97 replies to this topic

[MIGLIACARS]

no my others are just 998cc

but are in bits so need putting back together first, or they never will be

[CMXCVIII]

ok what does this mean

As I tried to explain, whatever the bodyshell the car now has, and whatever the engine, the provenance of the car in that registration document was a Mini that was originally registered in May 1962.

Sometime after that, an owner sold, kept or transferred the original 'pre-dating' registration number, and the DVLA [or actually an LVLO in those days] issued the car with a valueless 1963 A-plate. There are lots of them around. Look round and you'll see 1950s Standard 10s or Ford Prefects on later A plates. FWIW, last time I investigated, that registration number could never be changed on that car again.

by the way - if you've bought it as trade, didn't you HPi it?

[MIGLIACARS]

Hardy-Spicer drive shaft couplings were standard from January 1966 and one might guess that they were changed when the 1275 engine was fitted.
Body number will be in the log book (V5).
Now we all want to know!

are these not the numbers
K-A2S4

[mab01uk]

Sometime after that, an owner sold, kept or transferred the original 'pre-dating' registration number, and the DVLA [or actually an LVLO in those days] issued the car with a valueless 1963 A-plate. There are lots of them around. Look round and you'll see 1950s Standard 10s or Ford Prefects on later A plates. FWIW, last time I investigated, that registration number could never be changed on that car again.

The A plates allocated by the DVLA as a result of a numberplate transfer a few years back can be replaced at no cost with a non transferable age related plate on application to the DVLA. I have done this on a few classic Mini's. The rules were changed around 1992 after a campaign by disgruntled classic car enthusiasts who had cars that had lost their non-year letter plates during a previous transfer.

Example from Land Rover forum:
A-plates and how to get rid There’s a lot of old Land Rovers out there on A-suffix registration plates (for example LRM 100A). Hated by some in the classic car movement, these were issued in the years leading up to 1992 to any pre-1963 vehicle which had the original number transferred (sold) onto something else. Some people see these plates as part of the vehicle’s history, but they do look out of place on some really old Landies. The good news is that a three number, three letter (or vice-versa) replacement is free of charge from your local DVLA Vehicle Registration Office.
http://www.landroveraddict.com/features/2011/2/22/registering-your-old-land-rover-with-the-dvla/

Edited by mab01uk, 07 November 2012 - 11:25 PM.

[mk1coopers]

Hardy-Spicer drive shaft couplings were standard from January 1966 and one might guess that they were changed when the 1275 engine was fitted.
Body number will be in the log book (V5).
Now we all want to know!

are these not the numbers
K-A2S4

That's the prefix, to check what they relate to you would either have to do a Hertitage Trace http://www.heritage-...tml#category169 (the trace does not mean that the car that has the vin plate attached to it is necessarily the car that it left the factory on) or post maybe the first three numbers of it (never post them all) and I'm sure someone will try to work out a rough build date

if its got one, the FE number (reverse stamped plate just above the radiator shroud) may be used to approximately date the shell, that's a question you would have to ask on the Mini Cooper Register site

Good quality pictures of the areas that have been asked for will help, these may show if certain items are present or not, certainly the colour of the car is not original, if it is supposed to be island blue that wasn't available in 1962, have you found traces of the original colour

[CMXCVIII]

actually an LVLO in those days issued the car with a valueless 1963 A-plate ..... FWIW, last time I investigated, that registration number could never be changed on that car again.

The rules were changed around 1992 after a campaign by disgruntled classic car enthusiasts who had cars that had lost their non-year letter plates during a previous transfer.

Good to know - as I said, I haven't needed to look for a long time!

[MIGLIACARS]

ok what does this mean

As I tried to explain, whatever the bodyshell the car now has, and whatever the engine, the provenance of the car in that registration document was a Mini that was originally registered in May 1962.

Sometime after that, an owner sold, kept or transferred the original 'pre-dating' registration number, and the DVLA [or actually an LVLO in those days] issued the car with a valueless 1963 A-plate. There are lots of them around. Look round and you'll see 1950s Standard 10s or Ford Prefects on later A plates. FWIW, last time I investigated, that registration number could never be changed on that car again.

by the way - if you've bought it as trade, didn't you HPi it?

ok it may be me being slow in the head but if this were true, would the glass be stamped with this reg as it is????????????

as if what you are saying is true the glass would be stamped with the previous reg

[CMXCVIII]

ok it may be me being slow in the head but if this were true, would the glass be stamped with this reg as it is????????????

as if what you are saying is true the glass would be stamped with the previous reg

Don't know about slow, but certainly very naive!

Window etching arrived in the late 1970s/early 1980s. I would wager that NO road vehicle ever had a registration number etched onto its glass when first registered in 1962.

[mk3 Cooper S]

Glass had date stams coded into it at that time.

[Cooperman]

Personally I think it's a DVLA computer input error and it should be a 1963, not a 1962. However, the chassis number will confirm this or otherwise and that's the only way you'll know for sure. Then you can get a Heritage production trace.

[mk3 Cooper S]

Hardy-Spicer drive shaft couplings were standard from January 1966 and one might guess that they were changed when the 1275 engine was fitted.
Body number will be in the log book (V5).
Now we all want to know!

are these not the numbers
K-A2S4

(the trace does not mean that the car that has the vin plate attached to it is necessarily the car that it left the factory on)

Like 50% of the rest of the coopers that are around then!! LOL

[Cooperman]

K-A2S4 defines it as a Morris Cooper or Cooper 'S' Mk.1. The following numbers define what it left the factory as.
The small body mods for the Cooper & Cooper 'S' are what define a Cooper/Cooper 'S' bodyshell, but in practice all Mk.1 saloon shells are identical except for the easily fitted boot brackets and the hole in the tunnel for the remote gear change lever. That is why it is so easy to build or re-build a Cooper or 'S'. In the 60's if a Cooper was crashed it would be re-shelled with a new shell and the bodyshop would simply order a Mini body shell and change the brackets over and cut the hole in the floor. A friend of mine rolled his 1963 'S' in 1964 and that is exactly what the body shop did and I saw it being done.

[ace01]

Pending the arrival of a heritage certificate, I would say that this is most likely a 997 Cooper upgraded to S spec. The chassis number, date of registration and the fact that it has a later engine and gearbox fitted all point to that. The DVLA would often (as said here) upgrade the logbook on the say so of almost anyone. Some one down here 'upgraded' his logbook himself and persuaded the DVLA to amend their records! That was in the eighties and almost certainly would'nt happen now.

Despite all that it remains a nice find with period upgrades.

[Cooperman]

I just wonder why it has a 1963 registration number if it's basically a 1962 first registered car. How and why did the plate get changed for a later one thus making the car appear newer than it is. It cannot have been registered in 1962 with that number plate.
The chassis number will confirm what it should have been.

[MIGLIACARS]

I just wonder why it has a 1963 registration number if it's basically a 1962 first registered car. How and why did the plate get changed for a later one thus making the car appear newer than it is. It cannot have been registered in 1962 with that number plate.
The chassis number will confirm what it should have been.

will this be on the car anywere?

what numbers should there be