THE BEAUFORD OWNERS CLUB MAGAZINE of getting the car registered as the following day was Good Friday so I didn’t want to delay things by relying on our wonderful postal system!
The first thing that he asked me was “What colour would you want to state on the forms?” Biting my lip, I said “black and white!”
I really thought that the biggest hurdle was over after the car had passed the IVA test… how wrong was I?
He then asked me to show him the chassis number that was stamped on the car, even though the IVA examiner had written this down on the pass certificate!
In terms of a stress factor, the IVA test was a breeze, but dealing with the DVLA was way off the Richter scale!
He then did just one lap of the car and then told me to come back at 4.00pm to collect the paperwork!
The wedding was getting nearer so I rang them the following Thursday in order to get an update. Until I had obtained a registration number, I could not legally drive the car on the road
I asked him if there was any chance that he could speed things up, to which I got a negative response.
During the phone conversation I was informed that the DVLA now needed to inspect the car before the paperwork could be completed, so I had to transport the car to Shrewsbury the next day for them to carry out the inspection. I arrived at around 10.15am but naturally the inspector kept me waiting until precisely the allotted time when he appeared, and seeing the car on the trailer through the office window, told me to remove it from the trailer and he would then come outside for the inspection. Car duly removed, the inspector came outside with his customary clipboard.
I then asked him if it would at least be ok to tell the prospective bride that I would be able to do the honours on Sunday, to which he replied “I cannot guarantee that in stone!”. Neither would he let me know the registration number that was to be assigned to allow me to get the number plates. But finally I got the registration! Whew! Back home I rang the lady to sort out what time to collect her on Sunday for her wedding, not mentioning anything about the hassle that I‘d been having over the past week or so to save her from worrying.
Talk about “in the nick of time?” 25