[TR] VIN vs Commission number vs Engine number

[John Macartney]

Hi, Chris
I am in no way promoting the services of BMIHT at Gaydon, UK - but
your dilemma is one where I think BMIHT can help you. When I worked there some
10 or so years back, I saw many examples of enthusiasts faced with your
problem and there are probably ways that BMIHT can provide useful input. Over
the years, the build records of The Standard Motor Company varied in terms of
information appearing on 'production tallies' and later versions were often
less informative than earlier ones, though the reverse applied as well.
My
recommendation is you ask BMIHT to provide you with either a Heritage
Certificate (or an alternative document  as a statement) which gives
commission number, engine number, body number, gearbox and axle numbers and
anything else that can be found relating to your car. As it's been in the same
family since new - and you could probably attest to this with a notarised
statement for NC DMV, BMIHT can 'sort' a car's details on an engine number to
validate an commission number - though this does take longer to do. There is
plenty of evidence down the last 60 odd years (from info coming from
enthusiasts) that one or more numbers could well have been misread or badly
handwritten when the car was first titled.
Be aware too, that Standard Motor
Co rarely (if ever) had an engine number matching a commission number and also
be aware that cars were not necessarily built in sequential commission number
sequence as so many falsely believe to be the case. 
Good luck

Jonmac
http://standard-triumph-books.co.uk/ 


>________________________________
>
From: Chris Simo <ccsimonsen at gmail.com>
>To: list Triumph
<triumphs at autox.team.net> 
>Sent: Tuesday, 10 January 2012, 12:03
>Subject:
[TR] VIN vs Commission number vs Engine number
> 
>I have good news I think.
>
>I finally got the TR2 to the point where I felt I could drive it by DMV for
>it's inspection that NC requires for older cars prior to giving you the
>title.  Thought this was just a no-brainer.
>
>So in final preparation, I
decided to make an attempt to clean the 5 or 6
>layers of paint and gunk and
grime from the Commision number plate that was
>totally not legible - and  it
did not match the registration and expected
>Title number.
>
>I had a
suggestion to simply make a new commission plate with the number I
>had - but
others said absolutely not - NC is not sympathetic at all to
>tampering with a
Commission plate - big trouble like 20 years trouble
>according to one
inspector.
>
>So - I was going to have to go down the lost title route - until
another
>friend said - just try to find the number anywhere on the car -
inside or
>out it may lead to a simpler updating of the VIN number -  I
scraped off
>some of the gunk from the engine block and found my number on the
engine.
>
>After some googling it seems that it was common practice in some
states in
>the 50's and earlier  to use the engine number vs body number for
title
>assignment purposes.   I think I'm going to be ok. It would be
difficult to
>prove without a bunch of title searches but the car has been in
the family
>since it was purchased - so that helps my blood pressure as well.
>
>Anyone have any additional advice here in terms of preparation for my trip
>to DMV for inspection?
>
>Thanks  Chris
>
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