ASTRA

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The Astra 566 CPC that sold at auction recently has surfaced on ebay, is the present owner tired of it already?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1956-BRITISH-ANZANI-ASTRA-UTILITY-microcar_W0QQitemZ300151472962QQihZ020QQcategoryZ2192QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Dan Rodd]

The owner is a chap i absolutely HATE He is a number plate dealer who poses as classic bike dealer,he has bought and sold thousands of classic bikes over the last 20 yrs,each and every one of which he has sold the plate off,stripping away our history and getting very rich off the back of it too.
They will have bought it for its plate,then decided they did not possess the skills needed to put it on the road so have relisted it.
rant over,i hope someone gets it out of there!

[inacoma]

Hi

It's a shame when the numbers are taken off, but probably only to those who have a sentimental attatchment to the car or are 100% into originality at all costs.

By choice I would not split them unless totaly skint and desperate to get some money back when nobody has come up with a reasonable amount to buy the car and plate together.

At the end of the day he was prepared to bid the highest price, so it's up to him

All the best

John

[Bob Purton]

Number plates is another one of those subjects along with Peels that usually sparks a row. Many years ago now when I was green in the way of these things I bought a microcar from someone who will remain nameless and quite honestly was completely tucked up, it had just about everything wrong with it and to make matters worse I had paid top dollar for it. After months of trying to sell the thing I decided that the only way I was going to claw anything back from it was to sell the registation number and put the car into auction. I did this and still came out of the deal many hundreds of pounds lighter. I thought that would be the end of the bad experience but do you know that selling that numberplate plagued my conscience for years afterward. Years latter I had the oppertunity to redeam myself and went to a great deal of trouble retrieving the original registration number for my KR200, I set about doing this by trying to enlist the help of the MOC  but they said it couldnt be done [I find the MOC good for selling you parts but just about nothing else] The MEC were the guys that took the job on and successfully retreaved FCM 820. That made me feel alot better and I have never been tempted to sell a plate since. I think it is as John says, a sentimental issue, there is no logic to my mind anyway in getting upset about a number although I take the originality of the cars very seriously, for example , fitting a modern or none original engine to a microcar is far more offensive to me than someone selling a numberplate. I'm not into selling plates and feel its a shame when it happens but certainly dont feel hatred towards those who do.

[Trident]

That made me feel alot better and I have never been tempted to sell a plate since.

I doubt you could sell the plate even if you wanted to as it will have been re-issued on a non transferable basis. This prevents individuals profiteering from the re-issuing of original registration marques and 'taking advantage' of such clubs as the MEC and Rumcars who do all the hard work to get original registrations reassigned to the vehicles that they were first issued to.

[Dan Rodd]

what my point is that one of the main reasons we are interested in these things is because of their history and historical place in motoring time,taking the plate removes that history and the cars identity.
I find it awful that a car can survive 50 yrs with its plate intact to be bought by a souless dealer who will sell it and stick the usual scottish highlands number on.

It also makes a mockery of the age related schem which was set up to give a plate to a vehicle that had NO identity at all.
with the thousands of people doing it and taking advantage dont be surprised if the dvla stop doing it.

[Bob Purton]

TRIDENT. I know my kr200 plate is non transferable, im not as daft as I look, what I ment is that I have since bought and sold a lot of microcars and have never felt the need to rob any of them of their number plate. DAN ROD. I agree entirely but not as aggresively as yourself.
 I SAID THIS WAS A HOT TOPIC,  NOW LETS TALK ABOUT THEM THERE PEELS!

[Trident]

Sorry Bobbybubble, my mistake for misinterpreting what you meant
Right then who fancies buy a P50 for a couple of pounds, stripping the number off it, selling it on to Bruce Weiner for a massive amount (cause he dosen't have a real P50), building a clone using an Andy Cater body and using the original number on the Clone ?.  Oops only joking Jean !!

[Bob Purton]

Hey thats a good idea! Seriously though, I notice  Bruces trident is a Triumph Tina powered one, did they realy build some like that or is it a myth?

[Peelpower]

Oh my god, whats going up there now??
I was so happy we coulnd't deal with number plates in Germany, coz the plates  did belong to the car. Is the car scrapped, the plate is blocked for a some  month. Sadly the wanna change the rules now!
As to the mentioned Bruce W. Trident: I do know this car very well. Previous owner was Manfred K. from a german carmuseum.
This Peel was, or is, a left hand drive promoting car ,made for the german or worldwide market i was told years ago by a Peel craftsman.
As an owner of Peels, and former runner of the Peel register, i doubt of the car is real genuine, although it exist since 20 years i do know it! Same like CKH**** this was made by Alan E. some 20 years ago. We should love the microcars as they are. Matters not what year they were built. All what counts is - microcars brought us together and built a circle of friends, mates !!
All the best
Ferdi

[P50]

Matters to me if they're original.     Speak for yourself dear boy.

I agree taking plates off cars is obscene.   

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I agree, if a vehicle has a heritage then it's better to preserve it.

using an Andy Cater body and using the original number on the Clone

This is precisely why I don't like replicas.

[Trident]

Absolutely correct.  Robbing the registration of any vehicle is criminal and I compare it to removing someone

[Bob Purton]

Bruces car aside, I asked about this  because according to Andy and others the last few made in the factory had this T10  power plant. Are you saying this is a myth?

[P50]

I never knew the Canadian Trident was of questionable provenance.

With the row of switches on the dash and LHD I thought it seems very 'prototype for export' looking.

I would be helpfull to establish exactly what it is.  Or are we going down the 'Lanes' route?

N.B. Oddly enough my Trident was the car that spawned all these reps as it was moulded off when Jevons owned it.