Q I have been offered for sale a vehicle which

20th September 1974, Page 211

20th September 1974

Page 211

Page 211, 20th September 1974 — Q I have been offered for sale a vehicle which

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the . seller describes as a dual-purpose vehicle. I have ahvays understood that such a vehicle was one which had .four-wheel drive, which this vehicle does not have. How can it be a dual-purpose vehicle?

AAs well as a vehicle with four wheel drive being a dualpurpose vehicle, others with certain design features can also fall within this category from a legal viewpoint. However, to do so they (as well as f.w.d. models) must have an unladen weight not exceeding 2030 kg (2 tons). The full description of dual-purpose vehicles is contained in Regulation 3(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1973.

Here such a vehicle is described as "a vehicle constructed or adapted for the carriage of both passengers and goods or burden of any description being a vehicle of which the unladen weight does not exceed 2030 kg and which either: -(i) is so constructed or adapted that the driving power of the engine is, or by the appropriate use of the controls of the vehicle can be, transmitted to all four wheels of the vehicle, or (ii) satisfies the following conditions as to construction, namely: (a) the vehicle must be fitted permanently with a rigid roof with or without sliding panel; (b) the area of the vehicle to the rear of the driver's seat must: (i) be permanently fitted with at least one row of tranverse seats (fixed or folding) for two or more passengers and those seats must be properly sprung or cushioned and provided with upholstered back rests attached either to the seats or to a side or floor of the vehicle; and (ii) be lit on each side and at the rear by a window or windows of glass or other transparent material having an area or aggregate area of not less than 1850 sq cm (1.991 sq ft) on each side and not less than 770 sq cm (110.35 sq in) at the rear; (c) The distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back rests of the row of transverse seats satisfying the requirements specified in head (i) of the foregoing sub paragraph (b) (or if there is more than one such row of seats the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel' and the back rests of the rearmost such row) must when the seats are ready for use, be not less than one third of the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the rearmost part of the floor of the vehicle."