Previous RHD Conversion and Overseas Declaration Mystery...

Having re-found my enthusiasm for restoring my old 2 door RRC after a period of laziness i came across something odd.


I never actually checked the VIN before but did so today. All seems good but one of the VIN letters lists it as a 3.5 manual LHD but its definitely RHD currently! The V5 does say something along the lines of "marked as registered or used overseas". I spoke with the DVLA today and the guy said it is marked as an imported vehicle.


The dates don't really add up though. It is listed as "declared manufactured in 1981" and bears all the hallmarks of an '81 with the upholstery and rubber matting etc.. however it is listed as first registered in feb 1981. This doesn't exactly leave long for the car to have been exported then re-imported and registered as a uk vehicle.


How likeley is it to have been converted from LHD to RHD and is there anything to look out for that would indicate such? Nothing looks odd or out of place that would suggest it's been converted....


Does anyone have any ideas what may have happened or heard of anything similar before? Id love to get to the bottom of it!

Cheers!

If it was registered in the Channel Islands that might be considered exported even though it is still UK, and don't they all drive on the Left like us too??

So may not actually be LHD, but listed as such to indicate export model!

Interesting idea, has anyone else heard of vehicles being marked as LHD to indicate an export market rather than actual drive side?

If this was the case then all the Discos being re-imported from Japan would all be similarly marked. But then, as you say, how many people check their VIN that carefully or know what information it contains.

First registered isn't necessarily the date it was re imported..

It could've been registered in the UK (press car for example), then exported to a punter, it was subsequently converted and reimported to the UK. Although re-registered in the UK the date of first registration was 1981. That or it is a hot motor and the vin has been changed to mask it's identity.

Or LR could have just fooked up when they stamped the VIN. they did it all the time I had a 110 2.5NA 1984 Vin said it was a RRC FFS

It could have been a vehicle bought in Belgium and brought in as a personal import. You could get RHD vehicles in Belgium in the early 80's and bring them to the UK, thus avoiding the tax/duty on new vehicles. The car would have had a Belgian (i.e. LHD vin on it) and belgian plates, then re-registered in the UK. It was big business back then, when you could save thousands of pounds by importing.

Cheers for the info guys. A few things it could be it seems!

I looked at filling out a "V888". £5 to the DVLA and they send you what previous history they have with regards to registration. Or so the theory goes anyway.

Are there any tell-tales to look out for to see if a car has actually been converted from LHD to RHD? Nothing really stands out.

Hole in the bulk head where the Steering column would have been??

Saint.V8 said:

Hole in the bulk head where the Steering column would have been??

Click to expand...

Nope, no holes in the bulkhead. The fuses are in place where the steering collumn would go on the LHS. Everything appears to be universaly corroded too such as footwells, steering box mountings, transmission tunnel. Dashboard doesn't seem to have any more holes in it either and the radio is mounted on the RHS with no obvious evidence it was ever on the left.

Deffo sounds like a RHD Belgian personal import, or possibly a RHD personal import from someone in the Armed Forces based in Germany. Maybe Landrover can tell you where it came from through the VIN numbers, they should have details of what vehicles went abroad, etc., and should be able to trace it through the VIN.

I've got a Kawasaki ZX6R, that was registered in the UK in 2001 brand new, but the vin (and the fact it had a LHD headlight) shows that it was a German bike. Turned out it had been bought brand new by an army guy in Germany, not registered, but brought straight to UK and registered here. Only way I found out was because the headlight failed the MOT last year, due to it pointing the wrong way. Checked the VIN through Kawasaki and they confirmed the bike had been sold in Germany.

Ah right well that would make sense. what does that mean in terms of insurance, I guess the vehicle still needs to be declared as an import for insurance purposes?

Also any idea what department at la driver to try? I guess its not a simple contact us on the website?

Cheers for the continued info all!

Shouldn't affect the insurance, as it's UK registered and not been modified (i.e. not converted from LHD to RHD). I didn't need to inform the insurance company that my motorbike is technically an import (first and sole registered in UK), so you wouldn't need to inform your insurance, unless there's anything on the V5 saying it's an import. Even then shouldn't make any difference, unless the insurance company want to be t****rs about it!

Sorry but don't know who to call at LR, but the first try would be to customer service dept. and see where you get to from there.

Aren't Euro imports called Grey Imports??

Girlfriend had a Beetle (2001) was one of the VW demonstrators and had every single extra in the book that could be fitted, was a Right Hand Drive UK spec imported from VW Germany and registered in the UK, but was listed as a European Import.

Paid 7K for it at 2 years old and only 4.5k miles on the clock!!

Full Leather, Heated Seats, Sports Pack, 2.7 litre engine, heated Steering Wheel, Heated Front Screen, Sport adjustable Electronic suspension...the full owrks....including a vase on the dashboard!!

Tidy. Cheers guys, it does sound the most likely. The V5 doesn't list it as an import. the only references are;

"Section 3. Special Notes"

"1. Was registered/used overseas. Declared manufactured 1981."

"Section 4. Vehicle Details"

"B Date of first registration 01/02/1981"
"[B.1] Date of first registration in the UK 01/02/1981"

Saint.V8 said:

Aren't Euro imports called Grey Imports??

Girlfriend had a Beetle (2001) was one of the VW demonstrators and had every single extra in the book that could be fitted, was a Right Hand Drive UK spec imported from VW Germany and registered in the UK, but was listed as a European Import.

Paid 7K for it at 2 years old and only 4.5k miles on the clock!!

Full Leather, Heated Seats, Sports Pack, 2.7 litre engine, heated Steering Wheel, Heated Front Screen, Sport adjustable Electronic suspension...the full owrks....including a vase on the dashboard!!

Click to expand...

Sorry for the pun, but it's a bit of a grey area! Grey imports are normally bought through car dealerships/individuals, where they are imported and sold on immediately, whereas personal imports are bought by an individual for their personal use, i.e. not for profit, but because it is cheaper.
I know of a couple of guys who made a killing back in the 80's by buying cars for customers (at what the customer thought was a discounted rate, certainly much cheaper than you could buy them in the UK at the time) then went and got the cars (all RHD and UK spec) from Belgium or Germany for a much cheaper price, registered them in the UK and pocketed the price difference. Of course the customers were none the wiser, unless they checked up on the VIN nos, etc.

Also, Grey imports normally come from countries which have RHD cars as standard, e.g. Japan.