New Historic Vehicle Regulation
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What happens now with the future Historic Vehicle Regulation

It is likely that the call for elections for next July 23 will prevent it from being approved in this legislature, but that does not mean that all is lost.

The news has fallen like a blow among the fans of classic cars: finally, the future Historic Vehicle Regulations may not be approved. The call for general elections for next July 23 has caused the processing of all pending regulations to decline. In the case of the new regulation, and As it is a Royal Decree, its approval should take place through the Council of Ministers, approval that was scheduled for this same month of June, something that will no longer happen. Thus, after a year of waiting in which the world of collector vehicles harbored well-founded hopes of being taken into account, it is possible that everything has been left in borage water.

It may also happen that it is a simple delay: there are still reasons for hope, both in the immediate future and if we think in the medium term, so let's see what we can really expect. These reasons have to do, first of all, with the fact that the situation that led to the drafting of a new regulation has not changed. And it is that, of the 3.000.000 million vehicles (registered) with more than 30 years that circulate in Spain, only 50.000 show historical registration. For various reasons, this should change.

We face a complete anomaly if we compare it with the countries around us, since in Germany this figure is 600.000 vehicles, in France 400.000 and in Great Britain it exceeds 1,5 million vehicles with historical registration. It is a well-known problem, logically, by the Spanish Federation of Antique Vehicles (FEVA), which has endorsed the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT). The approval of a new regulation is a necessity to give rise to standardization with Europe.

historical license plate

In relation to this, there are those who maintain that the current DGT was also interested in the new regulation because would serve to "rejuvenate" the car park national. That is to say, cars with historical license plates would no longer count as "old" in the statistics for the European Union. This would serve to explain the haste with which the new Historic Vehicle Regulations have been approved. From within the process, it is said of said haste that they have more to do with what Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, has taken the matter personally, as part of his legacy before his next retirement. It must be remembered that Navarro even visited the 2022 edition of ClassicMadrid.

On the other hand, it is evident that the historical registration process should be simplified. It does not make sense that cars with Spanish registration, well maintained according to originality criteria and that have been religiously undergoing ITVs year after year, must go through laboratories and ministries to prove that they are what they are. The Administration knows them well.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE WRONG

The first and main problem has been the aforementioned rush to approve the new regulations, which led to unrealizable deadlines and conditions that were difficult to meet. Let us remember that the original intention was to bring the Regulation to the Council of Ministers in the autumn of 2022 and It will enter into force on January 2 of this year.. Taking into account that we learned about the draft in July and that the regulation depends on up to four ministries (Interior, Industry, Mobility and Ecological Transition), to say that the deadlines were optimistic is an understatement.

Part of the fault is found in the draft of the new Historic Vehicle Regulations that circulated in July 2022. By mistake, an email was included to make allegations, which gave free rein to everyone to make their comments on the future regulations. Thus, instead of receiving complaints and suggestions from a group or association, or from several affected jointly, any amateur or professional (mainly ITVs and Cataloging Laboratories) could write directly to the Directorate General of Traffic.

Renault 5 New Historic Vehicle Regulation

The DGT has taken the trouble, as was its obligation, to answer all these allegations one by one, which has bogged down the process. In fact, although it was not officially announced, we were able to learn that the approval of the norm was delayed to June of this year at least. It was expected to come into force next October. It was the last thing we knew, because the Spanish Federation of Antique Vehicles told us that it was in the interministerial process, that is, being reviewed by the different ministries involved. The ball was in the court of the Public Administrations.

PROCEDURAL CHANGE

In its desire to facilitate the historical process, the DGT decided that a responsible statement and a good history of valid ITVs would suffice to start the process. The aim was for the vehicle to be considered from "private use" to "historical" by paying a small fee of 8,75 euros. The reality is that the responsible statement was never heard from again, nor how it would be formulated. The development of the idea is pending.

What was achieved was put ITVs and historical cataloging laboratories on a war footing, because they were expelled from the process. In fact, the laboratories were only going to be necessary to catalog the imported cars, while the ITV were also affected by the extension of the deadlines to pass the inspection. With respect to the former, perhaps a place could be found for them within the new simplified process for national vehicles, since the ITV are not experts in classics (for example, they may have problems determining their originality and get used to saying no to heal themselves). ).

ITV Historical Vehicles Regulation

Along the way, little or nothing has been prepared for all the necessary operations before the entry into force of the standard, which is also largely pending. For example, the ITV had to prepare a Historic Vehicle procedure manual of which nothing is known; It seems that it was not being made yet. Likewise, it is not known how the vehicles that were on leave or without documentation were going to be registered. Moreover, an ENAC certification -the National Accreditation Entity in Spain- had to be implemented, of which nothing was known either.

