.
I'm curious as to what countries (and which US states) require what when it comes to physical/safety inspections. ie; What good is a handbrake on an Elan?
I can "safely" begin this discussion from Ohio where my cars are required to pass zero, as in nothing, in the way of inspections before legally driving down any road, anywhere, anytime. Our state laws apply to any type of car, regardless of age. I only need the paper title to license the car. For me, it's a piece of paper.
.... this is truely an international site, I'm wondering, what do you all need to drive your Elan "legally" where you live? And how many acronyms are involved such as MOT

[twincamman]

In order for Stu to get the car certified to drive it out of ontario with a license he must pay 75$ and have the car inspected for a safety BY A MECHANIC who can lose his ticket if he falsify any information on the certificate --this was done because there were so many unsafe cars sold and so many 'winter beaters involved in accidents . it includes --emerg brake -all lights -brake wear -body perforation --floor pans -brake lines no broken glass -heater defroster -tire condition -wiper s --this is done every time the car changes owners ----not a bad deal if you are buying from Friendly Fred the used car lot -and it reduces the possibility of being T boned by some rust bucket --Stu can however pay 78$ TRANSFER OWNERSHIP and drive it out of the province on a 30 DAY TEMPORARY PERMIT -ed

[1964 S1]

HELLO ED. How many Canadians get T-Boned by a rust bucket per year? Can you give me a number, a guess supplied by the insurance companies is ok with me.

[stugilmour]

Funny you mention being T boned by a rust bucket. Happened to me years ago in my '63 MG Midget. Out of control missile was, as I recall, a black 1959 Chev Impala travelling at about warp 9 with not a hope of stopping. Still remember clearly the left front fender fluttering off the MG into a corn field. I was OK, but a bit shaken up when I realized how close to my legs the Chev bumper must have been! Sold the car to the tow truck driver for $75 and a ride home.

Post above certainly reflects the situation in several Canadian provinces (Ontario, Alberta & BC for sure).

I was planning to get my transit permit out of Alberta for the car to avoid registration in Ontario, as I would not need it once back home. Still the same hassle though; I have seven days to get the car to Alberta and must take it to a private registered mechanic certified by "Alberta Infrastructure" for the inspection. Also cannot travel through the US on the "letters of transit".

Stories go around that this system sorta motivates the inspection mechanic to fail the car and get some work, but who knows. The real rub in Alberta is you only have two weeks to make the repairs and have the same mechanic sign off the work is done and actually pass the vehicle. Too bad if you are waiting on parts; one just pays another $75 fee and starts the process again! Went through this little merry go round a few years ago bringing a 1984 BMW R100RT motorcycle in from adjacent province British Columbia.

Stu
Calgary Alberta
'70 plus 2

[Elanintheforest]

So in Ohio, can you legally drive a car with no brakes fitted, bald tyres, no exhaust system and no lights, or is it up to the cops to decide that your car isn?t roadworthy if they happen to stop you or after the accident? There must be some rules surely??!!

In the UK we have an annual MOT inspection for cars over 3 years old, and that?s about 2 things?safety and more recently emissions. The safety aspect is about structural rust, projections that could cause injury, suspension, brakes, steering, hub bearings and tyres being as they should be, all lights and indicators OK, making sure that the door locks work properly, seat belts OK, wipers and washers OK?that sort of stuff. The brake test varies by age of car?a Model T Ford has a less stringent test than a 2007 Jaguar! The Elan handbrake will pass if it?s working as it should?their test is that it will hold the car on a hill, but done on rollers that simulate the brake force. Emission test for a pre-1990 car are just visual?no clouds of smoke, but a puff of blue from the twincam is OK. Later cars have sniffer probes put up their exhaust, connected to a computer which dictates the limit of the emissions allowed per model.

I think that it strikes a good balance, and for old cars, focuses the mind once a year to get everything working properly. If the car isn?t MOTd, it can?t be insured or taxed. The cops have recently taken the stance of crushing cars used by kids with no MOT or insurance unless they pay a steep fine and get the car MOTd within something like 30 days of being stopped?.so most old bangers are being driven off the road.

On the other hand, you can still build any sort of kit car, which has to be inspected by the authority before it?s allowed on the road, and that will assume the status of the year of the majority of components of the car. So if you build a Lotus (Caterham) Seven built around the twincam engine, you can still have Webers. They will even allow some pretty weird vehicles on the road if they pass some basic tests?I?ve seen a motorized toilet zooming down the road, and an old speedboat built on a Reliant 3 wheeler chassis. Picture shows a mobile lounge suite!

So the rules are strict, but sensitive to the type of vehicle and still allow pretty good freedom of choice. I guess that the most car hating county currently must be Switzerland, which seems to want to drive anything interesting off the road with rules and regulations?and California seem to be getting pretty tough on the emissions front.

I suspect that those of us who have enjoyed playing with cars since the 70s have seen the best of it?unless you live in Ohio!
Mark

[twincamman]

there are emissions here in Ontario too --but anything 20 years or older is exempt ---ed

[chicagojeff]

Here is Illinois anything over 30 years old is exempt from literally everything.

But what I worry about far more than people driving unsafe cars, is people driving unsafely. The bad driving in the US is shocking. Cell phones don't help, and their mix with SUVs is deadly.

