Etienne presentation as new member

[etinvintagecars]

Good morning,
A few words to present an old lady and a new member.
I live in the south of Belgium, 59 years old and I love since years and years all the rare english cars without distinction: Gordon Keeble, Bristol, Alvis, Jensen, Sunbeam, Jaguar  and ...Rover.
I made my passion my 2nd work when  I was 54. Not to make money but to share with friends ans lovers.

I will need you help.
I took yesterday some risks...
I bough a Zirkon blue P5 RHD 1969 without V5 and I know whats it means.
This old lady is not so bad but would ask some attention. 

My 1st questions:
Is this car known in the club ?
How can I find the history of the car with the plate number who is TCP637L if possible ?
Wha'ts the way to obtain a copy of a V5  in Swansea ?

VIN number is today unknown but we will find it ASAP.

Thanks all for help,
Etienne

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[PeterMadden]

Hello Etienne,

Welcome to the forum.

The best person to ask if the car is known to the Club is the membership secretary, he may know of the car.

It is possible to check the MOT history of a car on the DVLA website, TCP637L is NOT known to the DVLA site, so that could be a real problem depending on what you believe the history of the car to be. That site is here;

www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

Guidance on obtaining a V5 is here;
www.gov.uk/vehicle-log-book

but the fact, on an initial check, the number plate doesn't appear to be known may well cause you a problem.

I would check the history with the vendor and if you haven't yet paid proceed with some caution.

Cheers

Peter

[Sam Bee]

I have another observation. It was sold as a 1969 car but 'L' suffix is August 1972 to August 1973.

[tonys]

The registration series TCP ..L was issued by the Halifax registration office, from December 1972 to May 1973.

Looking at the front number plate, it wouldn't surprise me if it's not the (an) original one, it's difficult to tell with the picture resolution but it certainly looks to be quite an old one.

Back in the day, IIRC until about 1984, it was common practice to issue a car that was being registered in the UK for the first time with a then-current registration number, ie if imported from Channel Islands, or released from military service etc etc.. There were none of the present 'can't make the car appear newer than it is' rules then. The VIN would obviously be a good starting point.

Congratulations, an unusual car in Belgium I would think.

[Sam Bee]

Etienne, I just occurred to me that if you have the chassis number (plate on the car) you can get a certificate with car details from British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at Gaydon. On British Motor Museum website you can apply online for a 'Heritage Certificate' - for a fee of course.

[harvey]

Jan 19, 2020 15:16:31 GMT Sam Bee said:

I have another observation. It was sold as a 1969 car but 'L' suffix is August 1972 to August 1973.

It may have had a personal number attached to it when new and for whatever reason (car or number sold, or number transferred), it was issued with the current registration at that time. This obviously made the car look newer than it was, a situation that continued up until 1982 whern age related registrations were issued in the same circumstances.

[tonys]

etinvintagecars

I've now found an advert for the car up for auction on 31 January, which indicates a UK barn find with original invoice, which should make things easier. Just out of interest, are you the seller or have you bought it before the auction?

[tonys]

Jan 19, 2020 15:35:09 GMT harvey said:

Jan 19, 2020 15:16:31 GMT Sam Bee said:

I have another observation. It was sold as a 1969 car but 'L' suffix is August 1972 to August 1973.

It may have had a personal number attached to it when new and for whatever reason (car or number sold, or number transferred), it was issued with the current registration at that time. This obviously made the car look newer than it was, a situation that continued up until 1982 whern age related registrations were issued in the same circumstances.

Harvey, good point. I'd forgotten about the possibility of the first registration being a personal/cherished number.

[dhb5610]

Is it possible that it was bought and paid for in 69 but stored for what ever reason until 72/73 and registered.

[etinvintagecars]

Thanks all for you reply.
A lot of very good suggestions and ideas.

The car will be at home end of this week, i ll begin by searching some VIN/identification numbers
Auction was last week and not on jan 31th.
I'm the new owner.
For sure, there are not a lot of P5 in Belgium.

