Two categories, two different tests
Left-hand drive vehicles qualify by age and steering position. Individually constructed vehicles (ICVs) qualify by how they were built and by passing the Department’s inspections. Both need a section 163AA exemption, and that is about where the similarity ends.
| Left-hand drive | Individually constructed vehicle | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 25 years since 1 January of the year of manufacture (clause 1.4) | No age test; it is a new vehicle (clause 1.12) |
| Steering | Wheel to the left of the longitudinal axis (clause 1.4) | Not left of centre (clause 1.12) |
| Exemption | Left-Hand Drive Exemption, including any modifications outside those permitted (clause 1.5) | Exemption specifying it is an ICV, or Department records confirming it (clause 1.13) |
| Before the Scheme | Exemption from the Department’s Vehicle Standards division | All required Department inspections, and categorised as registrable (clause 1.11) |
| Motorbikes | Not stated in the Code | Includes a motorbike or motor trike (clauses 1.12, 1.13) |
| Trailers and heavy vehicles | Not stated in the Code | Not a trailer; gross vehicle mass under 4.5 tonnes (clause 1.12) |
| In the Scheme since | Minimum age cut from 30 to 25 years in July 2022 | 16 November 2023 |
All clause references are to the Code. Clubs whose members own imports, one-off builds, or both, will see vehicles in both columns, and often historic and street rod vehicles as well.
Left-hand drive vehicles
A left-hand drive vehicle is one with its steering wheel left of the longitudinal axis, made at least 25 years ago counting from 1 January of its year of manufacture (the Code, clause 1.4). The 25-year rule rolls forward each year, so a club built around imported cars sees a new model year become eligible every 1 January.
The exemption carries more weight here than in the historic category. Every left-hand drive vehicle needs a Left-Hand Drive Exemption, as a Certificate of Exemption or other exemption under section 163AA of the Road Traffic Act 1961, and where it applies, the exemption must include any modifications beyond those the Act permits (the Code, clause 1.5). An imported car that has been changed since it landed may need its exemption to say so.
Imported street rods are a special case. A rod over 25 years old with left-hand steering can be registered as a left-hand drive vehicle if it meets clauses 1.4 and 1.5 (the Code, clause 1.7). The street rod clubs page covers the right-hand drive street rod category.
Individually constructed vehicles
An ICV is a new, one-off vehicle built to an individual plan or design, with a new body and chassis and a new VIN (the Code, clauses 1.11 and 1.12). Its parts may come from production vehicles, but the vehicle itself must not be a production vehicle, a heavily modified one, or one with its body or chassis replaced.
The order of events matters. An ICV must go through all the Department’s required inspections and be categorised as a registrable vehicle before the owner seeks Scheme registration (the Code, clause 1.11). Its exemption must say it is an individually constructed vehicle, or the Department’s records must confirm it (clause 1.13). Only then does the club’s authorised person come into it.
ICVs have been part of the Scheme since 16 November 2023, so they are the newest category. Members who have been building for years may only now be bringing their vehicles to the club for approval.
What your authorised person checks
The authorised person’s job is the same for every category: confirm the applicant is a financial member, then complete the MR334 with the vehicle’s mandatory details. Those are the eligibility category, plate number, make, body type, year, and chassis or VIN (the Code, clause 2.8).
For these two categories, the category entry needs the most care. A vehicle that started life as a production car is not an ICV however much work has gone into it, and a left-hand drive vehicle under 25 years old is not eligible at all. If the category is unclear or disputed, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles decides (the Code, clause 1.14).
The owner then takes the MR1, the MR334 and their original exemption documents to a Service SA customer service centre (the Code, clause 3.3). If the MR334 is refused because of incorrect information, only the authorised person may alter it (clause 3.4). And as with every category, the authorised person cannot approve their own vehicle (clause 2.11).
Same duties, whatever the category
Once a left-hand drive vehicle or an ICV is on the Scheme, the club treats it like any other Scheme vehicle. The category decides how a vehicle gets in, not how the club looks after it.
The owner must stay a financial member at all times and may use the vehicle for no more than 90 days in each 12 months of registration (the Code, clause 3.5). The club issues a log book after checking the owner is financial and owns an eligible vehicle (clause 2.27), cancels it if the member resigns (clause 2.29), and includes the vehicle in the yearly reports like every other. If the owner sells it, the conditional registration ends and the club cancels the log book (clause 4.9).
What the club keeps
The club keeps records of every MR334 it issues and of all financial members and their Scheme vehicles (the Code, clause 2.1g), for five years from the date of each document (clause 2.39).
MemberCrew records each vehicle against its owner with the plate, make, model, year, colour, engine number and capacity, body type and VIN, and whether it has historic registration. For an ICV, the new VIN is the identifier that matters. For an import, the year of manufacture tells you when the 25 years began.
Each vehicle record also has a notes field, where the club can note the vehicle’s category and the details of its section 163AA exemption. The exemption documents themselves stay with the owner, who carries them with the vehicle (the Code, clause 3.5).
Each Scheme vehicle carries its log book history, with every book shown as current, expired or cancelled, and a member’s financial status sits on the same record. The financial members guide explains why that status matters for every category, and the vehicles and log books feature shows the register itself.