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Why are pre-1960 cars to be MoT-exempt?

It has come to my attention that, from 18 November 2013, pre-1960 cars no longer need an MoT. This seems to me to be ridiculous. Surely the age of these cars indicates they are at least, if not more likely to develop faults that are dangerous to the driver, and others.

Asked on 19 January 2013 by IS, via email

Answered by Honest John
Actually, no. The age of more than 50 years old generally indicates that these cars are in the hands of enthusiasts who look after them a lot better than the general public does of five-year-old cars. And they are driven far less frequently.

The evidence is in our MoT reports that uniquely analyse the results of 30,000,000 MoT tests a year: good-garage-guide.honestjohn.co.uk/mot-data-the-mo.../
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