British automobile term...what is MoT?

I saw "MoT" in the magazine "Practical Classics' this month and was just wondering what it meant. Thanks to anyone who can help.

And if anyone out there wants to buy me a nice vintage car, that silver MG A would do just fine, thanks!

http://www.AcronymFinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=MOT&String=exact&p=ol

...and off the top of my head, Method of Transportation might fit. what *is the context anyway?

Testing Time

Simple pre-MoT checks can save you time and money each year, about one-third of cars over three years old
fail their annual MoT test first time round.

Many failures are caused by minor defects that owners could have spotted and put right before putting their
cars up for the MoT test. Follow the steps below and you could save a wasted test fee, repair costs and delay
in getting your car through the MoT.

Yes, it's one of these quaint usages. It used to refer to the Ministry of Transport, which I am not even sure exists anymore (at least under that name). It was then applied to the MoT Test, the car inspection for roadworthiness, which then became elided to the form of "the MOT" being universally understood to refer to the test itself, or even the certificate you gain for the vehicle passing the test. From a vast body of civil servants to a piece of paper!

> It was then applied to the MoT Test, the car inspection for roadworthiness, which then became elided to the form of "the MOT" being universally understood to refer to the test itself, or even the certificate you gain for the vehicle passing the test. From a vast body of civil servants to a piece of paper!

Exactly the same consequence has occured here in Germany with the joint concern with handles automobile testing. The now privatised T�V AG (Technischer �berwachungs-Verein, Aktien Gesellschaft) tests practically every type of private or industrial piece of machinery, from nuclear reactors to lifts, yet to Joe Bloggs (or rather 'Heinz M�ller') 'T�V' is just what his car has to pass every three years in order to prevent him getting stopped on the Autobahn.

Sag'a mal! S'only three measly little words - I think I'll get away with it this time, Max.

aside: I am very happy with this new, stream-lined layout