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Hi Mark,
Welcome to the club! There’s definitely a few options around the place. That westfield looks like a nice option, and plenty of scope to make it your own! I’m not sure what the second one is, but it doesn’t look like a lotus. The wishbones don’t look right for most 7s,but I can’t say I’m too familiar with any of the offerings other than Westies myself!
Hi Martin,
Welcome to the club. Registration in Ireland would depend on a few different things. Does the kit use the original mr2 chassis or a new one? Also, what year was the mr2 donor? Has it ever done an IVA test?For insurance in Ireland, Barrets are the option used by almost everyone that I know of in the club. They insured my Westfield on the UK plate while I transferred it onto the Irish one.
Generally, the year allocated will be the year the vehicle enters service – so when it’s registered. If you use the original donor chassis in your build, I believe you can keep the original year (and potentially plate). The emissions values are calculated at the time of the IVA. I don’t have the details on the formula for this currently, but I’ve asked the NSAI. Basically, you’ll be subjected to modern emissions rules, and have to run a car etc. but from what I can make out it’s a fairly accurate value, rather than just chucking cars into a high tax bracket.
Hi Richard, if you’ve got insurance with windscreen cover, I’d try going through them first. They should have suppliers for most cars. If you’re struggling there, from what I can see online, these guys have the Beauford windscreen pattern, so can produce a replacement. Shipping from England might be pricey though!
Sounds good either way! You don’t need much power in a lightweight car like these though. I’ve only got a 1.6 MX5 NA engine in my Westie, and I certainly don’t find it lacking for road use – it’s all down to your personal preference though!
Welcome to the club Mark! Looks like a fun choice of car! Are you planning on the 1.8 or 2.5 engine?
Revenue asked for a copy of the donor V5 in order to prove the age. I had already submitted it to the DVLA as part of registering my Westie, but they were able to post out a photocopy to me. They only did this as part of a Subject Access Request, as that required them to share any records they had with my name on them, so make sure the donor is registered in the correct name in case you end up needing info.
I also submitted a dating letter from Mazda (showing VIN, reg, engine number and production date), a copy of the IVA forms, and the built up vehicle report (which is what the DVSA/DVLA use to determine whether you get age related, new, or Q plates) as supplementary information. Not sure if these had any bearing on the outcome.Welcome to the club rubixvigna! Nice car too! The project they’re working on is for FergalB’s car on here, so hopefully we’ll see more updates coming through soon. It could be worth your while though to contact MEV to see if they could do a post build check and put the car through a UK IVA for you when you’re finished the build, in case the NSAI still aren’t ready.
Thanks Mervyn! In theory, that would be the same thing as I did, but it’s hard to know if that’s how they’ll handle it regularly, or if I was fortunate. All of my communication was through Applus, so I didn’t even speak to anyone from revenue in the process, but I’ll see if the NSAI can shed any light on the process.
Just to add an update on this, I’ve now purchased a policy from Barrett. Good value, and very easy to deal with. No issue with the car initially being on UK plates and now changed over to Irish.
Delighted to say my Westie is finally now registered here! It’s taken over a year to sort the exemption and paperwork, but that would certainly be quicker outside of Covid times. Revenue thankfully saw fit to issue a ’91 registration based on the donor vehicle v5, so nice and cheap to tax.
Sounds like a great project Brian! Have you considered a jag S type donor engine? They’re essentially a Ford engine, but with a few jag tweaks, and also already set up for a RWD configuration. They came in 2.5 and 3.0 v6s, although the 3.0 with a manual box are a bit more rare.
You wouldn’t be able to change the plate unfortunately. As far as I know they have to be 30 years old for a ZV plate. With regard to insurance though, have a chat with Barrett Private Insurance and see what they can quote you. You’d have to move your main car policy over to them too, but they’re generally quite reasonably priced. It would be no harm for you to have a ballpark figure while you’re car hunting anyway!
Hi Eanna, great to see how many past and new members are signing up! Is your car already registered here or still in build? Fire a picture up when you get a chance!
Hi Barry,
Is there a specific make/model/style you’re looking for, or just looking to see what your options are? The only ROI registered kit car I’ve seen for sale lately is this one:
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2001-robin-hood-2b-kit-car/24319859
I don’t know anything about the car personally, but despite all the badges saying it’s a Westfield, it’s a Robin Hood.
Your other option would be importing. If you’re looking to go down the classic route, that should be a little easier with regard to the cheaper VRT brackets etc. but make sure that it’s been registered correctly if importing from the UK. There are lots of kits out there which are still using their donor V5 document, rather than having a new one issued. If that’s the case, you could easily run into problems when importing and end up needing a new IVA.
Hi Fergal, welcome to the club! I’ve just split your reply off into a separate thread so it’s easier to track. That’s a lovely car you’ve picked to build, and no doubt it’ll be great fun once you have it on the road. NSAI don’t have any centres up and running to do IVA as of yet, but the impression I got was that it wasn’t that far away. I’m overdue a conversation with them on the topic so I’ll definitely follow up. I hadn’t actually thought of the option for kit car manufacturers to organise IVAs in the UK before. British IVA is certainly recognised in Ireland, however there’s a chance it might confuse the tax office, as they’ll only be used to seeing it for already registered cars. Whether it’s here or there that the IVA is carried out, make sure you don’t register it in the UK first, as you’ll have to pay VRT there, and then when you “import” it to Ireland, you’d have to pay VAT and VRT. Sorry I can’t give a more definitive answer just yet, but I’ll do some digging for you!
I’ve had a quote from them, but just haven’t purchased yet as I’m still working through all the import processes before I put the car on the road. I know of at least one other member who’s also had a quote for a car they have a deposit on. When I was last speaking to them, they were planning on going ahead with it, but not sure if they’ve actually done it just yet!
Welcome to the club Andrew! Which MX5 have you got? My Westie used a 91 1.6 MX5 as a donor, albeit a N/A one! Plenty of nice MX5 turbo powered kit cars out there, and a good few of them are Westies.
Happy to announce that Barrett Private Insurances are able to insure kit cars here in Ireland. Their policy does require you to insure your main vehicle with them too, but for the cover provided, it does appear to be good value for money. No mileage limitations, open drive, business use etc. They are also working with the underwriter to see if it will be possible to arrange a club members discount for us.
While this will be a great option for most members, no insurance policy will be a “one size fits all”. Due to age, or vehicle values, or driving history, or any number of contributing factors, this might not be a suitable policy for some members. Kieran, your membership secretary, has done a huge amount of work on this, and as such we do have proposals out with other insurers, and have had some positive feedback so far. Once we have definitive answers and details, we will update the club membership.
