Bonett reverses decision to raise age requirement for vintage cars

Updated 9.30pm

Chris Bonett has reversed his decision to raise the age requirement for cars to be considered 'vintage'.

Speaking in a Times Talk episode that will be released next week, the Transport Minister said that after consulting with classic car enthusiasts he realised he "may have jumped the gun" when he announced the measure.

"I admit we were a bit hasty with that measure. I don't mind admitting that, and I don't think it's a sign of weakness to admit a mistake. Rather, it shows you're serious," he said.

"I still agree with the measure but I may have jumped the gun when I announced it. We want to protect the hobby of vintage cars while making sure nobody abuses the system."

Currently, cars that are older than 30 years are exempted from annual licence fees and must only pay an annual €8 administrative fee, provided the vehicle does not exceed 3,000 kilometres per year.

Vintage vehicles are marked on Maltese roads with a black number plate.

But the authorities observed that some drivers were passing off their old cars as 'vintage', managing to pay very low licence fees for a car they use every day and which is not a classic car at all.

Moreover, 'hundreds' of old, second-hand vehicles are being imported every year and registered as vintage cars but used as ordinary cars for every day transportation by abusing the loophole in the system.

Last week, as part of a raft of measures aimed at tackling Malta's chronic traffic congestion, Bonett announced the government would curb vintage car abuse by introducing a measure that stipulates that vehicles must be 35 years old to qualify for a black number plate and that they will be subject to inspections.

But during the filming of Times Talk on Thursday, Bonett told Times of Malta he will amend that measure and that he takes full responsibility for the oversight.

"We're not after people's hobbies," he said.

"We only need to make sure that the fees for classic car enthusiasts are not abused by people who want to keep their junk cars on the road."

Later on Thursday the Minister said on Facebook that there was an agreement on the decision following a meeting with the Maltese Vintage Vehicle Federation.

"The purpose of the meeting was to understand where we want to go as a Government, to remove from our roads ordinary cars that are being used under the guise of being 'vintage' and abusing the system, while protecting those who invest in truly classic cars," he wrote.

"We agreed on everything, and in the coming weeks, after the necessary legal work is done, we will announce how the reform, which everyone agrees we need, will work.

"What I can anticipate from now is that we are satisfied that we can achieve our goal without raising the car age requirement from 30 to 35 years. In fact, we will introduce measures that will strengthen this hobby."

Unplanned measures - PN

One hour after the Nationalist Party held a press conference in Msida on Thursday criticising the government's proposals, transport minister Chris Bonett admitted he had changed his mind about the vintage car scheme, the Opposition said.

In a statement, the PN said this "further confirmed just how Saturday's anouncement was unplanned and without consultation."

"Bonett reversed this measure following the pressure made by the Opposition in the last days in parliament and outside," the PN said.