Quote Originally Posted by AMCO72 View Post
I have recently been through this COD business as you know. I filled in the correct forms, all 18 pages of it, took some lovely colour shots of the car, inside, outside, upside-downside. Sent them all off with the fee to MSNZ and waited. They eventually came back, all the pages and photos with a nice red MSNZ stamp on them, and I was given a schedule K classification with an A compliance, plus a little red sticker for the side of the car telling people that this was something special......an Historic Vehicle. The only trouble is that NO ONE from MSNZ has actually looked the car to compare it with the photos supplied. I have no doubt someone will at the Festival, but meantime I have got my precious COD. Seems a bit back to front to me......not that I am growling. If I change the engine specification in future, which I intend to do, I have to notify MSNZ that I have done so, and supply more photos , and more money, to verify the change. And just suppose that an MSNZ official finds that the the photos dont exactly match the car, what then. Perhaps, as Howard has said, some people HOPE that the paperwork WILL in fact confer 'Historical Status' on the car, which will very definately have an effect on the value of said car. The asking price for the Custaxie II doesn't seem out of the way to me. I'll bet it cost plenty if all the hours were added up.
Gerald, my understanding from getting a few CODs and going through the COD check process at meetings, is that there is an element of trust involved with the initial application. What happens subsequently, is that your car could be subject to a COD audit at a meeting it enters. The rules are that 15% of entrants should be COD audited each meeting but in reality it is much less than that. However, you do face the risk of having your car checked and if it doesn't match the documents (either through an initial "porky" or subsequent alterations) then there is a chance the COD will be revoked or the car will be required to be bought back into line. If the alteration is period compliant then all that is needed is an amendment to the COD form to record the new configuration of the car.

It is a bit tedious, there is red tape involved and it is not a perfect system - however it does attempt to keep some control on ensuring that when you go racing in an historic grid it should be against compliant cars.

The COD doesn't necessarily give your car the seal of historic authenticity. All it means is that your car complies with the MSNZ requirements under Schedule K. I am aware that some CODs actually note that the car is a replica - this happened recently with a well known Kiwi (ex F1 connections) who had an exact replica built of a genuine historic race car that he owned. The replica was given a MSNZ COD but it was noted on the document that it was built in (say) 2007 and that the original period car existed. The chassis plate of the replica had the same number as the original but with a "C" (for copy) added. The marque registrar in the UK was advised of the situation so it is noted in the official records.