29/07/2006 @ 13:58:17: Gag Halfrunt: Volkswagen camper van mystery
This morning I saw driving along the road a Volkswagen Typ 2/T2 camper van with an 04 registration number (which means first registered between March and August 2004). It was right-hand drive and the engine sounded like an original air-cooled Volkswagen unit. I know that the Typ 2 is still made in Brazil, but, given that they're no doubt extremely out of date as far as European regulation are concerned, how would someone manage to register a new one in Britain in 2004? Are there any loopholes in the regulations? (I imagine that converting the steering is relatively simple for a rear-engined vehicle.)
30/07/2006 @ 04:22:59: qwerty_86: Volkswagen camper van mystery
Maybe it's an older vehicle with a new plate? I know in some US states they require you to get a new license plate once your old one is illegible.
Or it could be registered as a show car that isn't meant to be driven. I know thats how some people get around laws on importing Japanese spec cars into the US and Canada.
30/07/2006 @ 18:03:55: Gag Halfrunt: Volkswagen camper van mystery
In Britain the year indicated by the plate cannot be more recent than the vehicle's true age -- this is to prevent people using personalised (vanity) plates to make a car appear younger than it really is.
30/07/2006 @ 18:10:45: antp: Volkswagen camper van mystery
If you import an old vehicle from another country, does it get a plate corresponding to its real age?
30/07/2006 @ 18:14:23: Gag Halfrunt: Volkswagen camper van mystery
If you import an old vehicle from another country, does it get a plate corresponding to its real age?
Yes, and there's a special prefix (formerly Q, but I'm don't know about the current registration system) for cars whose age cannot be determined and kit cars with parts from multiple donor vehicles.
20/08/2006 @ 12:24:48: Gag Halfrunt: Volkswagen camper van mystery
23/08/2006 @ 17:06:36: Ddey65: Volkswagen camper van mystery
Not the kinds of Bay-Window Type 2's I'm used to seeing. When was that black plastic grille added?
24/08/2006 @ 00:25:25: Donington: Volkswagen camper van mystery
How cool! I'm really considering buying one of those
24/08/2006 @ 05:52:44: salvation: Volkswagen camper van mystery
Not the kinds of Bay-Window Type 2's I'm used to seeing. When was that black plastic grille added?
The T2c, so called since it got a slightly raised roof — by about 10 cm — in the early 1990s, was built for the South American and Central American markets. The T2c was produced in Mexico until 1991* with the 1.6 L air-cooled Type 1 engine, and from 1991 until 1996 with water-cooled engines from the VW Golf (a VW/Audi 1.4L). Since 1997, the T2c has been built in Brazil with air-cooled engines for the Brazilian market and with water-cooled engines for the Mexican market, the latter easily identified by their large, black-coloured, front-mounted radiators.
Since production of the original Beetle was halted in late 2003, the T2 remained the only Volkswagen model with the traditional air-cooled, rear-mounted boxer engine when the Brazilian model shifted to water-cooled on December 23, 2005. Previously, the watercooled T2c was sold in Mexico between 1991-2002.