When does a donor car lose its identity?

[SteveF]

I remember hearing (folk) tales about people retaining the original identity of donor vehicles by describing them as having been rebodied + rechassied etc. so when does a donor car loose its original identity / registration?

I'm asking this as I'm considering building a westie from a single donor for engine+transmission+diff (+brakes?), with a new chassis+suspension+body

Would I be able to retain the original donors registration, or would I have to re-register & SVA it?

Also - if the donor is logged as having been written off - then does this mean its lost its identity already?

Cheers

Steve

[Richard M Green]

The way that some people have done what you refer to, is to maintain the original identification marks of the donor vehicle (chassis, engine, no.s etc) but then change the body style and number of seats from "Ford Escort 4 seat saloon" to "Ford Escort 2 seater sports".

My understanding is that although the DVLA computer system will allow this to be done, it is not actually legal as, amongst other things, it by-passes SVA.

If you legitimately use an old donor (as I did: Mk II Escort estate) then when you make an application to register the Westfield, the VRO will inspect the new Westie and check that the engine no. matches the old car's V5, and that the other items (gearbox, axle etc) appear to be of appropriate origin (not easy to prove either way).

Having satisfied themselves that all is in order the VRO will issue an "age related registration mark" i.e. one that is of the same year as that of the donor. You cannot "retain the donor's registration".

N.B. that before registering the car you will have to put it through SVA. No (legal) way around that.

Finally; the term "written off" is an insurance related term and does not affect the donor's registration status so long as the donor has not been scrapped and its V5 returned to DVLA. Before buying your donor you should establish that the present owner has a valid V5 - presumably SORN'd if the car is not roadworthy.

The donor vehicle does not need to be roadworthy or have a valid MOT.

The fact that the donor was written off (which would show up, for example, on any subsequent HPI check of your shiny new Westfield) is overtaken by events when the age related registration mark is issued, thereby wiping the slate clean.

HTH

Regards all

Richard Green