Giulia 105 Register
Registro Ricambio
September 2007
I am pleased to include a couple of items from the latest FBHVC newsletter:
VED HISTORIC VEHICLE EXEMPTION
There has been no reply from the Treasury to our request for a return to a rolling date for the VED exemption (sent in April). Perhaps that is hardly surprising given the recent game of musical chairs in Whitehall. There are now new faces at the Treasury and a further effort will be made later in the year when the new team has had a chance to settle in.
Meanwhile, however, it is worth noting that the government did respond (negatively) to the on-line petition we reported in the last couple of issues. The substantive part of the response from Mr Blair’s Downing Street follows and is consistent with the reaction we have had when we have tried to raise this issue before.
The Government is committed to using Vehicle Excise Duty as a means of bringing environmental factors into consideration when people choose to take ownership of a car. Vehicle Excise Duty also helps to support the Government’s wider policy objectives by providing a valuable source of revenue from which important public services may be funded. The Government recognises that many historic car owners would have been disappointed when the 1998 Budget decision was made to freeze the rolling 25 year exemption at 1973. However, the Government continues to judge that in the light of its environmental focus for Vehicle Excise Duty it would be inappropriate to extend the exemption at this point in time.
TYRES - WARNING!
Her Majesty’s Coroner for Manchester wrote to FBHVC just after the last newsletter went to press and many will have seen this topic on our website - it is an important matter and we urge clubs to pass the warning on to their membership if they have not already done so.
The letter concerned an accident that took place last year in which the driver of an H registered MG B lost his life when a rear tyre burst on the M56. The driver was a skilled mechanic and a careful and experienced driver who was not travelling particularly fast at the time. The car was described by police as being maintained in excellent condition. The surviving passenger said that just before the accident the driver had commented that a ‘tyre wobble’ had developed and he was going to ‘drive through it’. The wobble went briefly, but then the tyre burst, causing the car to spin, clip a kerb and flip over.
Subsequent investigation showed that although hardly used the tyre was 25 years old. It was one of a set of as-new tyres and wheels bought at an autojumble the previous year for use for show purposes (at the time of the incident the car was on its way to an event at Oulton Park).
This note appeared in the Newsletter for December 2003 following a suggestion that tyre dating may become a feature of the MoT: …the Vehicle Standards and Engineering Division at the Department for Transport [has advised us] that although most tyres already carry dates of manufacture in their side-walls, there are no plans to implement regulations to check such dates at the annual MoT test. DfT would, of course, change their mind if tyre failure due to age became a significant cause of accidents.
The British Rubber Manufacturers Association suggests that if a tyre is six years old and remains unused it should not be put into service. It also suggests that in ideal conditions tyres may have a life expectancy of 10 years.
The moral of the story is not to wait for legislation, but to make sure your own tyres are in good condition, never to use undated or obviously old second hand tyres however good the tread and never to ignore a ‘tyre wobble’.
For Sale - Earliest known UK Giulia Ti
Giulia P6 (Richard Williams)
After five happy years of ownership, Welshman Richard Williams has sadly decided to part company with his gorgeous Giulia Ti. Refurbished to an extremely high standard by Mike Spenceley at MGS Coachworks in 2001, having been dry-stored for many years in a River Thames boathouse, AYR 64B is the earliest UK Giulia saloon known to the 105 Register. This well-known club car has regularly been featured in Auto Italia and several classic car magazines. With it’s unique front bench seat cushion and independent reclining backrests, strip speedometer with inset revcounter, this car is a real rarity. See the classifieds in this magazine and get a piece of Alfa Romeo history on your driveway today!
105’s in the news
Giulia’s have once again been in the public eye over the summer. Last month Jamie Yates provided his S4 Spider for ITV4’s ‘Used Car Roadshow’ while back in July, I lent my black S4 for a Marks & Spencer autumn ‘Collezione’ photoshoot at Wrest Park House in Bedfordshire. I have to confess the good looking well-dressed guy in the sharp Italian couture you will see in the in-store and internet publicity photos at the wheel of the Spider isn’t me but don’t tell anyone, ok?
M&S Collezione photoshoot at Wrest Park (Stuart Taylor)
Classic Car Weekly’s Ian Seabrook compilied a well-researched centre-spread article in the August 30th edition on ‘Alfa Romeo Spiders’. Thanks to both Angus McLeod and Jim Talbott for assisting with this feature. The September issue of Classics Monthly ran two pieces of Alfa interest. One on Andrew Dicomites’ 1750 GT Veloce Mark 1 and also featured Dante Diaferia’s beautiful Dutch Blue 2000 Spider Veloce in a six-page ‘Buyer Guide’.
Andrew Dicomite’s 1750 GT Veloce (Classics Monthly)
Keeping the data up to date
Please don’t forget to keep the Register informed of your purchases, sales, wishes or wants. The Register can only be as good as the information it holds on your current cars. Contact me at stuart.alfa@virgin.net, I will be pleased to hear from you.
Stuart Taylor