In other words, the implementation of such a regulation requires a whole series of procedural requirements that do not appear to be being worked out, so it seems almost impossible that, as had been said, he could reach the Council of Ministers this June.

A STRAINER THAT WAS NOT SUCH

In addition, vehicles registered as historic were going to be able to circulate without restrictions through the Low Emission Zones, which generated tensions with the city councils of the big capitals (Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Seville, Valencia...) on account of the registration fees. In the case of the capital, it was not a problem, since they could already circulate, but it was in the case of the city of Barcelona, ​​much more hostile in this regard. It will be necessary to see if, with the new mayor of the city, things change.

The complications arose when Pere Navarro himself sent a circular, dated July 4, 2022, to which THE TEAM has had access, in which clarified that historic vehicles should display their original provincial plates along with the VH badge. In other words, the historical license plate should only be mounted by those who did not have them at the time, such as imported cars or those that had been re-registered. The consistories, such as the one in Madrid, explained that your system did not recognize old license plates. In other words, without the historical plates mounted, there was no way to access, for example, Madrid 360º without receiving the corresponding fine. On the other hand, the DGT clarified that it would not penalize in the case of not wearing the provincial ones plus the badge. A small contradiction for the owners, cumbersome at the end of the day and that undoubtedly advised mounting the historical plaques in contravention of what was said by the DGT if you were going to enter the city.

Madrid 360

Here we also come to the long-discussed issue that the new regulations could become a strainer. It was said that if people were not allowed to drive around Madrid with their 2002 car or van, for example, they would buy a vehicle over 30 years old and make it historic. It may be thought that a car from 30 years ago is usable on a day-to-day basis, so the idea might not be far-fetched. Seen coldly, no one in their right mind was going to tour the center of a large capital every day in a classic. Neither reliability, nor the availability of spare parts, nor consumption or comfort, for example, make it viable. In any case, even if his fears were unfounded, the idea served to scare the municipalities.

To heal in health, it began to be rumored that some of the big consistories would be thinking of limiting the time that historic vehicles could remain in the Low Emission Zones. It was even suggested that only cars could access registered as historical until April of this year, a drastic solution that would undoubtedly mean a step backwards. In this way any picaresque was avoided in large cities, but an additional problem was generated: it could generate a contagion effect to other cities with more than 50.000 inhabitants, which the European Union requires to have LEZs, which would adopt similar restrictions. In this way, owners were discouraged from making their car historic.

AND NOW WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE FUTURE REGULATION OF HISTORIC VEHICLES?

One of the consequences of the leaking of the draft is that have completely stopped historical cataloging procedures. The owners were left waiting for, in this 2023, the future Historic Vehicle Regulations to be launched, which promised -and promises- infinitely less cost than the previous one. And so the subject continues, practically stopped waiting for news.

Pere Navarro

Although it is highly unlikely, there is still a remote possibility that the regulation will be approved by the Council of Ministers before the elections. And we say that it is unlikely because, as we have commented, there are technical issues to be resolved, but, above all, because it does not seem to be one of the priorities of the outgoing government. The greatest hope is that it will come to fruition almost as a personal favor to Pere Navarro.

In any case, all the work done so far will not fall on deaf ears. And it is that we are talking about a technical standard, with zero political content, and that can be retaken as a base by the future government of the country without major complications. In fact, there is good will and a certain sensitivity towards the classics both in the PSOE and in the PP, the two parties that, if we pay attention to the different polls, could form a government after the elections.

SEAT 600 New Historic Vehicle Regulations

Be that as it may, the approval of a new standard is essential to standardize us with Europe and make the historical cataloging process easier and, especially, more economical. How long it takes to arrive will depend on the priorities of the new government. Of course, the Spanish Federation of Antique Vehicles, the representative of the fans, will continue to work as he has up to now to achieve one of his great objectives, which is this new regulation, get ahead.

Photos by Newspress and SEAT.

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Written by Ivan Vicario Martin

I am lucky to have turned my passion into my way of earning a living. Since I left the Faculty of Information Sciences in 2004, I have been professionally dedicated to motor journalism. I started in the magazine Coches Clásicos in its beginnings, going on to direct it in 2012, the year in which I also took charge of Clásicos Populares. Throughout these almost two decades of my professional career, I have worked in all types of media, including magazines, radio, the web and television, always in formats and programs related to the engine. I am crazy about the classics, Formula 1 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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