Most people here who drive anything over 20 years old are enthusiasts, and much better drivers than average. This is why collector car insurance is so cheap for liability. Hagerty and others figured out we're not on the road much with these cars, and when we are, we are much more careful than average drivers.

You're risking yourself so much more than risking someone else when you drive a mechanically unsafe car, so an economist would say the protection mechanisms for society wouldn't require much in the way of regulation.

[twincamman]

and of course there are transport trucks that shed wheels and kill people up here - --ed

[mopho]

When I lived in Massachusetts there was a strict safety inspection, but here in California there is none. The only thing they check is emissions (which the Elan is exempt from) and VIN/Serial numbers (supposedly to make sure the car is not stolen).
It's amazing the crap that people drive on the road here and it is a bit scary since you can assume they don't have insurance either

[twincamman]

lots of 'chebbys ' there --I bet--- -ed

[264889socal]

When I assembled my S7 from kit in 1965, I had to make an appointment with the California DMV to have the California Highway Patrol inspect my car before they would issue a title and license. Just a general overall inspection, lights, wipers, handbrake, exhaust, engine compartment and general overall condition. Funny thing was the CHP knew exactly what he was looking at, i.e., a Lotus Super Seven, and the DMV actually could identify a S7 with a Cosworth 1500 as a model. I was suprised and somewhat impressed.

Last year when I brought back my Elan from Michigan in a non running/assembled state, after getting it "road worthy" to meet the same sort of requirements I remembered from the Seven, I utilized my local AAA office to perform the ownership transfer and licensing duties. All they were interested in was the VIN and no inspection.

It may have been because I had the original signed title (pink slip) from the owner who sold the car, as a pile of parts, to my previous owner. California apparently dumps all records of vehicles not registered after, I think, eight years and 20 years had passed since the signing. So no record existed in the state archives. But having the original "pink" was the key to the transfer.

I ran, didn't walk, to the nearest exit after the paperwork was complete, lest someone figure out they made a mistake. But all paperwork came through with flying colors. As another aside, the young lady at AAA, late teens, early 20's, took a look at my paperwork and exclained "Wow, you have an Elan!" Seems I found a youngster who had five brothers and a father who were car nuts. Could never happen again.

Rob Walker

[oldokie]

Ed is right, of course, but the "chebbys" are generally fairly well kept. It's the old Nissans and Ford Fairmonts that you watch out for, there was one that I used to see several times a week on the freeway that had 3 14" wheels and one 15". I doubt the driver had a license but he had a cell phone! It's not uncommon to see plates 4 or 5 years out of date, don't get me started on the shape the trucks are in!

[Expat+2]

My first post ? I?m a Brit living in Switzerland. Back in August I bought a 1973 +2 from a member of this forum near Edinburgh (remember Hamish Coutts?). After a 1000 mile trip via Rotterdam it's now sitting on my drive in Switzerland - see picture.

Actually it?s having new front shocks fitted because it failed its Swiss government inspection, it also failed on rusty rear discs, seatbelt mounts and emissions (it was running too rich). Not bad really and it should be road legal soon. The inspection is thorough, as you would expect from the Swiss, but the things they find you generally should do anyway. What keeps old cars off the road here is the cost of maintaining them, it?s just cheaper to run a more modern car.

What you can?t do so easily here are things like putting a modern engine in your car ? much too much fun! Normal cars need testing every two years but classic cars only every seven years (with mileage restrictions). I can also share licence plates, road tax and insurance with my other car (two cars, one set of plates, etc ? you can only drive one at a time).

Speed limits here are rigorously enforced with high fines, I?ve been caught by police literally hiding in bushes with radar guns, and I believe the Swiss are the only nation to have freely voted to reduce speed limits! Some great mountain passes though and being a small country you?re soon into much more car friendly Germany.

Martin.

[RotoFlexible]

When I lived in Massachusetts there was a strict safety inspection...

There still is, in theory. In practice, it runs the range from exhaustive to cursory. When I moved back to the state a few years ago, I made the mistake of taking the car to a real thorough inspector. He busted me on a tiny amount of play in the steering rack (had to replace the bushing in the passenger side) and -- drum roll -- inoperative windscreen washers. Now, they had been inoperative for a couple of decades and dozens of Mass. inspections, but according to the rules, if they are fitted, they have to work. The place I go now, they barely bother to take the car into the garage. I think I would prefer some kind of middle ground, actually!

[1964 S1]

Yes Mark, Ohio has a few laws. You've got to have brake lights, your exhaust can't be TOO loud (my Plus Two is, but haven't got caught yet!) If you're going to drive at night, you need headlights, tailights and license plate lights. Basically and scarily, that's it. Sounds like Illinois and I know a few other states operate the same way. Nobody checks nothin'
On the other hand, we can only drive FEDERALLY accepted motor vehicles. The title is the key. That stratolounger chair speedster could never be titled anywhere in the USA. Something about laws concerning bumpers, fenders, lights, seat belts, windscreen, emission testing, crash testing, lack of insurability, rear floor lamp too high, etc;
A case can be made that the reason the Elan, Elan +2, and Europa ceased production was because the US Government would no longer allow them in our country because they could not pass the revised bumper laws which began in 1974.