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Yet more fresh legislation that will affect some of our readers was announced in the Chancellor’s Budget on 19 March. With effect from 1 April this year, the Vehicle Excise Duty payment exemption will be extended to vehicles first registered before January 1974. Thereafter, this will become a rolling exemption each year for vehicles as they become 40 years old. Good news indeed, as in 2020 the Austin Metro will benefit from free road rent (if there are still any left on the road of course) and the same will apply to the Ford Sierra in 2025. As often happens though, there is grey matter within this new ruling – notably that if your vehicle was first registered between 1 January and 31 March 1974, there is currently no provision for recompense for any VED paid prior to 1 April this year. In layman’s terms, that means if you taxed your car that was registered on the first day of 1974 for 12 months in January this year, you will not benefit from VED exemption until January 2015. Presumably, you will be able to cash in your tax disc but, to clarify the situation, the Federation of British Historic Clubs is on the case. The worrying thing for me, however, is that in less than 20 years’ time, vehicles such as the Renault Twingo, Nissan Quest and, that old favourite, the Kia Sephia will officially be classified as classics. What a scary thought that is. I can’t wait for the NSRA to follow suit and introduce a rolling 40-year-old cut-off date for show field acceptance at the Supernats!