Tax Free in ’74
Following the announcement by the Government in Budget 2014, from April 2015 all classic cars built before 1 January 1975 will be eligible for Historic Vehicle taxation class and therefore pay no road tax. Futhermore, tax exemption has finally been turned into a rolling exemption once again. This time when the car is 40 years old. Full details of this move by the Government and how to apply will be found in the Club News.
Nick Dunning and Brian Humphreys took the day off work and spent a day going through the archives at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon looking into cars built at the end of 1974 and the beginning of 1975 to ascertain the cut-over points for each P6 model.
As you can see, there are many cars in the ‘grey area’, with the last car of 1974 having a significantly higher chassis number than the first car of 1975. This can be seen in the table below where there is a difference in chassis numbers of several thousand between columns B and C. This appears daunting at first, but Rover used a system of books with pre-printed chassis numbers. During the 1974 / 1975 period they moved to what they called ‘continuation books’ which caused a very hefty jump in chassis numbers with those numbers inbetween completely unused.
If your V5C gives the date of first registration as 1974, you have nothing to worry about and you will be able to apply for Historic vehicle taxation class without issue. If your V5C states a 1975 registration, and your chassis number is less than the highest consecutive chassis of 1974 (column A), then you have a 1974 car. If your chassis number is in between the highest consecutive chassis of 1974 and the highest chassis number of 1974 (columns A and B) then your car is in the grey zone and the only true way of knowing is to enquire to British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at Gaydon. If your chassis number is above the lowest consecutive chassis number for 1975 (column D) then you have a true 1975 car and will have to wait until April 2016 for tax exemption.
Before enquiring with BMIHT at Gaydon, please contact Brian Humphreys (Membership Secretary) on the Contact Us page providing details of your car for additional information.
| A | B | C | D | |
| Model | Highest Consecutive Chassis in 1974 | Highest Chassis built in 1974 | Lowest Chassis built in 1975 | Lowest Consecutive Chassis built in 1975 |
| 2200SC manual | 47104092 | 47106209 | 47104093 | 47106210 |
| 2200SC auto | 47602571 | 47604157 | 47602572 | 47604158 |
| 2200TC | 49105830 | 49108346 | 49105831 | 49108347 |
| 3500 auto Home Market | 45125565 | 45127309 | 45125566 | 45127310 |
| 3500S Home Market | 48110921 | 48113149 | 48110922 | 48113150 |
Data compiled from the original Rover Production Archives and reproduced here with the kind permission of British Motor Industry Heritage Trust
If you do believe that your 1975 registered car was built in 1974, a heritage certificate/dating letter from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (BMIHT) at Gaydon is the only proof that will be acceptable to the DVLA.