N_Carey

First thanks for this forum and all the threads! This sites a great tool.

Will my '79 with true duel exhaust and all the emissions non sense deleted pass German inspection for "Historical" plates? Thanks in advance.

jaxlt1

I'm not sure what Germany has for emission requirements. Judging by your avatar you must be military. Let me say. "Thank you for your service and God bless you and your family".

surfertom

i was in germany [army] in 1971-72 , at that time there was no inspection or emissions test for cars owned by americans in the military. things could have changed , your company commander should be able to get you the information you need. back then alot of guys brought there cars over. hope this helps , tom

71scgc

I was stationed in Germany 1984-88 and 94-97. You should be exempt from most of the German inspection protocols. Again, that's MOST. Any safety related issues will fail you. As will heavy rust with perforations.
Things change though, so don't take this as gospel.
Carter

zwede

Could be a problem that the car is not road legal anywhere in the US?

71scgc

Also, there are no "historical" plates for U.S. forces personnel.

540 vette

Why isn't it road legal in the US. The car is 34 years old. I don't think many states emission check a 34 year old car. I know in NY they didn't even look at my 80 for emissions, just safety.

zwede

Doesn't matter what the states do or do not do. Federal law says all cars 1968 and later must be emissions compliant. Removing the cat con makes it violate the fed law. Technically it is not road legal anywhere in the country (but usually you get away with it).

Don't know what (if anything) the Germans think of all that. Maybe they don't care as long as it's US military?

HOOAH

I had a friend of mine who had a 75 over there in the mid to late 80's. He had a hard time getting it to pass. He finally was able to get the sticker but I believe he ended up having a new exhaust system put on it. as 71scgc said, there are no historical plates in germany. All US Military get the same plate for all vehicles. From what I remember, they do not care who you are or what you're driving. they stick to the pass/fail criteria. Hell, they even wanted to do a brake test on a brand new Harley I had delivered through AAFES by going 30 or so KPH and locking up the brakes.

Now, with all that being said, I would talk to someone there at Hood who just came back from Germany and get the latest info. As I said, I was over there from 84 to 89 (Schweinfurt) and things could have changed but doubtful when it comes to emissions stuff.

Terry

PaPaPork

Of course there are historical plates in Germany, they have a prefix "H" for historical. Cars have to be 30 years old or older, some mods are acceptable but these are mostly safety related.

Since the author specified historical plates I would assume he is not interested in US personnel plates for reason he did not explain...

540 vette

So why dosen't the federal government enforce it.

N_Carey

Thank you for all the responses!

Germany has changed a lot. They stopped the US plates because Service Members (SM's) were getting targeted by the German Police and possible terrorists. Before posting I did contact USEUR CAR (RMV for SM's there) and they confirmed I would need German "H" plates but would give me no further guidance. The "H" plate is the golden ticket, if any, because of the emissions exemptions but from what I've read online you gotta go thru the Spanish Inquisition to get it.

The car has passed insp. for the past two years... but I am interested to know why the fed reg doesn't get enforced ?

Thanks for the support and replies, and a thank you for your past service to all the vet's that posted.

leadfoot4

I had a late 70s Trans Am for a LONG time, and it had an "off road" exhaust system for most of that time. I got inspection stickers, but I had to know where to go, if you know what I mean....

71scgc

You've done good research, calling USAREUR and all. All us oldtimers can do is "latrine lawyer this mess. It doesn't surprise me that they are running local plates now, force reductions and all. Just not enough personnel there to justify the cost of the USAREUR plates of the past.
I think I still have some USAREUR plates somewhere. They were kinda cool...
I was in Kitzingen the first tour, Heidelberg the second. Enjoy, and drink many Hefeweizens!
Carter

HOOAH

Or make a stop at Class VI beforehand.

Terry

WICKEDFRC

German laws in regard to American spec vehicles tightened up when I was last in country, 2007-2009.

Absolutely no tint on driver /passenger window.

Exhaust MUST have mufflers..I squeaked by without CATS, but suggest you prepare before hand rather than after you arrive. Since I shipped my POV with B&B Bullets (No mufflers), I failed easily.

