Mike, et al;
Commission numbers, chassis numbers, VIN and engine numbers would
probably never have been identical. Consider: Commission numbers
were assigned to the car sequentially. Not all cars received a VIN,
as VIN is a US/North American requirement. VIN was also sequential,
but since the VIN is sequential on a different rate, they wouldn't
correspond. Engine numbers might have varied by whether or not the
engine number was assigned before final testing. If it was assigned
during build, and the engine failed final test, another engine might
have been dropped in instead.
I have owned my '73 Spitfire since 1975. The commission number is
FM4879U, the original engine was FM4987UE. The gearbox, differential,
and body number were different once again.
The factory kept good records, but they weren't concerned with
"matching" numbers. They were more concerned with building cars.
As far as the thread about dealers changing commission plates, as
Al says to Tim: "I don't think so." The dealer didn't give a fig
if the commission plate said that the car had a black, brown, red,
green or yellow interior. He wanted to sell cars. I also think that
to change the commission plate was/is illegal.
As far as the '71/'72 question is concerned, it is probably the same
problem as that on TR3s. Back before the 14/17 digit VINs, there was
no way of telling when a car was really built without going to factory
records. If a dealer came to the end of the model year without selling
all of his inventory, the DMV/Secretary of State just put the current
calendar year as the year of manufacture. You can't tell the difference
between many of the cars unless you are an afficionado. They weren't
like the Yank Tanks of yester-year where the manufacturer made a big
deal of bigger - wider - lower and you could tell the difference between
a '64, '65 or a '66.
Doug Mitchell
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