Why do you need to tax it if its on your drive? Declare it SORN and that's it. By 'road' they mean public highway, and public highway must be adopted by the local authority, which your drive isn't, it's private property. Also, on the classic car tax exemption, the law actually states manufactured before XX date (i believe its march 1973, not january). So even if the car just misses the date, if you can prove its date of manufacture then its still tax exempt. Classic car tax exemption does not get you out of displaying a tax disc either, the law still states that you must display a valid tax disc, which is still the case with classic cars, you just do't need to pay for it.