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A Spartan Triumph...or is that a Triumph Spartan? |
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| A Spartan Triumph...or is
that a Triumph Spartan? |
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| By Andrew Laws |
| 12th March 2004 |
| Links: SVA testing stations |
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| When buying a part built kit check the log
book first if you don't you could end up in the situation I found myself
in earlier in 2003 having recently acquired a part built Spartan. This
car was built on the original Triumph Herald Chassis and the V5 still said
Herald. Therefore I set about finding out how to change it to say Spartan.
As is the case with the modern society my first port of call was the
Internet. |
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| Having read an SVA guide I contacted people
in the know to confirm my suspicions i.e. that SVA wasn’t required. This
should be the case but caution was advised as if the chassis had been
modified it would need SVA. |
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So I sought the advice of the 'professionals' i.e. the people at what I
thought was my local LVLO office. The chap I spoke to said no it would not
need SVA as it was a 'Body off conversion' to use his words that is to say
the car was essentially the same mechanically it was just the body panels
that were being changed. Encouraged by this information I set about
working on the car but also sent my documents to Swansea DVLA to get the
car registered correctly, as a Spartan. |
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Imagine my horror when I received a letter from my 'local' LVLO office,
Peterborough, saying the car would need an inspection. Fearing the worst
i.e. SVA I rang Peterborough office and enquired, with some trepidation,
what the inspection was and was informed that after the car had gone
through SVA it would need inspection by a registration officer to verify
the details of the car and I would need to take it to Peterborough for
this inspection. |
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Down hearted and dejected I posted on the Spartan owners club forum, a
part built Spartan for sale. The responses were interesting however most
people said don’t give up get the car on the road. Some of the responses
on the forum suggested I didn’t need SVA however these also said I would
probably need old MOT certificates with the car as a Spartan.
Unfortunately the state in which I obtained the car suggested it had never
been out of the garage let alone driven and MOT’d but there was hope. |
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That hope came in the form of Den Tanner. When I was informed that I would
need SVA I decided I needed to know what was involved. Reading through Kit
Car Magazine they advertised an SVA guide. Oh Happy day I thought I’ll get
one of those so duly ordered one. Some problems ensued which I won’t go
into here but I found myself in more Email correspondence this time with
Den. He suggested that I talk to the LVLO man at Peterborough and tell him
in words of one syllable how the car was built and 'suggest' that it
didn’t need SVA. The man at Peterborough went off read his book and came
back a little sheepish and apologetic. Yes this was the case I didn’t need
SVA but I would need an MOT and an inspection to verify the details. |
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| I also asked him when I could drive the car
before it being registered as it would be a little awkward to trailer in
to Peterborough. He said I could drive it to the MOT providing it was pre
booked and I could drive it to Peterborough for it’s inspection, what a
shakedown drive it’s about 45 miles with approx 20 on dual carriageway. |
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| Nottingham office is about 25 miles from my
house but Peterborough is classed as my local office, bizzare. |
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| Locations and contact numbers for the SVA testing
stations around the country can be found
here. |
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