Advice Needed: Registering/Licensing a Beach Buggy or Replic

[Porsche718]

Wondering if there is someone on the forum who can give me abit of insight into how to go about registering a beach buggy or beetle based replica. (This is or was at least was intended to be my first build)

I've had a Porsche replica body for awhile (the one attached) and have been trying to sell it for awhile now, however the offers I have gotten are ridiculous and I'm starting to think that it may just be easier to finish the thing.

So my question is (bearing in mind that I don't really care what the car is registered as i.e. I'm indifferent as to what the license disk says the car is) how difficult would it be to get the replica registered, licensed etc and how long would it take?

The best idea I've come up with so far and not even sure if this would work, is to simply buy a beetle that is already licensed and running and just drop the new body on... done (obviously the chassis would need to be shortened etc)

But basically I'm not looking for a lot of "shlep" I just want the car on the road and legal in the least amount of time, like a month maybe.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[MarshallGTi]

i think getting a beetle pan would be where u star, so they'll register it with that VIN and engine number.

[Dawie]

Think start with an early pan where the chassis number is stamped on the pan, and avoid the post- 71 model beetles where vin number was only on the body. Beetle must still be licensed at that stage, (not scrapped), and licence fees up to date. Engine number must correspond to papers. Otherwise, fit the engine you will use and take it for police clearance, have papers updated before you do the body change.

Do'nt know if the law have recently changed, but: For minor changes a roadworthy guy could fill in the changes on a form. Things like having a bus or kombi changed to a mobile home/camper. You will then be required to get a new weigh bridge certificate, and new police clearance.

For certain changes, a SABS inspection/test and compliance certificate is required, which is expensive and a major hassle. Can take a year or longer. Think this is required when the wheelbase is changed, seating capacity is increased or the weight changes by more than 20%. So make sure the car is not lighter than 20% under what appears on the original papers when you take it to the weighbridge. Hopefully if the roadworthy guy is not going to make an issue about the wheelbase, then nobody will know. Technically if a completely new body was built (as in a truck converted to bus), the SABS process may still be required, but that is a grey area. Unless the law has changed recently...

Other option is to keep papers as a beetle, just be sure chassis and engine numbers is correct and colour as well. May work if you keep the car for yourself, and not plan to resell. I know of a guy who got away by saying the changes was done donkey years ago when laws were not as strict about SABS etc. He got the info updated easily, but this may not work for everybody.

Another way is when manufacturer of body is a mass manufacturer and has an SABS clearance for their product. Body will probably come with a serial number from the manufacturer. Some very expensive replica bodies/chassis comes pre-SABS-cleared.

[Porsche718]

Thanks guys, appreciate the insight. Will ask some of the local roadworthy places and see what they say aswell.