When i worked for Fiat, years back, it was not uncommon, to have cars, still in their delivery wax, registered for the road, upto 4 years, after they were built. Some of the cars, were canabilised, to fix other vehicles, so slowly, the cars interior, and exterior, would disappear!
Near where i lived, was a Rover dealer, that had a compound in a small industrial estate. The MK2 Metro had been out for around 8 years, yet stuck in the corner, was a unregistered MK1 model. Wonder what happened to that? A real timewarp.
I believe, still in the midlands, are huge storage areas of unregistered cars, from Ford, Vauxhall, and even Rover, that have never been registered. And remember the canceled Rover Maestro Diesels, destined for China, that went on sale, around 2-3 years after the car had officially been replaced.
Andy.