My TR3A is s/n 68639L
The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate for the car provides a
build date of "February 1960 (not recorded)" and a despatch date of March 9,
1960.
I also have a certificate from the "Standard Register --- extract from the
production records of The Standard Motor Company Limited" which lists the
car as having a build date of February 18, 1960. If correct, my car turned
45 on Friday. I still have nearly 5 months to go before I reach that age.
The two certificates do not provide all of the same information. For
instance, the BMIHT certificate provides date of despatch, destination, and
shipping information. The Standard Register information lists tire size and
body shell number. The two certificates differ in that the BMIHT lists the
car's original colour as "Spa White" whereas the Standard Register lists it
as "Sebring White".
My car was shipped to Cal Sales Inc. in Portland. It, too, must've sat
unsold for quite a while since it wasn't titled until 1963.
Regards,
Dave MacKay
near Toronto, Canada
>Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 22:34:09 -0800
>From: "Steve Ball" <banjonut@verizon.net>
>Subject: Another kind of birthday?
>Hey folks...I just noticed our TR3A, TS68164L, celebrated some sort of
>milestone today. Maybe the list can help me figure out what it is....could
>it be a birthday for the car?
>My certified copy of the factory record from British Motor Industry
Heritage
>Trust lists "Date of Build" as "February 1960 (not recorded)", and it
>lists "Date of Despatch" as "19 February 1960". I'm just wondering what
>"date of despatch" means? Could it be the date it left the factory? Or the
>date it left the dock on the ship? I don't have a clue, but either way it
>seems like an important date for this LBC, and a good excuse to uncork the
>single malt for a "Happy 45th Birthday" toast.
>By the way, the car was shipped to Los Angeles, and the record even gives
>the port from which it was shipped and the name of the ship it was aboard.
>Evidently it sat around in LA until it finally sold in 1962 because it's
got
>one of those little "STC 62" plates on the firewall, and both the
>registration and title say it's a '62. I've always wondered if the owner
>knew he was buying a 2 year old car? It just seems weird, even for
>California.
>
>Steve Ball
>Lompoc Ca.
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