australia vehicle
Would it be legal to drive/own an Sd.kfz 250 in Australia?
<p>As the title suggests, I would like to know if it would be legal under Australian law, I am not too sure about the law and Halftracks.</p>

<p>I would also like to add, this vehicle is capable of the speeds you would see commonly in most suburbs of Australia, it's just not capable of highway speeds, though the road layouts would allow for you to navigate without the use of freeways, it has a theoretical speed of 76 km/h provided by an Inline-Six, 4.17 liter Maybach HL 42 TKRM engine that can output 74 kW, which powers the rear track assembly. </p>

<p>Though going highspeed over bumps would not be comfortable at high speed, as the rear suspension is provided by torsion bars and don't serve to absorb shock, while the front axles are tended to by Leaf Springs, which again would not be too comfortable.</p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sd.Kfz._250" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-236-1036-31%2C_Russland%2C_Sch%C3%BCtzenpanzer_auf_Feld.jpg" alt=""></a></p>

<p>Also, would and Sd.kfz 222 be legal too? This vehicle unlike the above does have four wheels, 3.8 Liter Horch V8 Petrol and weighs in at around 5 metric tons.</p>

<p>As mentioned in the comments, the simple answer is 'probably not' because you probably haven't yet gotten around to taking your halftrack in to get the necessary paperwork to demonstrate eligibility for registration, even if said halftrack was eligible for registration.</p>

<p>I'm also going to confine this answer to whether you can legally drive the halftrack on public roads. I am not aware of any special laws about merely owning a halftrack that (say) you keep on a farm as decoration, but in any case I think you are more interested in whether the vehicle in question can be registered.</p>

<p>Vehicle registration standards are (mostly) dealt with under State and territory law. I can give you an answer for Victoria, to at least illustrate the issues and where to look for answers. However, (at least some of) the relevant standards appear to be uniform across Australia.</p>

<p>The starting point is that it is an offence to operate a vehicle on a public road without registering said vehicle: Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic), s 7.</p>

<p>The Act provides that:</p>

<ul>
<li>the Regulations may prescribe how registration is applied for and granted or refused: s 9; and</li>
<li>the Minister may prescribe standards for registration by notice in the Gazette: s 10.</li>
</ul>

<p>The standards cover "the construction, efficiency, performance, safety, design and equipment of, and the method of identifying" vehicles.</p>

<p>I'm not good at searching Gazettes so I'm going to wave my hand over a gap and skip straight to things like:</p>

<ul>
<li>'Guide to Modifications for Motor Vehicles' on the VicRoads website (VicRoads being the road traffic authority in Victoria, the government agency in charge of registering vehicles): <a href="https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/~/media/files/documents/safety-and-road-rules/vsinumber8guidetomodificationsformotorvehicles.ashx?la=en" rel="nofollow">https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/~/media/files/documents/safety-and-road-rules/vsinumber8guidetomodificationsformotorvehicles.ashx?la=en</a></li>
<li>'National Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Construction and Modification (NCOP)', which is an Australia-wide document: <a href="https://infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/vsb_ncop.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/vsb_ncop.aspx</a></li>
</ul>

<p>This is one of those areas where you probably need a mechanic more than a lawyer.</p>

<p>Once you have satisfied yourself that your halftrack meets the applicable standards, you need to go and get a 'VASS Approval Certificate' ('Vehicle Assessment Signatory Scheme') from a certified tester and then register the vehicle with VicRoads.</p>

<p>Happy driving!</p>
