Issue 47 (April 2018)
The Editor
Welcome to Issue 47, April 2018!
Spring is just around the corner here in the UK. Thank goodness! we say, having endured some freezing conditions brought about by what the media dubbed “The beast from the east” (extreme weather conditions from Siberia). Fortunately, the cold weather only lasted a few days, but was sufficient to cause chaos with the shops bereft of supplies due to transport seizing up.
I failed to meet my self-imposed deadline (reminds me of work!) of 31st January to send out the entry forms for The Tour of The Cotswolds. However, they did go out by the middle of February and most of the completed forms have now come back. If you think you should have had an entry form, but didn’t get one, please contact me without delay. As previously advised, the tour is fully booked, but to register an interest for the reserve list please contact me jj(at)ttypes.org {substitute @ for (at)}.
The subject of electric cars keeps popping up here and there. I read some interesting facts recently in the Motoring section of The Daily Telegraph. Did you know that the first production electric car dates back to 1884 and was offered in London by inventor, Thomas Parker? By 1897 electric taxis began to appear on the streets of New York and The Pope Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis became the first large-scale producer of electric vehicles. By 1900, a third of all vehicles on the road in America were powered by electricity.
However, the advent of Henry Ford’s Model T (1908) had a huge impact on electric car sales as motorists turned to petrol power. By 1920, the electric car was no longer viable as the internal combustion engine produced more power and could travel further.
Fast forward to 2018 and Jaguar has just unveiled its new electric IPACE SUV. A five-seat sports car, it has a range of 298 miles, can be charged in 45 minutes and accelerates from 0 to 60mph in 4.5 seconds.
Perhaps though, the Luddite in me rejoices when I read that ‘Flippy’ the burger-flipping robot has been rested from its duties in the Caliburger restaurant in Pasadena, California, because it was too slow and could not keep up with demand. Apparently though, it’s not the fault of the robot, it is all down to the humans who have flocked to the restaurant to see it in action, thereby inflating demand.
Seriously though, the whole issue of artificial intelligence (AI) is quite worrying, for when they get ‘Flippy’ working faster and perhaps bring in another ‘Flippy’ that will be a few humans less that will be needed.
In the previous issue I gave an update of where we were with DVLA on the vexed question of seeking details of previous owners of one’s MG. I said that I had written to DVLA asking them to explain why the Agency was unable to let me have details of previous owners of my car and yet they had recently agreed to forward a letter to a previous owner of a Triple-M car for historical purposes, thereby in contravention of their own recently expressed policy that this would override the rights of the previous keeper.
I wrote to the Head of Data Protection Policy but didn’t receive a reply from him. Instead, I received a response from a person in the Central Casework Group (this is the section I deal with frequently in my role as DVLA representative for the MG Octagon Car Club in supporting requests for re-claimed and age-related registration marks). I may be old-fashioned, but I maintain that if I write to the Head of Data Protection on a matter which concerns data protection, then I expect to receive a reply from him, or at least one from somebody in a position of authority who tells me that he is replying on behalf the Head of Data Protection.
I intend to take this matter up with my Member of Parliament shortly. I remain to be convinced that the reason for refusing to provide a service on previous ownership details which, until relatively recently, has always been provided, is down to data protection and I want this clarified once and for all.
In particular, I’d like to know how the general General Data Protection Regulation, due to become effective on 25th May differs from existing legislation (if in fact, this is the reason for DVLA’s change of policy).
I’m aware that the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) has published the DVLA’s response on this, but this organisation has not challenged it.
Following a Freedom of Information request, the DVLA’s internal memo dated 17th August regarding the cessation of the details of previous ownership service has been obtained and I have retyped this (because the print in the original memo is very small) and included it under the ‘Bits and Pieces’ section later in this issue. Interestingly, it contains the sentence As we discussed, there is no reason why we can’t provide the history of a vehicle ……
As we grow older, we are reminded that we can’t live forever by the number of funerals we attend of our loved ones. I shall shortly be attending the funeral on the Isle of Wight of Graham Ash, a dear friend of mine and Sue’s. Graham owned several MGs including a TA, YA, TD and MGA, also a VA Tourer (his first MG) which went to Australia. Graham worked on vintage Bentley’s at one stage of his varied life and was the sort of chap who would help anybody. R. I. P. Graham.
JOHN JAMES
DISCLAIMER BY THE EDITOR
Totally T-Type 2is produced totally on a voluntary basis and is available on the website www.ttypes.org on a totally FREE basis. Its primary purpose is to help T-Type owners through articles of a technical nature and point them in the direction of recommended service and spares suppliers. Articles are published in good faith but I cannot accept responsibility or legal liability and in respect of contents, liability is expressly disclaimed.
