Hi Dave,
I don't know if this has anything to do with your find, but it reminded me of
it. And you asked for any speculations. ;-)
When I first bought my B, someone recommended to me that I drop a business card
inside the door. The purpose of this is to be able to prove that the car is
yours if it's stolen. With our cars with easily removed number plates, this is
an important consideration. It's easy to prove that someone doesn't have an MG
registered to them, but even if you have an MG registered in your name, you
can't prove that a particular MG is yours without something on the car linking
that car to you. The police won't give the car back to you if you can't prove
that it's yours.
Also, if your name and a way to find you is found on the car, you'll have more
chance of being notified if it's recovered. I had a '79 Spitfire that was
stolen and dismantled and the police never notified me that it had been found
even though I'd engraved my driver's license number on the wheels and body
panels. I got a call at work from a guy who had been business partners with the
car thieves. He was mad at them and wanted to get them in trouble so he found
me through my license number and asked me to tell the police that those parts
were off of my stolen car. The police weren't terrible interested, but they
took the wheels as evidence. I don't know why they'd need all five wheels as
evidence unless some cop needed them for his car.
But I digress. If someone wanted to put something into the car that would prove
that they owned it, what better place to put it than under the carpeting? And
if they wanted it to last, engraved metal would be the best bet. That's my
guess.
Denise Thorpe
I also stencil the license number of the car on car covers and the underside of
tonneau covers.
David Ambrose wrote:
>
> My wife found an interesting metal plate while removing the old carpet.
> It has the VIN, date of sale, name, and address of the original
> purchaser embossed into the metal. The car was sold to someone in
> Phoenix on September 9, 1969. The sides of the plate are wavy. Does
> anyone know what these were for? I first thought it might be an
> address-o-graph plate, but it doesn't make any sense to find it in the
> car.
>
> Maybe it's a warranty "card"?
>
> Any ideas, speculation, or wild stories would be appreciated.
>
> This definitely ranks up there with finding the possum in the engine
> compartment.
>
> Thanks,
> Dave Ambrose
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