Article The only garage you need to know © Oakdene Autos 2006 All rights reserved Home About Us  Gallery  Articles  Contact Us A brief History of the MOT Test During the 1950's it became apparent that more and more vehicles of all shapes and sizes  were becoming un-roadworthy and dangerous as they clocked up more and more miles. In  1960 in order to rectify this growing problem, Ernest Marples who was the Minister of Transport  at the time set up a system that involved all vehicles over 10 years old having some basic  safety check done every year. These checks involved brakes, lights and steering. This was  called the Ministry of Transport Test hence the name MOT, more generally known at the time as  the Ten Year Test. By 1967 the rules were progressively changed so that vehicles over 3 years  old rather than ten should have the test. As time went on, the test became more stringent  checking all the safety aspects of the vehicles and the list of checks has lengthened to include  emissions testing and is still getting longer. As cars become more advanced so the MOT Test  becomes more sophisticated.  Sitemap