New rules announced to allow street rods to be fully registered

[Donunder]

Originally Posted by Rog246

(They)....have a nationally recognised association & each individual club affiliates itself with the national body & hence one united voice.

Nationally recognised by whom Rog? Does this association have an official title? And what is the make-up of this body? Club representatives, manufacturers (are there such things as hot rod manufacturers in the same way there are Cobra manufacturers? --sorry for my ignorance here), transport dept reps, police, vehicle certification engineers ??? Is this organisation recognised by each of the various state governments? If so what's to stop our various state clubs doing the same thing -- forming a national body with Australia-wide acceptance by the various state transport departments?--if this is indeed the case-- apart from the expense of engaging a law firm to steer us through the legal and administrative nightmare such a move would doubtless involve. Did the hot rod boys act when things were simpler and have we maybe missed the boat? Could we use their charter perhaps? If they've done the initial legwork and a precedent has been established, could we piggyback on what they've achieved?

Originally Posted by Rob. Smith

The hotrod fraternity had the foresight to see the nasty future and made a deal with the RTA to consolidate their build rules. ICV's are still one off cars !

Rob, I don't fully understand what you mean by "consolidate their build rules".
Does that mean that for instance if you want to build a 34 Ford there is only one chassis allowed, one form of suspension allowed, one size engine allowed etc and are these rules enforced by some national body during the build and prior to the completed vehicle's being presented for registration approval?

And isn't any vehicle built by a guy in his garage an ICV, regardless of whether it looks like a 34 Ford or a Cobra when it's finished? It's still constructed by an individual to his particular taste and desire --- isn't it?

For instance is a Cobra built by you regarded differently from a Cobra built by Absolute Pace for example? Is one an ICV built by a skilled amateur and one a factory build by professionals? I mean a Superformance or Factory 5 car, one of dozens and dozens being churned out by the factory could hardly be termed "individual" could it? I know they're US cars but bear with me here.

I just don't see why it should be so apparently easy for a T bucket with all its obvious design flaws and safety issues, sail through rego when it's so bloody difficult to compliance a Cobra. I know which of the two I'd rather drive my grandkids around in.

[Rob. Smith]

Originally Posted by Donunder

Nationally recognised by whom Rog? Does this association have an official title? And what is the make-up of this body? Club representatives, manufacturers (are there such things as hot rod manufacturers in the same way there are Cobra manufacturers? --sorry for my ignorance here), transport dept reps, police, vehicle certification engineers ??? Is this organisation recognised by each of the various state governments? If so what's to stop our various state clubs doing the same thing -- forming a national body with Australia-wide acceptance by the various state transport departments?--if this is indeed the case-- apart from the expense of engaging a law firm to steer us through the legal and administrative nightmare such a move would doubtless involve. Did the hot rod boys act when things were simpler and have we maybe missed the boat? Could we use their charter perhaps? If they've done the initial legwork and a precedent has been established, could we piggyback on what they've achieved?






Rob, I don't fully understand what you mean by "consolidate their build rules".
Does that mean that for instance if you want to build a 34 Ford there is only one chassis allowed, one form of suspension allowed, one size engine allowed etc and are these rules enforced by some national body during the build and prior to the completed vehicle's being presented for registration approval?

And isn't any vehicle built by a guy in his garage an ICV, regardless of whether it looks like a 34 Ford or a Cobra when it's finished? It's still constructed by an individual to his particular taste and desire --- isn't it?

For instance is a Cobra built by you regarded differently from a Cobra built by Absolute Pace for example? Is one an ICV built by a skilled amateur and one a factory build by professionals? I mean a Superformance or Factory 5 car, one of dozens and dozens being churned out by the factory could hardly be termed "individual" could it? I know they're US cars but bear with me here.

I just don't see why it should be so apparently easy for a T bucket with all its obvious design flaws and safety issues, sail through rego when it's so bloody difficult to compliance a Cobra. I know which of the two I'd rather drive my grandkids around in.

Years ago the hotrod community consulted and set rules with the RTA..there were agreements about how much of an original car was present and the registration rules. Funny I wrote to the hot rod federation asking about jag rear end mods on my cobra and never got an answer...I rewrote the letter with another name and address about a jag rear end in my 34 ford and got pages of information !!! T buckets are history...no more can be built in australia..horsepower to weight restrictions. As for the factory built cobras ...Those builders go through the nasty australian design rules puzzle. as do the individual builders ! there's an old story about a builder suing his engineer for a failure then the engineer suing RTA for approving it. I don't know how much truth is in that yarn but when I was going through my engineering approval... this seemed very valid...the RTA did not want to know about ICV s so they just threw the full ADRs at me...My engineer was very savvy on the situation and helped me through the process with great aplomb ..as he said its interpretation of the rules and making the pen pushers accept the description. My engineer made sure my car was above the requirements for safety and compliance.. a nightmare but worth it.
I'm afraid we have to wear the brunt of the rules...but what really pisses me is that the insurance companies wont recognise that these vehicles are better built and maintained than most production vehicles ! ( yes there are a few scary ones out there ) but look at what's on the roads nowadays !
We have to wear the rules but with the confidence that they are better than what ford and holden ..etc produce. ha ha ha

[Donunder]

Thanks for that reply Rob.

It's interesting but hardly surprising that T buckets have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Trying to crystal ball the future, and bearing in mind your comments about the horsepower to weight restrictions that killed off the T buckets, is it not too big a stretch to envisage that some way down the track -- hopefully a long long way -- we may face the same blanket ban? With lighter and lighter bodies and chassis being built, and with engine builders now able to turn out big numbers for not a lot of money.... well, who knows? Your point that a Cobra may well be strong light and safe and completed to a high standard will count for nought to a junior pen pusher in his office cubicle who can't see past a proscribed formula in an ADR manual.

With the bureaucrats ever keen to crack down on anything that doesn't conform to their grey boring box mentality, I fear for the future of ICVs in this country. Rob you've certainly paid your dues with your experience with your engineer and the RTA. I have a lot of respect for Treeve's expertise in this area too, and reading between the lines of his post it seems to me there is the very real chance that future Cobras will all have to be factory built to ensure compliance, thus denying enjoyment and satisfaction to those who wish to tackle the build themselves.

We can only hope that, without a body such as the National Street Rod Federation to protect our interests in the future, Cobra manufacturers will be allowed to continue to build cars that will retain the magic of our cars of today, and not be forced by legislation into producing some watered down pale imitation. Prius Cobra anyone?

[Bryan Wilson]

My car was fully imported from England where when a "kit car" is constructed using a donor car then the kit takes on the title of the donor car my Cobra is registered as a 1974 jaguar xj6. When it arrived in Australia the engineers report was titled for registration in Australia and change of description but Vicroads in their wisdom decided that if it was registered in England as a jag then it will remain a Jag here. So it only has to meet 1974 ADR's BTW it was built in 1982. with fully polluting carbed V8
Cheers,
Bryan