Best regards,
Etienne

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[etinvintagecars]

Good morning all,
The car is now at home.
I come back with the 2 documents I've  find until today.
The frame plate:    6200
We can read ' Halifax' on the 2 licence discus from years 77 and 78.

Questions:
Can we make a link between frame number ans plate identification ?
Can we search in database to retrieve the car in Halifax ?

Thanks all,
Etienne

Attachments:

[PeterMadden]

Hello Etienne,

Sorry I don't recognise the 6200 number it is not the chassis number, another more knowledgeable member may be able to advise what that relates to.

With the chassis number you can apply to BMIHT for a heritage certificate;
www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates

I don't think Halifax will have any local vehicle records they were all transferred to DVLA at Swansea who are now reluctant to disclose history I'm afraid.

Cheers

Peter

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Feb 5, 2020 11:23:30 GMT PeterMadden said:

Hello Etienne,

Sorry I don't recognise the 6200 number it is not the chassis number, another more knowledgeable member may be able to advise what that relates to.

With the chassis number you can apply to BMIHT for a heritage certificate;
www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates

I don't think Halifax will have any local vehicle records they were all transferred to DVLA at Swansea who are now reluctant to disclose history I'm afraid.

Cheers

Peter

As far as I know Peter and Etienne that number given is just the body pressing number and has no relevance to the chassis number or the car reg.

[etinvintagecars]

Thanks Peter.
The excellent book 'Rover P5 and P5B the complete story  by James Taylor talked about  2 differents numbers.
the chassis number on a plate is  840- xxxxx. This plate is (was) on the front left hand door pillar.
They talked also about body numbers. This # 6200 is I think the body number.

Objective is than to make a link between body and VIN

I can dream

[PeterMadden]

Etienne,

I presume that the chassis plate is not there from your comments?

If you search this forum for ‘chassis number location’ members more knowledgeable than I suggest that the plate was the only location where the chassis number was recorded.

You could contact the DVLA to see if they can assist, the fact you have the tax discs show it was recorded on their records at some point. Whilst I know they are cautious about releasing information about previous owners they might consider releasing chassis details if you explain the plate is missing and you just want to discover the build history from BMIHT.

The Club does have a DVLA liaison officer who might be able to offer some assistance contact details in Take Five.

Cheers

Peter

[tonys]

I've just seen the photos used for the auction and I see that it has the later ignition swich on the column, so that would date it to 1971 onwards. It still has the black sills, often missed when cars are restored/resprayed (and was missed even back in the late-70s), looks to be on Avon Turbospeed crossplies, both number plates are original style and format for the age, the interior looks reasonably well preserved, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's not largely original. The coach lines look fairly original to me as well, as does the MW/LW radio.

I would guess that the 1969 listing is an error and that the number plates match the age of the car.

It may well not be showing on DVLA at the moment if it was put off the road in the late 1970s/very early 80s; I can't remember exactly when DVLA started transferring details from local registration offices but it was some time in the 1970s and finished in 1983; many cars fell through the net and weren't recorded. Of course, as the vehicle isn't in the UK that complicates things a little but in the UK it is possible to apply to DVLA to re-register a car that hasn't been taxed since 1983 if things such as pre-1983 tax discs, old registration documents etc are available as proof of the original registration number.

The site I found had the auction bids/bidders, our secret - I think you did quite well there

[etinvintagecars]

Thanks Tonys, Peter,
In a nutshell, 
L suffix is 73. 
Car specs mean that the car is not a 1969 but well a > 71.
Car is well interesting becauses seems original and never touched.
Car was registrated in Halifax and DLVA would have some historic tracking of this plate 

I just send a mail to DLVA to re-register the car.

we are laking goos progress.

* car seems perfect on picture but needs a huge metal sheet job, unfortunately


Have a nice day,
Etienne 

[etinvintagecars]

Hi all,
some news.
I 've send a 'V62 case' to DLVA.
I hope they will find back some old registration and a chassis number for me.

Good WE all,
Etienne