Enthusiasts of historic vehicles in France have convinced the Paris city government to make an exemption for specific classic cars, according to a new release from the Federation Interationale des Vehicules Anciens (FIVA).
Per the FIVA, vehicles 30 years old or tagged with a special collectible gray card registration will be permitted in Paris at all times. Standard gray card vehicles will remain banned, as will sufficiently old vehicles younger than 30 years. There are, however, conversations scheduled with local officials to pursue exemptions for these vehicles as well.
While the old car ban was announced last year, it has only been finalized recently and will be implemented starting July 1. It officially bans vehicles made before 1997 from the streets of Paris between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm during weekdays as a way to fight air pollution, which has been steadily increasing in the city. The ban is expected to get even stricter by 2020, which will see it include all vehicles made before 2011.
The negotiation between FIVA’s French arm and Paris’ government could be influential in helping other cities make the same exemption for classic cars. Gautam Sen, FIVA’s vice president of external relations said that an old-car ban would happen differently for each city and that others are watching Paris to see how they approach the ban. FIVA also partnered with UNESCO to bolster their cause for preserving automotive history, but the latter hasn’t influenced talks with Paris’ government. The organization is also hoping to parlay UNESCO’s endorsement as a way to preserve sites of high importance to automotive history, as well as to ease restrictions on importing and exporting historic vehicles worldwide.
A new report from Autocar reveals that the old-car ban in Paris will affect around 10 percent of the vehicles in the city. Motorcycles will also be affected once the ban gets stricter. Only motorcycles registered after July 2015 will have access to central Paris by 2020. Autocar also cites a report quoting Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo condemning diesel vehicles, saying that the older ones emit the most pollution, but that the filters in modern diesel cars aren’t even able to remove all of the harmful particles.
One of the benefits of the old-car ban is that it can boost France’s domestic auto industry if other cities follow Paris’ lead. France’s government has already revealed that it may offer incentives of up to 10,000 euros, which is roughly $10,981, to owners of older diesel-powered vehicles who switch to EVs, similar to a “cash-for-clunkers” type of deal. Low-interest loans are also in the cards to get people out of older cars and into new ones with downsized turbocharged gas engines. Paris follows Berlin in banning older vehicles from meandering through the city center, after the German city implemented the measure almost five years ago.
The post Classic Cars Get Exemption from Paris’ Old-Car Ban appeared first on Motor Trend.
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