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Despite the restoration being completed in June 2005 things were so busy with the “How to restore Reliant Regal” book (along with other things) that I never got around to getting a MOT and Tax for the vehicle. For a couple of months the car was stored at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, West Midlands (of which many thanks goes to them) but with the launch of the book on December 17th 2005 it was imperative that the vehicle was road legal for that date and so my brother (Geoff) worked on the car to finish off a couple of loose ends ready for the MOT.
The MOT was booked for December 15th 2005 at Reliant Services in Stirchley (Birmingham) and passed gaining one of the new computerised MOT certificates that showed up on the Internet a few hours later. Having the new style MOT meant that the car could be taxed on the Internet and so this was done at 11:30pm on the same day. Due to needing insurance for the Reliant National Rally in May 2005, the car has been insured with PF Spare since that date.
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This meant that for the first time since 1979 the car is now fully road legal again. As the road tax was purchased on line it took 4 days for the tax disc to arrive the car brought great amusement for those few days as I had a large “Tax in Post” message in the windscreen. Many years ago this was a popular trick for driving a vehicle with no road tax. Alas though, to be on the safe side I also included the DVLA reference number from the sale underneath. The car (or Ole Blue as she is now known) has done hundreds of miles since January 2004 but they have all been done on the back of a trailer that my brother built from an old caravan chassis. She has gone from South Yorkshire to Windsor, Windsor to Birmingham, Birmingham to Windsor and then back to Birmingham again, Birmingham to Stirchley and then finally coming back to Tamworth (the place she was originally made) and being able to drive around on her own three wheels. On a trailer she has clocked up almost 1,000 miles, on her own three wheels she has now clocked up 29 miles ... though 5 miles were clocked up during the MOT? Ole Blue will hopefully soon be moved to a secure garage nearer to home so that she can be regularly started up and used for the local trips. She has had a few journeys around Tamworth now visiting the castle and the former land of Reliant motors. One thing is for sure, where ever the car goes heads always turn and people stare without fail.
Elvis Payne
December 2005.
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Go to Part 20 December (2006) - Tax & MOT.
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