£9,500 for a 1970 Hillman Imp Super? | Photo by Riley from Christchurch, New Zealand
Say hello to the new ideal car for your ultra low emission city, not an EV but a fifty year old Hillman
Many Londoners are suddenly discovering how much they love old vintage cars, especially ones from the pre 1983 era, which just happen to be exempt from the £12.50 a day new carbon tax. The old cars are selling at a premium, and London may soon become the Old-Car-Mecca of the world. Who knows? This may not have been what Sadiq Khan was aiming for when he tried to force everyone to buy an EV or catch a bus. But it’s what happens when you bully people.
The much hated Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) starts on August 29th and people driving petrol cars older than 2006 or diesel cars from before 2015 are likely to end up paying £12.50 every day just to drive in London. Vintage cars older than 40 years are exempt.
h/t MrGrimNasty
Londoners snap up classic cars to dodge ULEZ
Eirian Jane Prosser, The Daily Mail
Londoners are snapping up classic cars in a bid to dodge Sadiq Khan‘s ULEZ charge that will be expanded to cover all of the capital’s boroughs next week. Dealers across the capital have noted a surge in sales of cars manufactured before 1983, which are exempt from the £12.50 charge as they are classed as ‘historic vehicles’.
Merlin McCormack, owner of Duke of London, a vintage car dealership in Brentford, said he had seen customers opting for more affordable classic cars to avoid the clean air levy. He branded the surge in sales ‘ironic’ as although the cars are exempt from the charge, the older cars are more polluting than its modern equivalent.
An Austin Mini for £20,000? | Photo of a Mini by Martin Pettitt from Bury St Edmunds, UK
This includes a 1970 Hillman Imp Super for £9,500, a 1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 for £12,000, and a 1972 Austin Mini for £20,000.
These older vehicles are also exempt from road tax, which Garry Short managing director of Classic Chrome in Mortlake, said most people are unaware of.
Current Ads in London: Fifty three year old Morris Minor for £18,750
In other news this week, a member of Sadiq Khan’s staff has been accused of trying to pressure scientists to change their wording when their research showed his ULEZ policy in central London had cut nitrogen emissions by a mere 3% and achieved almost nothing on ozone and particulate matter too.
In the emails, seen by The Telegraph, Ms Rodrigues said she was disappointed that Imperial College had published a study by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering that showed Ulez cut nitrogen dioxide by less than three per cent and had achieved an insignificant impact on ozone and particulate matter.
Such research undermined the London Mayor’s policy, argued Ms Rodrigues.
Such research undermines the Mayor’s policy, she said, as if science only existed to endorse the crazy totalitarian schemes politicians dream up.
Her response also shows it’s not about pollution.