Also, study in advance for the USAREUR License. People do fail the test and the test is a bit more complicated than a US driver's test. They have all sorts of weird road signs and laws in regard to "who has priority" at intersections. This includes "WTF" scenarios when faced with horse drawn buggies, and other oddities not normally scene on US Streets. (Well, maybe in an Amish community).

Also, if you have only summer tires and arrive seasonally in witer, you will fail. You must have M&S tires (at minimum) for winter driving.

Pick up a First Aid kit as well as Warning Triangle kit. This is part of the inspection.

Make sure you TEST your Emergency Brake in 1st gear, rolling at idle speed. If your E-Brake does not stop the car from rolling forward, you will fail.

Make sure when you register vehicle, you attach the front plate during inspection. A plate on your dashboard or in your hand will not do. It must be secured to the vehicle.

Make sure your insurance company authorizes the transfer from US to overseas. You may be required what is called an Insurance "Green Card". Most often, your rates will increase overseas.

Unsure how the traffic infractions now affect military personnel, but, there are an unbelievable amount of photo radar all over. Even at the most strangest locations. Most at red lights, but some are suspended over bridges by wire, and, some are built into guard rails. Beware, the Polzei also use binoculars with laser radar. They see you a mile of so away and zap your ***. Then when you roll up, they are waving you to pull over. Once you pass inspection, I suggest removing the front plate. Yeah, its against German law, but you are not German. Haha. When you get flashed, the Germans must associate a photo of driver with a front license plate. Eliminate the plate, eliminate the possibility of a ticket.

Good luck

leadfoot4

OK, you got me with that one...What's "class VI"?

EASYGEAR

***Hi there ***

Thought this is the right time to get registered as new forum member instead of just always reading on here.

I am Oliver from Munich, and i am having a LS-restomod-project currently beeing built at Custom Image Corvettes in South Dakota.


N_Carey, you can kick the catalysts to the garbage, you don`t need cats on C3 model-years in Germany. C4 and up you need them.
Duals are fine except your mufflers would be extremely loud.

My Flowmasters were loud as hell, so for inspections i dampened them within the long tips i had mounted on them.
If your mufflers aren`t welded to the pipes, just bring another set to swap them out for inspections.

I will have to go through the historic plate procedure once my build has been done, in my case this means some hiding of parts as much as possible . . .
For instance the LS3 stroker is not helpful when trying to get H-plates, but that is different story.

Sealed beam lamps aren`t allowed anymore, but you will get the parts at the shops here.

The important thing with a modified (even small mods) car is, do not go to the inspection on your own at any branch next to your place.
Let this be done at a shop which is repairing american cars, where the have their "own" inspector which is familiar to those cars.
That way you may save time and trouble.

True all your brakes will have to be functioning as good as they should.
But you may need them in good working order anyway, as sure you will be on the Autobahn sooner or later.

I will help you out with any info needed as much as i can.

nelson007

Hallo Oliver,
I live in Augsburg 4 to 6 months out of a year. I was going to bring my 68 L 71 to Germany last year but changed my mind due to the cost of gas and the bad mileage I get with the L71. I just bought a 1995 ZR 1 which I will bring this year to Germany. I had a friend from Vatterstatten check with the motor vehicle inspection station and they said I should not have any problems with inspection because they are not familiar with the LT 5 engine in Germany. I guess I will find out this year.
Danke,
Nelson007

EASYGEAR

Hi Nelson

Definitely a good choice with the 95 if you have cost of gas in mind !
For inspections on emissions is hard to say for me, as i don`t know if the ECM-set up for US-models was different than on the ones for Europe.

For instance with my bike, i am swapping ECM`s before going to inspections - as with my BUELL the stock ECM on my EU model produced lower emissions than the US-version i actually use, which sets air/fuel more rich.

But they have data sheets for the Corvette for sure, i think the fuel mixture is same on EU-model and US-model Vettes.

As rule of thumb could be said to do inspections in a US-car shop rather than on your own.
Doing so is TTM - saver in many cases ! ("Time Trouble Money")