At 12:39 PM 7/2/03 -0700, Rick deOlazarra wrote:
> Bought an MGA in Utah, and am attempting to register it in Calif. Even
> though the Utah title indicates the year of the car is 1960, DMV wants
> another source to verify the year of the car. Anybody out there know of
> a source that can verify the car's year from the VIN? (Chassis number)
Clausenger's "Original MGA" lists dates of production changes indexed by
the Car Number (aka VIN). There were several changes in each production
year, so interpolating between the change numbers can usually nail down
your car's production date to the nearest month. The list of changes is
also a way of verifying (within reason) that your car is in fact the one
identified by the number on the ID plate. Clausenger's list of production
changes should be enough to satisfy the DMV for the year of
production. Having said that, don't be surprised if you find out that your
1960 MGA was actually manufactured in 1959. In those days it was common to
title the car in the year it was sold rather than the year of manufacture.
For a review of numbers found on the MGA, read this:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/buying/buy101.htm
Conclusion is that if it looks like an MGA, it is one, and if you hold a
legal title to one, you legally own one, pretty much regardless of what
numbers are recorded anywhere on the car or on the title. This is not
proof positive that the car in your posession is the same one which was
originally attached to that title (or vise versa). But if the VIN number
shown on the title happens to match the Car Number stamped on the ID plate
which is screwed to the heater shelf, that may be as close as you ever get
to knowing the true identity of an MGA, short of having a log book which
might have recorded the entire history of the car. You could send a
request for the Heritage certificate, but like you said it's $50, and
probably not required for the DMV.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://MGAguru.com
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