Historic vehicle cataloging: requirements and advantages

The concept of old or old car refers to the passage of years that has suffered a vehicle that is currently in circulation. This term is somehow associated with the years that have passed since its acquisition and/or registration. However, it is only because of this that it cannot be classified as a classic vehicle.

Classic vehicles are framed in a different context. They must be 30 years old and be kept under the same technical and maintenance conditions from the outset.

On the other hand, a historic car must be 30 years old and keep the manufacturing characteristics in their original state, just like the classics, but also its specific type have ceased to be manufactured.

Advantages of obtaining historical vehicle registration

After making this difference clear, we can say that turning a classic vehicle into historic has several advantages:

• Exempt from road tax (in some municipalities)
• The inspection frequency in the ITV is wider:
  • Until the age of 40, the ITV will be held every 2 years.
  • From 40 to 45, every three years.
  • Those that have an age of 45 years, will pass the ITV every 4 years.
• Another advantage has to do with the insurance policy, which is usually cheaper, being conditioned by the maximum number of kilometers per year to travel.
• Vehicles listed as historic are not required to comply with European emissions regulations, but must bear the “CONT” label. Without it, you will not be able to access the center of the cities or circulate the anti-pollution days.

Disadvantages of cataloging your car as historical

Obviously, not everything can be advantages. If you list your vehicle as historical, you will also have certain limitations or disadvantages:

• The limitations incorporated by the insurers (annual kilometers covered, use of some traffic routes…).
• There are routes that limit the speed of circulation of these, either they force to circulate for the shoulder or not to do it in highway.
• There are cities that prevent access to them because of pollution.
• Maintenance is expensive, as we are obliged to maintain the originality of the pieces when they deteriorate or break.

Requirements to make a classic vehicle historic

Not all classic vehicles are eligible for this cataloging. A number of requirements must be met in order to do so. These are:

• The vehicle must be at least 30 years old.
• Have passed the ITV.
• Preserve the original state of manufacture.
• Obtain the cataloguing issued by the Community Industry Agency after the study of the report issued by a laboratory cataloguing historic vehicles.

Also, there are other exceptional situations in which a vehicle can be declared historical. These cases are:

• Those vehicles listed in the Inventario General de Bienes Muebles de Patrimonio Histórico Español or are declared as cultural property.
• Vehicles with a special interest in having been owned by an important personality or having participated in an event of historical relevance, provided that it is duly accredited.
• Those vehicles called “collection vehicles” that deserve to be classified as historic because of their special characteristics or other peculiarities, such as their scarcity or their singularity.

The process of cataloguing the vehicle

If your classic car meets all the requirements listed above and you want to benefit from the advantages of declaring it historic, you must follow a series of steps to achieve this cataloging.

1. You must take your classic vehicle to an official laboratory of historic vehicles, to issue the technical report of cataloging proposal.
2. After the laboratory, you must go to the Delegation of Industry of your Community to get the cataloging, where you will be required the following documentation:
   • Historical vehicle report by the Laboratory.
   • All documentation of the vehicle.
   • Reduced sheet made by a competent technician, although this document is usually already contained in the report itself prepared by the Laboratory.
3. The next step will be to pass an inspection at the ITV station, as they are responsible for analyzing all the documentation generated by the Laboratory, Industry and the vehicle’s own documentation, in order to evaluate the correspondence with the vehicle. It will also be assessed that the technical conditions are those required for the vehicle in question, considering the exemptions it obtains and the years of age.

In compliance with all the above, the ITV station issues a new technical sheet that will include, in addition to the exemptions obtained, the frequency of inspection as well as other considerations to be taken into account for circulation.