Friday the 13th
 

I thought I might tell you all a little story!

Last Friday (13th) I had planned to drive my Cobra from Brisbane to Cairns. I had called Qld Transport numerous times to make sure I could legally drive my car on the road. I was told to by them to get a ‘Class 22’ permit which would allow me to drive and unregistered vehicle for 7 days as long as I gave a specific time of departure from a certain place and the specific time of arrival at a destination. This ‘Class 22’ permit was actually given to me by the Insurance company which I went through and was sent to me via registered mail. I specifically asked if I needed a ‘Permit to move an Unregistered Vehicle’ form. I was told (3 times I rang) that the ‘Class 22’ paperwork was all I needed. Excellent!

So early on Friday morning I jumped in my car and drove down to the Gold Coast to get the Cobra dyno tuned. Two hours later and 300rwhp later I was on my way to DRB to pick up my speedo. Then off to the Mt Gravatt Police department to get my Vin numbers and that is where it all started.

Firstly I drive in to the police station to find there are no parking spots. A copper comes up to me asks what I am doing and I tell him I am getting Vin numbers. He says just park it here (an illegal parking spot where only cop cars are supposed to park) and go inside and see the officer at the desk. Five minutes later I am walking outside with a police officer to do the paperwork to find a police officer getting angry I had parked illegally. He threatens to take my plates off me because you are not allowed to have unregistered plates on your car even though they were covered with sticky tape. He then tells me I am driving illegally on the road because the car is not registered! I show him the paperwork (Class 22) and he says this is not sufficient. Half an hour later he is threatening to confiscate my Cobra! I tell him go and call the numbers on the permit (Class 22) and find out for yourself.

Whilst he is off ringing authorities, all the other police officers drool over my Cobra as I take my covered up plates off, and the Vin number paperwork is completed. After some time, for story purposes we’ll call him Angry Officer comes back and hands me my paperwork and says you are right to go. No sorry, just you can go now. Of course I could have rubbed it in his face but I didn’t and asked what he had found out? He said ‘with this permit you can drive any unregisterd ADR approved vehicle, but you do need a Qld Transport Permit to move an Unregistered Vehicle’.

That’s when I knew I was in trouble. The cops wouldn’t let me move my Cobra from the station until I had my Vin numbers. By this time Angry Officer had worked out (after making more calls) that my car had not been ADR approved by Qld Transport. It didn’t matter that my Engineer had passed it. It had to be ADR approved by Qld Transport. In the end the police believed my paperwork was actually legal. Three hours later I left the station . . . Legally I wasn’t allowed to drive the Cobra!

So I was pretty pissed off by now. I ring around and find out many people with Cobras do it. So bugger it, I go to Qld Transport and fill in a Permit to move an Unregistered Vehicle, which I was told I didn’t need by Qld Transport and the police in earlier discussions. All is going fine and I am about to actually pay for the Permit to move an Unregistered Vehicle when a supervisor walks over to talk to the fellow who is serving me. Turns out it is about a different matter completely however conversation turns to my application and I get SHUT DOWN because my vehicle has never been ADR approved before. This supervisor definitely had dealt with a situation like this before.

By this time I have had enough and go home. I book my return flights over the internet and fly home the next day. The two good things I took home from the trip is that I drove my Cobra for 4 hours and loved it and PCC came to visit me which took longer then expected and actually minimised the time spent at wedding appointments that the girlfriend managed to organise in a short amount of time:) .

The moral of the story is this:

a) A Permit to move an Unregistered Vehicle seems to depend on who you get at Qld Transport. People / farmers get these permits all the time for farm equipment at home. They can drive machinery which does not even get sighted by Qld Tranport (and could be a bucket of ****) and has never been ADR approved yet are legal to drive on the Road! Why not my Cobra!
b) Secondly has anyone heard of the clause in a permit to move an unregistered vehicle which states the vehicle must be an ADR approved vehicle?
Overall never do anything regarding Cobras and Friday the 13th. I learnt the hard way.

I probably should have stated why I wanted to move my Cobra from Brsibane to Cairns (Home). To actually go and get an inspection at Qld Transport for registration purposes it is currently a 6 – 8 week wait in the Brisbane area. At home an inspection would take a matter of days rather than months.

So I have booked my Cobra in for the 14th of May in Marroochydoor (I am over spelling that place) which is a 2 & ½ hour drive away from me. So if any of you very nice Cobra fellas from the Brisbane area have a Cobra trailer I could borrow for a day it would be much appreciated. I am not game to go and get a Permit to move an Unregistered Vehicle and drive it to the inspection.

trailer
 

Blair, if you have no other luck I could help you out on the trailer front BUT I am snowed at the moment selling my house... Can I suggest you call LOGAN DISTRICT TOWING. Ask for Graham on 0418 739485. He has a special low slung slide out trailer that he moves ALOT of special HOT RODS and the like. He has moved my car several times before I bought my trailer.

Things for me will settle down but not for another 8 weeks and I am sure you'll want your beast before the....

Send me a pm if ya want more info..

SpookyPT

Interesting reading Blair.

In conclusion unless a vehicle is ADR approved you CANNOT drive it on the road no matter what permit you have.

Sounds very much that the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing such that the "Enforcer" - the Police has no problem in grounding you.

Question 1 - why didn't you get it ADR approved first and then pick up your VIN numbers?

Question 2 - can you not get it trailered up north and then get the ADR approval there followed by the VIN numbers?

Statement - Bloody nice dials:) ;) ;) ;)

Question 3 - what was the web site for those transfers?

Blair,

I have a trailer you can borrow.

I`m at Chandler, 5 mins south of the
Gateway Bridge.

Send me a PM & I`ll give you the
details of where it is.

Regards

Nick

You guys are awesome, but............

How the hell does he get the trailer back?

To get ADR approval you need Vin numbers! Therefore they will not let you book an inspection without them. The computer booking system Qld Tranport uses needs these Vins otherwise they cannot even book your inspection

Last time I put my Cobra on the back of a truck from Cairns to Brisbane the Cobra ended up with a smashed / caved in sump, a broken oil pick up, front body work damage, holes in the bell housing and last but not least two fork holes in my fuel tank where they pushed or lifted my cobra onto the truck. It was a very large company that went into receiver ship and I had to pay for all the damage.

But yes I could book it in anywhere in Qld now for an inspection that I have Vin numbers

Cause I haven't calibrated the Speedo yet it reads 160mphs at about 120kms. I gotta get a photo of the Speedo before I do calibrate

I'll find the permit numbers later so we can all know the ones I am talking about.

I might have to borrow your trailer Demi, thanks for the offer and Spook as well. If any of you good people brake down near Cairns and need a car trailer I have 2 here you can borrow.

Thanks peoples

So to get your ADR approval you need VIN numbers which you get from the Police.

So on hindsight you must trailer the car to the Police and then trailer it back to QLD Transport for the ADR inspection.

Simple;)

Sometimes these thing are sent to test us Blair :mad:

When I took mine for the inspection and VIN issue, I used dealer plates from work, but still got a stern talking to by one of the rego inspectors, who suggested that was not their intended purpose.

It seems the dealer plate issue is also illegal. A cobra cannot be on the road until Qld Transport has authorised it to be so.

If that is the case, why is there such a thing as a Permit to move an unregistered vehicle? And why does insurance companies hand out coverage?