The Federation Internationale Vehicules Anciens (FIVA) has sparked widespread panic by calling for pan-European consensus on what constitutes an historic vehicle and what should be considered merely an ‘old car’ – with many of our cherished classics set to be excluded on grounds of age, use and condition. A defiant FBHVC has demanded FIVA withdraw its statement and consult with them first.
FIVA president Patrick Rollet has called for a clear distinction between old and historic vehicles, stipulating that the latter must be ‘preserved and maintained in a historically correct condition and not used as a means of daily transport’, leaving a huge number of modified, regularly-used British classics out in the cold.
The organisation’s position has been presented in the context of gaining historic vehicles exemption from the region’s new Low Emission Zones, but has served to stoke fears that a restrictive classification of historic vehicles could lead to greater limitations on their use within European member states.
“In summary, we are lobbying the EU politicians for three things,” said Rollet. “First, that there is a clear definition of ‘historic vehicles’ as opposed to simply ‘old’ vehicles. Secondly, that historic vehicles should be exempt from LEZ restrictions. And thirdly that the exemption is applied consistently – not only within each country, but across the EU as a whole.”
