Regulations can forever alter, though as best I can remember once a vehicle is decreed as suitable to return to the road following repairs, it`s registration documents are altered to denote that it has been accident damaged and repaired, and the damage classification applicable. Perhaps importantly the registration plate on a vehicle identified as damaged/repaired can not be changed.. thus no fitting of a "private" plate.
As for the "Q" registration, it seems to be regarded as the mark of Cain in the Classic Car scene..perhaps less so in the Kit Car scene..?
In some circles a former Cat C car (edit, once repaired) was regarded as being worth circa 30% less in terms of the average market value on an interesting car.
As for buying Classic cars of monocoque construction... BEWARE... there are many old rot boxes out there whose construction is more like a patchwork quilt and having just about the same structural integrity as the aforementioned quilt in a collision..while looking as fresh as a daisy. Such vehicles can exceed any reasonable expectations of any skilled MOT tester to see through the thick underseal and paint to provide an idea of the possible bodge that lies below... Thus an MOT certificate is perhaps not the guarantee one might imagine it to be.
Badly damaged cars that have not had insurance claims made against them, can be found in the marketplace, perhaps having been repaired by many an varied means, cut an shut was the term used to describe "repair" process of joining two undamaged "halves" of accident damaged cars together to effect repairs. Former race cars or road registered cars taken on track can end up damaged and not recorded..
Thus while the regulations seem to appear all encompassing, like all regulations, it seems folk will ever find a way round them..?
Last edited by Luddite; 02/07/21 12:41 PM. Reason: addition to text
