Historic Cars Sidestep Paris Ban

Date: 10.08.2016

Way back in Issue 373 (Mar '15), we reported on Paris’ plans to restrict access to the city for older vehicles

Originally, the plan was to give any vehicle built before 1997 le fl ick from the streets of the City of Light between 8.00am and 8.00pm Monday to Friday. This curfew would clearly have had serious ramifications for collectors of classic cars.

Fortunately, French historic vehicle enthusiasts have convinced the authorities to provide an exemption to the ban for certain historic vehicles. The Fédération Française des Véhicules d’Epoque (FFVE), have reached an agreement with the city’s bu rghers to exempt historic vehicles. What’s historic and what’s old? That’s clearly a grey area, but if your car is 30 years or older and carries a grey ‘collectors’ sticker – the Carte Grise de Collection as opposed to the Carte Grise Normale tag – it will be allowed in the city at all times.

Those cars that carry the Normale registration won’t be so lucky, and those aged between 19 and 30 years old wiill continue to be banned. There’s light at the end of the tunnel for these cars though, as the FFVE has scheduled meetings to address the concerns of owners of the socalled ‘Youngtimer’ vehicles.

With other cities such as London, Hamburg, Shanghai and Mexico City weighing up the feasibility of limiting traffi c into their respective CBDs, this move has come under the microscope internationally. Gautam Sen, the FIVA vice president of external relations, believes this ruling could have broader ramifications.

"I would imagine it happens differently in each city," Sen said. "But everybody is kind of waiting for the Paris Accord, if you can call it that." As an example, he cited Delhi’s existing no-exception ban of all cars 15 years and older from that city. "Once the Paris agreement is on paper, I’d like to take that to Delhi and say, ‘This is what Paris is doing.’"

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