RDW-test and License Number
If you just imported your first old-timer and you have to wait for more than a month for the arrival of your new car you have only one thing on your mind: CRUISING !!! But, sadly, that's impossible in the Netherlands. First you have to take the hurdle of getting it approved by the RDW. This government organization will conduct a technical test to ensure your car meet the standards to safely drive on the Dutch roads. Luckily, for old-timers a different set of rules apply, e.g. pollution ruling is not a strict, window washer and seat belts are not mandatory, etc. But basic safety checks are done to check lights, brakes, suspension, steering mechanics, etc. If this test is passed you will get a APK report, Dutch title and a license number which enables you to get your license plates.
Please continue reading how I was able to achieve this milestone:
Preparation, Pseudo APK test, RDW-test and re-test ;-(, Paying BPM Tax, APK Report, License Number and Dutch Title
Luckily the Corvete '59 model has been imported before buy General Motors into Europe, therefore you don't have to pass a type-approval test for this type of car. If this would have been needed that would have cost me thousands of euros since this is an extended test and can take weeks to be done. Only the technical test need to be done by the RDW to get the needed approval. When I asked the RDW for the criteria of this test they couldn't be very specific. Some of the technicians was mumbling about passing the annual APK test (for cars older than 3 years) would be sufficient to pass the RDW-test as well but I understood that some of the APK rules didn't apply to old-timers of specific years.
A few items were told to me by other old-timer owner, e.g. replacing the fitted head lights was an obvious one but a lot of criteria were undocumented on the internet and the RDW didn't want to specify them to me when a called them to ask. Anyway, a few items where already known to me because they failed my own inspection of the car:
Brake lights didn't work
Signaling light on the rear left side sometimes didn't work
Head lights were gas filled which is not allowed in Europe
Battery was not fitted to the battery tray
One of the license plate lights didn't work properly
Emergency brake cable was touching the exhaust pipes
One of the bolts of the steering box was broken off
To ensure I would pass the RDW-test right away a ask my local garage to check the car and deliver a report with all the shortcomings. The 1st of October I checked in with garage Kleverlaan to get the car inspected, as it was a proper, annual APK test. This was the first time I had a good excuse to drive the car, it's only a pitty the garage is app. half a mile from our home but still I could try a few turns and drove around as proud as a new born king.
For the first time I was able to check underneath the car. Quickly I took the opportunity to take some pictures of this part of the car. Notice underneath the missing re-bounce straps and rear axle bumper. Enthusiastically the mechanic started to inspect the whole car, looking with his flashlight, checking all cables and tubes, shaking all rods and joins. From this inspection the following shortcomings were found:
Rear axle assembly
The fitted rear axle is not an original Corvette '59 type. It's diameter is thicker because additional holes were drilled in the lower rear shock mount plates to mount the wider U bolt onto the springs. This was done in an amateur manner so I asked the garage to fix this in a more safe way to ensure passing the RDW-test and safe driving.
Steer box bolt broken off
One of the two bolts on the steer box was broken off. Again the garage has drilled out the remaining bit of the bolt, made a new threat in the hole and replaced the missing bolt to ensure safety.
Emergency brake cable touches the exhaust pipes
The emergency brake cable was running against the exhaust pipes on both sides. This would never lead to an approval of the RDW and therefore this had to be fixed before the test. Again the local garage could provide a solution for this.
Leakage near the exhaust manifold
Probably there was a leakage near one of the exhaust manifolds. Replacing a gasket should solve this problem. Luckily this isn't an issue for the RDW-test so I was able to solve this problem in a later stage.
Leakage in the radiator
Also the radiator was leaking coolant fluid. It just leaked a bit, very slowly but enough to decide that I had to order a new, correct radiator. This was also not a problem for the RDW-test so fixing it could wait until I was planning to combine the heating/cooling repairs.
To get the car registered on my name, a title and license number we had to pass the RDW-test. As soon as the title in received we could purchase the needed license plates but first, manage to pass the test...
To get to the test your get a one day license number which allows you to drive from your home to the RDW testing station. You have to create your own license plates for that day and mount these on the car. The 15th of October we we could finally drive for app. 20 miles with our Corvette ! Very early in the morning, outside it was still dark I drove our car out of our garage. I noticed the gauge lights didn't work anymore that morning but luckily these are not part of the RDW-test for such an old car. My wife drove in front of me with her Crysler PT Cruiser (we are quite into the American cars) and I had to follow here with the same speed since I couldn't read the unlighted speedometer.
During the RDW test the technical state of the car is inspected, all the safety tests should be passed without failure. These items were checked:
Lights (parking lights, normal and high beam (incl. high and direction of the beam), rear lights, brake and signaling lights);
Power of the brakes;
Rear suspension (joins, tolerance)
Front suspension and steering mechanics (bearings, joins, tolerances, etc.)
General state of the car (e.g. electrical wiring, frame and body work)
The car was also weighted: 1320 kg. (incl. petrol).
During the test one issue was found, an item which we overlooked during our inspection in our local garage. One of the upper outer pins had a tolerance which wasn't acceptable. Directly I called CorvetteStop in the States to order a replacement kit for all the needed pins, nuts and bolts. These arrived in app. 1½ days, really amazing what UPS can do for you these days. The 24th of October we had to come back to the RDW to re-inspect this join to get the needed approval ;-(
The total cost of the RDW-test were:
| Description | Cost |
| Engrave the frame number | 55,00 € |
| RDW-test | 108,25 € |
| Title | 9,75 € |
| Weighing | 17,00 € |
| Re-test | 20,00 € |
| Total | 210,00 € |
The retest took app. 10 minutes because only the faulty join was re-inspected. Luckily we had more luck this time and the car passed the RDW-test!
Since the Corvette is older than 30 years we don't have to pay BPM tax which is sometimes as high as 35%.
The approval of the RDW counts as an annual APK test which have to be passed by all cars older than 3 years. This means that until next year October I don't have to get it tested again. As prove we received after two days the APK report which also stated our new license number: AL-58-22!
On the 29th of October we finally received the long awaited Dutch title. Directly I jumped in my Alfa to go to the local license plate manufactorer to order the 'old fashion type, black license plates' with the AL-58-22 license number (normally plates are bright yellow with black characters in the Netherlands). On the 3rd of November they finally arrived, quickly I mounted them on the Corvette and then we could start hitting the road!
