Missing archive makes dating car impossible?

[going_downhill]

So, I've made an internet enquiry to the British Motor Museum to find out the build date of my car and the response was that this build record is missing from their archive so they are unable to date the car.

What would your next action be? Can they date officially from engine numbers? Assuming its the original! I'll be having a dig tonight and hoping its beneath the inlet/airbox as i've seen on another thread.

The cars a TWFLC chassis numbered 1850HL.

Heres me thinking this would be straightforward, just my luck!

[SprintMWU773V]

There was no record for mine either. The engine number may be of some use but will not be definitive with regards to the date of the finished car. For DVLA purpsoes for example they will only go on the date of the complete car, not the components.

[going_downhill]

There was no record for mine either. The engine number may be of some use but will not be definitive with regards to the date of the finished car. For DVLA purpsoes for example they will only go on the date of the complete car, not the components.

Whats your plan then? Just go by the date of first registration? I guess this is proof enough of its age and they dont NEED a heritage certificate. It just means I will have to pay tax for yet another year.. Mine was registered Jan 18th 1980 so should really be exempt April 2020 assuming the build date would have come back before Jan 1st which i think is pretty likely. But at this rate I'll probably have to wait until April 2021!

Its a bit of a let down not being able to obtain the information. I was looking forward to getting the certifcate to take a look at! Not just to save a few quid.

[going_downhill]

Any other way it can be proved or do any other records even exist?

[SprintMWU773V]

TBH I just wanted the certificate!

[xvivalve]

Those VIN numbers were commenced on 01 September 1979 and the numerical part was consecutive irrespective of model. As we know the last chassis number and date production ceased, we can interpolate a rough build date for you...

[going_downhill]

Those VIN numbers were commenced on 01 September 1979 and the numerical part was consecutive irrespective of model. As we know the last chassis number and date production ceased, we can interpolate a rough build date for you...

Sounds good! Pic below.

[xvivalve]

The last number was 113504 with production ending in August '80, so in a 12 month period your car was the 2062nd of 13503 built, so I'd date it somewhere around the end of October '79

[Galileo]

There was not a standard VIN format until 1981 but believe the 9th digit on Triumphs is the age, so as yours is 'A' it's 1980.

TWTLD5AT110402 (PaulB) Manufactured 21-24th June 1980, so your car was before then.

Last Dolomite (at Gaydon) VIN is TWTLD5AT113504

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11887&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Edit:typo

[xvivalve]

They all had A as the 9th digit, even those made in '79!

[georgethompson730]

Out of curiosity do we as a club know how many cars were made each year? I would be especially interested in the number built in last year. Mine being number 111073, there can't be many younger. Definitely going to treat myself to a heritage certificate.

[Galileo]

Sorry Alun, would not have duplicated what you said, but started typing and then tried to find a source to back up what I remembered! The date digit thing (not 9th either) backs up that the Triumph VIN was not really a VIN in the world wide standard way that we take them as meaning today!

Found what I was looking for, not sure where I got this from though as a source, obviously not TDC forum:

First character
T= Triumph

Second character
F= Spitfire
P= TR7

Third character
A= EU
V= US
Z= California
L= Canadian
K= Australian

Fourth character
D= Convertible
E= Coupe

Fifth character
W= 1500cc
J= 2000cc
V= 3500cc

Sixth character
1= RHD
2= LHD
5= RHD, Overdrive
6= LHD, Overdrive

Seventh character
9= 1979
A= 1980
B= 1981

Eighth character
T= Canley
A= Solihull

Did Triumph use a completely different VIN style for the Dolomite than the Spitfire? I mean it sort of fits if you take the first numeric digit.

[Carledo]

Well it's a long shot, but if you can find car with a Vin a bit LATER than yours and a heritage ticket showing a 79 build date (which with a Jan 18th DOFR is, I would say, a raving certainty, my Toledo from the heyday of production was registered Jan 11th 74, the heritage cert showed a build date of Dec 3rd 73) I successfully used this to get my free VED a year earlier.

But whether DVLA will accept such evidence is another matter entirely, I suspect NOT, purely because it's not in their interest to do it!

When we ball park a VIN (or comm number) we merely take the known number of vehicles produced in a year and divide by 12 to get a best guess month (and week if you like) But in the last year of production, it's a safe bet that the last few months were running down, so more than the monthly average number of cars were built in the early part of the last year. I'd date 2062 to late August or early September of 79, but it's just an educated guess!

Steve

[going_downhill]

Thanks for the input guys. Appreciate your efforts.

I guess it's as Carledo says. Find it's nearest siblings, I guess I could contact Gaydon about this and see where their Tw prefixs end and start. I doubt the DVLA will accept the findings even if I get ideal results. But it'll keep me busy and be the best course of action.


A night's sleep has made me realise it's just a years tax. No stress really. As long as the law doesn't change again and royaly screw me over!

[gmsclassics]

I don't think anything is going to help you getting DVLA to accept any comparative data, but as mine was first registered almost exactly twelve months before (16 Jan 79) I thought you might be interested in the comparison.

First registered 16 Jan 79
Date of despatch 8 Jan 79 (to management Car Plan, BL Meteor Works, Solihull - BL manager company car)
Date of Build 18 October 78

Like you I was convinced it would be made in the year prior, but was surprised just how far back into that year it was.

At least the money I saved on the 'tax' for a year covered the cost of the certificate and postage.

Incidentally the manager who was allocated the car subsequently bought it off BL, brought it to NZ and I bought it off him back in '99.

Geoff