8 replies to this topic

[Ruth's Mini]

Mini Spares offers a reproduction Chassis Plate which I think is also known as the Commission Plate. When I removed it from our car I found another underneath it. The one on top is exactly the same as the Mini Spares part and is stamped with the same information as contained on the bottom plate.The bottom looks like it's as old as the car but the information is stamped into the back side.

I've attached pictures of front & back of this plate, also a picture of what I think is a much later reproduction. 

Can anyone confirm this for me?

thanks,

Brian

Attached Files

•  chassis plate - 1a.jpg   207.23K   6 downloads
•  chassis plate - 2a.jpg   136.37K   5 downloads
•  chassis plate - 3a.jpg   170.68K   2 downloads

[gazza82]

Bottom one is how they came out of the factory

[mab01uk]

Some useful info in the Minimail link here:-

"The plates were usually embossed but some were indented (stamped from above – which we can also do)." - Minimail

https://www.minimail...sis-vin-plates/

 

What year is the Mini as the newer looking Chassis Plate does not have the 1965 Seat Belt Anchorages comply info and your old one does?

It was probably changed for MOT purposes so the tester can read it.

 

From Mk1 Forum:-

"Longbridge chassis plates were pressed from behind with a horizontal dash separating any digits that were spaced out. Although both Austin and Morris maintained their own separate numbering series, this style appears to have been used on anything made at Longbridge regardless of it being Austin or Morris.
Meanwhile down the road at Cowley the Morris plates appear to be *engraved* (not stamped it seems), and a diagonal slash was used to separate digits. The body style was then stamped on afterwards in-between the first part of the ID and the car number.
The question is, on the vehicles that were made at opposing factories did the 'in house' style prevail ? In the case of Longbridge it would appear so but was an 'Austin' Saloon when assembled at Cowley fitted with an *engraved* chassis plate (with an 'M' suffix of course), or did Longbridge send down a batch of it's style of embossed plates for assembly? It's fair to say the later is unlikely as Longbridge were not known to be good communicators with Cowley, but you never know !  Elsewhere it is quoted that Cowley plates are *stamped* and this may well be the case for some but early on it would appear they were engraved ?"

 

General opinion on the Mk1 Forum was that front stamped chassis plates stopped in about 1963 - 64 and then all Austin/Morris cars shared the rear stamped "standard" chassis plate but with BMC/BL anything is often possible.......

Edited by mab01uk, 22 July 2020 - 07:19 PM.

[beardylondon]

Ignore

Edited by beardylondon, 23 July 2020 - 08:10 PM.

[Ruth's Mini]

A bit of background on our car. My daughter lived in the UK for several years and bought it in January of 2011 thinking it was a 1961, as presented by the seller. She returned to Canada in November 2012 and we shipped the car over.

 

I don't see anything in the chassis number, other than the sequential portion, that would uniquely identify a vehicle. Here in Canada the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) has a model year digit so sequence numbers are reset each year. Is it fair to assume in the UK the numbering kept increasing thru the model years? This would make it difficult to identify the year or is there something else I'm not aware of in the identification? Our engine number seems consistent with the chassis number, that is the sequencing of both are within a logical range.

When we visited the Heritage Museum several years ago I think all we used to look up the car was the chassis number. The body tag was long gone. The Museum records show the car as being built between September 2nd to the 5th, 1960. It also gave us a body number (35331), also logically consistent with the other sequencing. So this all confirmed the model year we thought it to be. We bought a Heritage Certificate but unfortunately it got lost in the move. I recently ordered another but it hasn't arrived yet.

I can't understand how this chassis number is stamped into a tag that obviously references a 1965 seat belt standard.

I am stumped!!!

Edited by Ruth's Mini, 23 July 2020 - 08:07 PM.

[dodge44]

The numbers on your plate should be split M/A2S4  42044 with the 1st grouping (M/A2S4) indicating Morris, A series engine, 2 door saloon Mk1 850. The second grouping is the chassis number with that number being right for a late 1960 Cowley built vehicle. if anything other than standard, a supplementary letter would of been applied between the two number groupings to indicate LHD (L), Super (S) or De-luxe (D)

So your plate should look something like this front embossed / engraved 1963 Morris Mini Super-Luxe plate, less the additional 'S' stamping in the middle of course [Chassis number redacted on this image but you get the gist]

Attached Files

•  002 Morris Super ChassisS.jpg   65.54K   0 downloads

Edited by dodge44, 24 July 2020 - 08:53 AM.

[Ruth's Mini]

Yes the picture you've posted is what I would have expected our original to look like. The question is how did a rear stamped tag with the 1965 seat belt standard end up on the car.

The numbers on your plate should be split M/A2S4  42044 with the 1st grouping (M/A2S4) indicating Morris, A series engine, 2 door saloon Mk1 850. The second grouping is the chassis number with that number being right for a late 1960 Cowley built vehicle. if anything other than standard, a supplementary letter would of been applied between the two number groupings to indicate LHD (L), Super (S) or De-luxe (D)

So your plate should look something like this front embossed / engraved 1963 Morris Mini Super-Luxe plate, less the additional 'S' stamping in the middle of course [Chassis number redacted on this image but you get the gist]

[dodge44]

 

Yes the picture you've posted is what I would have expected our original to look like. The question is how did a rear stamped tag with the 1965 seat belt standard end up on the car.

<Snip>

 

 

 

That's a badly made reproduction with the wrong spacing. Clearly who ever commissioned it, and the monkey on the letter press had no idea what it should of looked like :) I don't think the BMC plate with seat belt info is from a Mini but has been repurposed as a chassis plate. Can't remember when the chassis plate started being checked as part of the MOT but for many years it was not an item that was checked so no-one bothered. I'm guessing your original was lost and the hand stamped reverse plate is the result.

 

Roger

 

Edited by dodge44, 24 July 2020 - 03:07 PM.

[gazza82]

Interseting that A2S4 was the designation for the A30 2-door ... the earlier model of the Mini's predecessor the A35.