The antique car market is about to change. Rosstandart proposes to adopt new GOST standards that will help determine a car's true age and minimize the number of bad deals. So far, this area of business remains one of the most closed-off. Sellers often trick their customers by pretending the car is older than it actually is.
A special report by Andrey Shtukaturov on the new life of old cars.
Call Center: Special Report Kirill Chudakov from Moscow is one of the most renowned antique car collectors in Russia. His collection includes dozens of fully intact vehicles.
- When was the last time you started it?
- About six months ago.
- But it started so smoothly!
- The engine's been rebuilt.
Kirill prefers Russian cars. For many years, this Volga 21 was a taxi in Moscow. Kirill fixed it up with his own hands. Now, it's the gem of his collection.
- Great ride!
- Thanks.
There are thousands of antique car collectors in Russia. Some have more than one rare vehicle in their collection.
Andrey Geronin, Moskovsky Transport: "One grading is really strict, only cars released prior to WWI are acceptable. The other is milder, it accepts cars released prior to WWII, up until 1939. The most liberal one considers cars that are 39 years or older to be antiques".
According to the third grading, there are more than 500,000 antique cars in Russia: cars made in Russia and imported, passenger cars and trucks, military cars, sports cars, even busses. Among the Russian cars, the Pobeda, Volga 21, and Chaika are considered the most valuable. However, ZIM is the rarest one. A beauty! This car costs no less than 5 million rubles ($800k). And if the car belonged to some Soviet leader, or, say, Yuri Gagarin it would be even more expensive.
The list of most-favored foreign cars includes Rolls Royce and Bentley. However, it's quite problematic to drive these beauties on Russian roads. And not because of the questionable quality of the surfacing of some of the roads: the majority of rare vehicles, except museum pieces, have been imported illegally.
Andrey Geronin: It's impossible to legally drive them, so they just stand there like sculptures.
- Somebody must be doing it illegally, right?
- I know very few of such cases.
Two years ago, there was a scandal after pop idol Natali and MC Doni released a video "Ty Takoy" where they were driving a flashy 1966 Lincoln. It was discovered, that the car had been imported against customs legislation.
Sergey Sidorov, transport attorney: "The video served as evidence that the car was used for transportation purposes by singers Natali and MC Doni. But I'd like to reassure their fans because it seems the artists didn't know that the car had issues with customs".
And it's not a singular case. The most common violation is the lack of registration.
Denis Kuzin, traffic police: "Our experts pay particular attention to identification marks because they might get partially or fully erased during the operation of the vehicle".
Experts believe that no antique car in its original form is capable of undergoing inspection, getting an insurance policy, and registration.
Viktor Armanov, vehicle inspector: "First, headlights might not correspond to the existing rules. We also can't ignore play in the steering. There also might be play in the levers. All those gimbal drives. Then the brakes. Environmental issues as well".
Of course, old cars can be upgraded to pass a current inspection, get an insurance policy and registration, but then the car automatically loses a great deal of its value. The only option left is buying the required papers through some corrupt officials or driving with no registration at all.
- Do you have a registration and insurance for this car?
- Currently, I've don't have any insurance.
- Why so?
- I don't really need it since I don't drive this car.
- What if you get stopped by the traffic police?
- I'll get fined. I'll have to pay about 400 rubles (6.45 $) within two weeks.
- That's it?
- Yep.
- So one can basically drive without registration or insurance?
- One can, but shouldn't.
It appears there's a shadow fleet of antique cars. There's basically no control over their safety. Owners also don't pay taxes. The experts of Rosstandart decided to sort things out. They proposed new GOST standards for old cars.
Alexey Kuleshov, Rosstandart: "First we examine the vehicle to determine whether it's original. The second step is to register the vehicle as original. We also need a term base that doesn't exist today. We need precise technical papers that will allow us to conduct simple, clear procedures to determine whether a classic car is original or not".
The new rules will allow antique cars to pass inspection and get insurance and be officially registered as a result. They'll also have special number plates. However, the initiative to create a special controlling department was vividly criticized.
Igor Morzharetto, car expert: "I don't think we need a new department. We get those initiatives regularly: "Let's create a new department that'll control the certification process. And then, let's create a department that controls that department". We already have too many departments in Russia".
Experts believe that the existing rules are capable of regulating the operation of antique vehicles.
Viktor Armanov: "On February 1st, we adopted a new wheeled vehicle standard. Besides, we have the technical regulations of the Customs Union which define everything and works just fine".
Experts believe there's no way we should tone down the inspection for old cars. According to the statistics, the number of accidents caused by mechanical failure is growing annually. If antique vehicles start cruising along our roads the situation will only get worse. Antique cars do have operational issues that must be solved. Only then, collectors will have an opportunity to ride their iron horses and we'll have the opportunity to admire these motorized beauties, but not at the expense of safety.
Andrey Shtukaturov, Alexey Kochannik Nikolai Lavrukhin, Boris Bovsh Alexander Nikorevich, and Ramil Batyrov Vesti: Call Center.
