DVLA Manchester

Thurs.09.07.09. This morning is the long awaited meeting with DVLA at Manchester. This could be a wonderful or a shite day. The chunks may be opened tonight or thrown in the bin

The directions to the Manchester office of the DVLA were not the best but we managed to make the deadline of 10.30pm. We had previously travelled down the M6, M62, M602, then into Trafford and finally onto Chester road. Throughout the journey I had gained additional confidence whilst driving the Burlington. The steering is responsive, there is little or no vibration, the vehicle feels tight and assured, just as if this was a modern production sports car. 

The over engineering, designed jointly by Chris and Colin proved that all the painful hours had been well spent.

Mr Femi proved to be a jovial mild mannered Afro Caribbean person. After I had pointed out the car a broad smile filled his face. “What a beautiful machine, can I buy it?” were his first remarks after a closer inspection. There was an initial mistrust regarding the ID number which was not included on any part of the registration document, but, the chassis number along with the engine number were obviously correct so he was left with only the task of  merely filling in the rest of the details. The colour was noted, the mileage as well as the fact that it did not have a hood. 

We had become something of an attraction on the car park as other candidates for inspection gathered around. “It’s a Morgan,” one person declared, “no it’s not, a Morgan is a ‘kit’, this car is the real thing,” said another. Mr. Femi asked, “How should I describe it?” upon which, both Chris and I simply said, ‘Triumph Burlington Convertible?’, “That sounds good enough for me,” repeated Mr Femi, it certainly was good enough for us. The inspection took less than fifteen minutes most of which was spent by Sami Femi asking how we had done this and that, how long did it take to complete the build, how much did it cost? One of the bystanders reckoned that it must be worth at least £25000, to which we agreed. 

After several photographs the meeting was ended, very amicably.  A report will be sent to Swansea verifying the findings of the inspection; with a little luck I should receive my new registration document within 2 weeks. But, the fat lady has not yet sung.