# 1894 automobile passes technical inspection

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1894-automobile-passes-technical-inspection/983132>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 24, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1894-automobile-passes-technical-inspection/983132 "2023-04-24T20:24:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1894-automobile-passes-technical-inspection/983132/1 "2023-04-24T20:24:43Z")

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No English article yet, but here’s a video from last time around, when it was presumably already the oldest street-approved car there was.

[https://ww](https://ww) [w.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ4vB55z0RE](http://w.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ4vB55z0RE)

(link broken due to error concerning embedded media)

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**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1894-automobile-passes-technical-inspection/983132/2 "2023-04-26T16:10:36Z")

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In the UK, vehicles first registered more than 40 years ago and not substantially altered since then, are exempt from annual testing (and Vehicle Tax - VED). The reason is that no vehicle of that age is capable of passing the current test. There is also the assumption that cars this old are almost certainly well-looked after.

> [The London Steam Carriage](http://www.steamcar.net/brogden-1.html) was built by [Richard Trevithick](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Trevithick) in 1803 and it is considered to be the first self-propelled passenger-carrying vehicle. Although Cugnot’s steam powered vehicle predates Trevithick’s, Cugnot’s car was designed to haul artillery, not passengers.
> 
> Trevithick had built his first experimental steam carriage in 1801, which was nicknamed the “Puffing Devil”, and drove it up a hill in Camborne, Cornwall.
> 
> Trevithick drove the 1803 steam carriage through London for about 10 miles at a speed of 4 – 9 miles per hour (6.4 – 14.5 km/h). Unfortunately, the vehicle was immediately destroyed in a fire, but the original drawings that were submitted with the patent have survived.