Correcting a Heritage Certificate

[drooartz]

My MGB came to me with a Heritage Certificate that was issued at some time in the early 1990s. All the numbers matched up, but it was in the older style. I really wanted to have one in the current style with my name on it, so a few weeks ago I ordered a new one. You can choose to have an older certificate reissued, but I decided to have a new one researched.

Interestingly enough when it came it there were two changes from the original certificate I had.

Old: Dealer = Bradburn and Wedge
New: Dealer = University Motors, London

Old: Rostyle wheels
New: Wire wheels

Now the car has disc wheels and a Rostyle spare, so I was reasonably certain that the wire wheel was incorrect (you never know what's been changed, though). So I emailed the Heritage Center with the discrepancies to see what they'd say. Got a reply back yesterday saying that they looked up the build record again and the Rostyles are correct for my car, as is University Motors as the original dealer. Turns out *both* certificates had errors. Glad I contacted them.

They're sending me a new certificate with the corrected information. I feel really pleased with their service; their reply was prompt and the errors were corrected. Mistakes can always happen, it's how their handled that really matters. Thumbs up here.

All this confirms that the car does have its original engine and general spec, including the factory overdrive. Neat.

 

[Sarastro]

It does make you wonder, though, how many of those certificates have errors. There's really no way for someone to determine that his certificate is error free. I suppose they have to pull old paper records and copy them manually--so errors can be made fairly easily.

 

[drooartz]

I do think it's still very much a manual process, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were other errors floating around out there. I'm pretty confident my (corrected) one is accurate now, as I'm sure the archivist copied more carefully this time.

 

[NutmegCT]

I've wondered about the accuracy of those certificates myself - but at least it comes directly from the industry.

Here's a photocopy of the original data sheet of a mid-1950s Mercedes-Benz. Imagine the poor staff trying to look through old paper (and/or microfiche) records, and decipher all the data 60 years later.

Tom

View attachment 26329

 

[drooartz]

So here's the final, accurate certificate. The one good thing that came out of this little mistake is that I'm quite confident that the copy I have now is accurate -- I'm sure the archivist looked carefully when they looked at it again.

So here's the final version. The car does still have it's original engine. The overdrive is correct, but I don't know if it is the original unit -- need to pull it out to see the gearbox number, and it's not that important. Still, I do think it's neat that the car has stayed as original as it has over all the years.

 

[PAUL161]

That's nice Drew! Look good in a frame and displayed with the car at shows. Most folks know about the heritage certificate, but few have them. PJ

 

[drooartz]

I think they're pretty neat to have, even if it really doesn't matter. Still, nice to know the history of the car and it does make a nice display piece.