Driving a Blitz in Europe

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Lang
I don't know what all this carry-on is about.

Look at 20 replies from the world's "experts" on CMPs and nobody can agree on what you would imagine would be an easily verifiable thing like the weight of their vehicles. How is the Swiss registration office going to know?

The 15cwt is so close to your Swiss licence limits that you just wheel it in and put down an eye pleasing number on the application form. It must be a British and European authority thing I have noticed regularly on this site. Everybody seems keen to confess their sins and draw the crabs by fanfaring anomalies in their vehicle's adherance to the rules when they have a POSSIBLY marginal situation.

Lang,

I'm pretty sure the situation in Switzerland is the same (or worse) as in Holland: when you bring a vehicle in for first registration, the authorities demand you show them a certified weighing letter. When weighing, the vehicle needs to have the gas tank filled for at least 50%, and a spare has to be carried. So you can take off top bows and canvas, tool box and other non-necessary items to bring the weight well within the limit. If you do it right you might even be left with a 100 kg. carrying capacity. In Holland historical 15-cwt or 3/4-ton trucks often are registered as a passenger car, leaving little margin for the load one can legally carry, but normally that does not pose for problems.

Chris, 15-cwt CMPs are available in Europe, but complete and runing ones come at a cost. It took me several years of searching to find my F15A. So if you come across a nice 15-cwt in Australia, go for it. Drive it back with Lang for the journey of your life!

H.