Road Registering a Willys Jeep

First time registering a willys or hotchkiss jeep with a v5 for use in the UK is not a  problem providing you have a receipt, and the jeep has a  chassis no matching any receipts or documents you may have. I have registered many jeeps and it does become a simpler and quicker process if you consult an experienced person. Within 14 days of bringing a classic vehicle into the UK permanently it must be NOVA registered (Notification Of Vehicle Arrival), by contacting VOSA by telephone or on line. Make sure the correct vehicle make is stated on the paperwork you have, the same make eg hotchkiss or willys or ford must be put in the correct box on the licence application v55/5.  customs due on overseas sales is 5% of the purchase price providing the vehicle is over 35 years old. Different rules apply outside  europe ,  When you have your NOVA number you can apply for a V5 registration document. Phone DVLA and ask them to send you a V55/5 or print one off the internet, form which comes with guidance notes . You will be charged a one off  registration fee, £55 in 2019 and will have to provide the reciept, original reg document or a military club verification certificate , . You will  also need to send pictures of jeep and chassis no, copy of your passport/ driving licence and one utility bill.  if the date of manufacture  is over 40 years old no MOT sertificate will need to be  included in the correspondance. Proof of insurance is not needed in the application.  If you have no original registration document you will have to have the vehicle age verified and identified by a local military enthusiast club (MVT). or IMPS If you are a member the club representative will normally issue a formal certificate stating the jeep's date of build and authenticity according to their  inspection. The Club inspection is not necessary if you can provide the original overseas road documents to dvla. Only the relevant boxes on the v55/5 application need to be filled in. Many boxes on the v55/5 are not applicable for registering a jeep.  Another good bit of advice is to send a copy of the nova no you have been issued in large print stapled to the front of all the other paperwork. Staff at dvla will not contact you by phone if any paperwork is missing or not clearly shown, they will just send it all back. On one occasion in the past we have had an application rejected due to missing information only to discover the missing information was clearly and correctly given but not stapled together. DVLA asked us to send it all back again and dealt with it quickly. They are clearly under staffed and only spend a short time looking at each aplication. If any writing is in small print, or forms not stapled to the rest of the paperwork  things can be missed when the envelope is opened. Stay cool and don't get worked up. Be prepared for the application to come back rejected once . You must use registered next day delivery or you won't be able to track or trace the application if it goes missing. This has also happened once  to us in the early stages. I have since registered dozens of jeeps, the best advice is to take it slowly and go over everything twice before sending it off. Go over any VIN nos and NOVA nos etc with a highlighter pen, staple everything together in one lump, put a few pictures of the car showing previous number plate or military no, and chassis no photos, write a short letter saying you have NOVA registered the jeep showing the nova identification name and number clearly. call me if you are struggling, I should be able to help you with it on the phone 01548521278 Devon

If the jeep has come over from Europe or France, on the v55/5 first registration application form, the only boxes you should need to fill in are shown in the picture. Many of the questions asked on this form are not applicable to willys or hotchkiss jeeps so leave them blank. This simplifies the application and should help speed things along 

This is one we filled in, note how the relevent question boxes relate to the v5 cert of a hotchkiss jeep shown above. Don't forget the vehicle make stated on the nova registration must be the same make written on the v55/5 application.This mistake is often made, eg stating "willys jeep" as the make when applying for a  nova  no and then stating "jeep" on v5 application    

Here are some examples of French reg documents and club verification certificate.

Another company you can use that will issue you with an age verification certificate suitable for use with DVLA applications is called IMPS (Invicta military vehicle preservation society)

MOT and tax regulations on a Willys or Hotchkiss jeep are very mild. If the jeep is pre 1975 it will be tax and MOT exempt, some people still MOT their jeep annually for peace of mind, however if your jeep is younger it may have to have an MOT by law. This is a relatively easy process as many things don’t have to be fitted such as seatbelts and because there are no designated seatbelts fixing areas, the body of the jeep can be very rusty and unrestored, sharp edges and giant holes excluded. The chassis will need to be solid because this is the strength area of the jeep, cracked windscreen is not a problem for an MOT as long as it hinges down onto the bonnet and wipers don’t need to be working or fitted because of the same. Light perishing on the tyres is not considered a MOT issue unless it is severe, tread depth has to conform, noisy wheel bearings, slop and end play in steering and suspension and shocker joints all need to comply, slight slop in steering box is acceptable but steering action must not be stiff, brakes should hold evenly on the rolling road, wheels should spin freely when off the ground, handbrake has to pull a freewheeling jeep to a stop at 10 mph, exhaust will have to be leak free, battery must be secured lights and indicators don’t have to work providing they are covered with canvass or removed, This is called a daytime only MOT and will restrict you to driving in daylight hours only. This is often adopted choice of MOT for French jeeps because the headlamp lenses dip to the wrong side of the road, easily changed to UK lenses if you intend to use it in the dark. There may be more to consider – by all means do a bit of googling to see what else you  can find out that I may have missed!