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Apologies some of you guys have seen this post on the Facebook page and all your replies and advice have been really appreciated
........pics of my Hustler buggy see above link

Advice needed please guys.
My hustler Buggy didn't have a V5 as it was lost years ago by a previous owner. The vehicle was listed at DVLA as Volkswagen unknown reg February 1961. So I've applied for a V5 and they said it's identity is void as the original engine number isn't the same and the colour in 1961 was white. They have sent a letter to say it will now be treated like a new vehicle and will have to be fully compliant with 2018 regs for new cars , pass an IVA test and they will give it a Q plate. I really want it to have an age related plate, have phoned them and been told will definitely be allocated a Q plate, it has been given a new VIN.
Should I just buy an old chassis and start afresh with a V5 present but my buggy's chassis is shortened, am gutted as this buggy is so original  .....any thoughts welcome
Cheers Alan

Alan,

That is rare beyond belief as still has its mudguards on !!

Age related plates are virtually impossible to obtain without some serious provenance behind you - but if you have the original plate, then you have a good start. I would be arguing that you already have a plate and chassis number and if DVLA have lost it, then it is down to them to supply an age related one in return. There was an amnesty around 1988 and lots of documents got lost around this time - yours may have been caught up in this if already hidden away, but that's something you will have to argue really strongly as the guys that work at DVLA are of such a young age, they have no concept of this. You need to argue with them and get a case worker involved and only then can you start to reason with them over an age related plate.

Discovered after 40 years? Prove it - find a way of proving it beyond contestation. Documents, pictures, affidavit's, where and how was it stored?

Don`t make the error of strictly calling it a 1961 though - that may be the year of the donor, but the body type may or may not have been changed if it was ever inspected by an LVA centre, and this would have been after 1972 as that's when the Hustler shells were made - still warrants an age related plate though, and most would have retained the one from the donor. What you need to hammer home is that is was built "PRE INF26"  that is a term they will fight you on because they do not understand it, hence the need for a case worker.

I`m not around much during the daytime, but if you want to give me a yell in the evening sometime, I would be more than happy to chat with you further.

01803 - 391680  Workshop
07801 - 131144  Mobile

Dave as recognised marque experts for beach buggies can we use any history others may have like old photos from events showing the buggy.
Greenwoodlad what year is the engine fitted in it now or at least the engine number?

There are indeed a lot of things we can use to "assist" and back up a case, but not "prove"

If it had an original identity, then the easiest hurdle would be to prove the negligence of DVLA in losing it - as said, I reckon it was probably around the Vehicle amnesty days when a lot of records were indeed lost.

If (after a long drawn out fight) DVLA agree and will release a new age related registration number, possibly with a new chassis number (in case it has been reallocated elsewhere) then you need to prove the vehicle it is being attached to is what it claims to be.

We can all see straight away that it is a genuine Hustler with original mudguards, and you only have to look at the pictures to know its almost certainly the genuine thing, but you have to get that point across to a youngster who is looking at a photo on facebook and thinking, yes, thats nothing more than a dusty old car.

Its provenance needs to be established - DVLA records will do a major part, but proving that it was stored in teh same place for so long, and records of previous owners, any photos? 

Even publishing the reg number on here may be worthwhile too, as Hustlers are quite distinctive, and if an old photo can be found and dates proven, then that is provenance too !!



Come on guys, lets get this one registered and beat DVLA yet again 

A number plate with 4 numbers and 2 letters - is that actually UK ?

Could it be re-registered as a "Classic Car Import" if it isn`t ?   

A number plate with 4 numbers and 2 letters - is that actually UK ?

Could it be re-registered as a "Classic Car Import" if it isn`t ?   

That is a 1961 UK reg my old thames van was 5848 DD from Gloucestershire that one comes from Manchester in 1961

Hi All thanks for responses. I have the response from a DVLA case worker via letter. But I phoned them and the guy at DVLA in the case working dept said there had been previous investigations into the provenance of this vehicle, and they were recorded on file so as the parts aren't all 1961 it's originality is void. I said that most buggies were built at a later date built on a beetle donor chassis. The chassis is original as the number shows it was built in late 1960, when I applied for the V5 I put that it was on orange VW beach buggy. I should have put that it was a white VW Unknown, if this has been looked at by them at least once or twice before, well we will see....I will push it, the guy said earlier mail the case worker.

when I applied for the V5 I put that it was on orange VW beach buggy.

Thats the bit that has caused DVLA to get snotty - it would never have been called a Beach Buggy until much later

I should have put that it was a white VW Unknown

I would have applied for with minimal information

Make + Chassis Number + Engine Number - the rest I would have left blank


If the guy said to mail the case worker, then that is indeed what you should do - But do it by letter - keeping originals of anything sent in your possession, as they do lose things

BUT . . . .

When you contact them, don`t draw it all out - make sure you include all the provenance, everything you have found out all in one hit as experience has taught me that when you talk to a case worker, if they have to ask anything back in return that has not been submitted, then a brick wall usually goes up, but if you can give the case worker every bit of info that you can, then when they come back for more info, you will be able to ask them to re-read what you have sent as the answer is already there. If you can think of a question you may be asked, to which the answer is "I don`t know or unsure" then you will lose the case, so do your research first and stick to it.

You have a chassis number, engine number and a reg number - stick to those, build up a rock solid case and then present it to them, because whilst rare, it is not unknown for them to back down and issue an age related number if they realize that they do not have a leg to stand on.

You only get one shot of introducing yourself to a case worker - be careful, be factfull and be methodical


Anything we can help with on here, you only need to ask   

The mudguards identify the car as a Jackson's Kustom Buggy, based on an EPC Hustler shell and only sold between 1970-72. Many were turnkey cars but I doubt any company records still exist. They were in Fletcher Rd, London W4.

Do I spot Mini van taillights? Cool!

Many were turnkey cars but I doubt any company records still exist.

That may be significant, as a turnkey car would imply the date which they were constructed - if they only traded between 70 and 72, then that may help

My hustler Buggy didn't have a V5 as it was lost years ago by a previous owner.

Do you have a name for the previous owner? Address?  That all adds up to the provenance

See they have a seperate section in James Hales book and only 25 built and some went to Cyprus built by john Jackson a formula vee specialist garage back in the day.
Wonder if he is still around depending on how old he was in 1970 as a racing car specialist there may be some info on him somewhere.

Anita Harris had one during her program Anita in Jumbleland and a manta ray for her record cover amazing what is on line if you go searching, irrevalant to the post but interesting stuff.

Careful, Anita was big mates with Rolf. Have I gone too far or do you know what it is yet

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