mg is a zs180 so post 90's

everything needs to be original, or if not needs to be swiss certified, so if you turn up with AP racing calipers you'll fail

some things you may get away with if the tester isn't on the ball, we got away with a few things they didn't spot but they are pretty clued up.

I'd be surprised if they didn't spot a new chassis

a similar thread is running on pistonheads at the moment

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...63131&nmt=Cars...

Non Original Chassis, I think your wasting your time, unless the chassis is approved in CH. Engine mods = bad news.

OK, assuming this all turns out to be too much of a hassle and/or too expense I need a Plan B. Question, what is a realistic Plan B?

Do you know what the deal is for running a car in Switzerland on UK plates for a number of months a year (say 5) and then having it in the UK for the rest of the time?

Assume I can get a UK insurance company to cover that long out the UK and that it has a valid MOT (would be needed for insurance to be valid).

Other than the hassle of driving it to and from the UK twice a year and finding somewhere to store it this would seem to be a potentially cheaper option.

As far as I can see the car would be legal to drive and if it is out of Switzerland more than it why would it need to be imported?

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks for this. I had already found it on a Google search. Seems to reinforce the opinion that it is not worth the hassle!

Assuming you have been here more than a year it would be illegal for you to drive the car in Switzerland on a CH driving license.
You are not a tourist here, so cant bring a car as if you were, you have to declair the car when you arrive, you can then drive for a very short period.

Plan B sell the car or leave CH

Yes, but the rules are different for vehicles 30+ years old.

N.B. Age of vehicle is only based on date of manufacture if made in CH, otherwise it is the date of first registration (anywhere) that counts. Never registered=new.

Tom

OK, so you are saying different rules apply. Therefore it is back to my original question - what are the rules!?

Has anyone been down to the Strassenverkehrsamt and tried to have a conversation with them around something like this? Are they helpful?

Helpful ha ha. How long have you been in CH?

They will come up with problems, when you have sorted things out there will be something else.

Long enough to realise it was a naive question but there are exceptions to every rule!

Chris, I imported a 1972 Lotus Elan +2 a few years ago (now sold and much missed) it's not so difficult. Mine had a Spyder chassis too - they probably didn't notice it at the MFK centre.

A 70's car is still quite straightforward - all you need is to pass the Swiss regulations for an MFK inspection for the year your car was first registered. You need to pass a simple emmisions test, noise measurement, and you'll probably need to convert to dual-circuit brakes which were mandatory in CH from the early 70s. Somewhere online there's a document with all the regulations in.

I found my local Strassenvehrkersamt helpful - just go down there and talk to them.

Here's that link:

http://www.astra.admin.ch/dienstleis...x.html?lang=de

It's not exactly light reading.

Thanks for this. Seems a lot more positive than some of the doom laden messages above. I have tracked a couple of Swiss owned cars down on a Lotus forum and emailed their owners for advice but I haven't had any response from those yet.

If you miss it it looks like you'll be the man to go to for advice when it breaks down!