Mopar Muscle Association UK

I have found a dumped 1961 herald in a lane near me, last taxed in 1993.
anyone know whats the position on getting it for myself ?
I have left a note on it but no one has contacted me.
there are 2 other cars in the same place that have been there for months.
cheers Dave

Difficult one, if you remove the car and apply for the log book in your name all well and good, unless it's challenged and then you risk a charge of theft or fraud. Inform the authority's and get it legally removed and there's only a slim chance you'd be able to aquire it. I can't think of a totally legal way to do it.

the following was correct about 15 years ago

Once Tax runs out

apply to be Registered keeper (guardian of the car for the owner)

tax it

pay any fines.

then wait 3 years and you can apply to be owner

Owner can at any time demand it back without making any payment for your services up until 3 years is passed

if you notify anyone council or DVLA it will get towed as "abandoned" and then has to be written off

if you move it, it is theft, you would probably get off with it if you can prove you had the owners interest at heart or the safety of the public, your team or your business. moving it to a still visible off street position is probably safest

learnt this lesson with a VW Karmann Ghia years ago, parked up in residents section of a paddington car park, started with the council, bad move, they towed it the morning its tax ran out
took it to Hendon abandoned vehicles yard where it was stripped, the vin destroyed and the chassis was crushed.


i had spent a month investigating and found out via DVLA (in the days when humans worked there) and the council, that it was owned by US serviceman who never came back to his flat.

The kids stomped the roof and put out the windows. I had a mate in the parks and gardens team covering NW London who kept an eye out for things like this for me, put a tarp over it, cleared away the debris.

We failed...

once the abandoned status is given the car is considered a danger and has to be destroyed unless the true owner can prove they are and pays off the fines the towing charge and the storage charge at the yeard

which was a shame cos it sat next to an MG A and an Austin 7 up at hendon

all perfectly viable cars. all rendered to spare parts with no chassis


Dave

cheers chaps-most informative as usual

the "owner" has rung me ,says 2 grand and its mine..........
passing pikey more like-said he is in the trade

might leave it-sounds more aggro than its worth.
ho hum

The words "Herald" and "dumped" sound a perfect combination to me.

Pete wrote:The words "Herald" and "dumped" sound a perfect combination to me.

Wash your mouth out, they are what started me in Classic Cars and I still have my first one 32 years later.

Perfect starter classic

ha ha ,now now Peter.........
I must agree with Matt - and currently own a 61 coupe that's being restored(slowly) , not everyones cuppa but now rare and such a pretty little thing......

One of the most dangerous bits of junk out there,but each to his own!
I had a Landrover from a private (BR) railway yard. Took down reg,applied for V5,waited for DVLA to contact reg keeper and then when there was no reply I received my V5.

latil wrote:One of the most dangerous bits of junk out there,but each to his own!
I had a Landrover from a private (BR) railway yard. Took down reg,applied for V5,waited for DVLA to contact reg keeper and then when there was no reply I received my V5.

That's what I had in mind.

MattH wrote:

Pete wrote:The words "Herald" and "dumped" sound a perfect combination to me.

Wash your mouth out, they are what started me in Classic Cars and I still have my first one 32 years later.

Perfect starter classic

It's just TOO easy, like shooting fish in a Barrel....



..and they are still rubbish....like a car but worse...

I'm with Pete. Heralds suck. Proper little granny car. I can think of no redeeming features.
I cut my classic teeth on escorts and cortinas (when they used to cost a few hundred quid) At least they had a modicum of coolness..
Somebody's gotta love em I spose...

I started out with a Spitfire - a Herald in a party frock apparently?
I was 16 and didn't know any better. Ran it for 9 months and got the hump with it fairly quickly.
Memories of scraping both sides of the windscreen in the morning... Heater on full blast then half a mile down the road the icicles that had formed on the inside of the hood overnight would melt and go down the back of your neck. That got old really fast...
What finished it off for me was I was sat on the tyre working on the car (it's only useful feature!) I was putting a new hose on the radiator or something like that when I slipped with the screwdriver. It went straight through the chassis.
I thought "stuff this", sold up and bought an MG!

My wife ran a mk1 GT6 as a daily a couple of years back. That wasn't too bad actually. Also had a Vitesse convertible briefly... well, it was cheap... Absolute pile of garbage, though. As you went along the back end would bounce twice on one side roll over and bounce twice on the other side then roll back to the original side for more bouncing. Very bizare. Some "clever person" had tried to mod it to rotoflex suspension and had cut two massive holes in the boot floor to accomodate the top of the shocks. How'd I miss that? Boot full of spares! Lesson learnt... always empty the boot and check for corrosion or bodge artistry!

I've learnt my lesson now... no more small chassis Triumphs. Unfortunately I'm one of those thick, pig headed individuals who won't learn from mistakes the first time around!

My Triumph fleet in 1990.

Blue one is the one I still have. The estate has just resurfaced with a new owner.

No Courier Van!