TR6 Heritage Certificate

[pdplot]

Because of the extra number in the serial number of my car, I deemed it advisable to get a certified heritage Certificate to have on hand when and if I ever decide to sell my TR6. It might make things smoother at the DMV when the new owner goes to register the car. I don't know how that extra digit got in there. It's a 6 so perhaps the cylinders got mixed in with the serial number somewhere along the line. At any rate, I have the original CC plate inside the door and both the engine number and body number are very close. My car was built February, 1971. Anyone else have any serial number problems?

 

[Andrew Mace]

Where is this extra digit? Is it on one or both commission number plates, or is it just on the paperwork? Yes, the certificate will undoubtedly help, but I should think that some clear photographs backed up with an old-school-style pencil rubbing of the commission number plate -- presented to DMV and/or any officer of the law -- would be enough to convince the DMV that someone goofed way back when.

Or am I totally misunderstanding you? (Wouldn't be the first time I've been confused!)

 

[pdplot]

The Bill of sale and the registration both have an extra number- a 6 - at the end for a total of 6 digits. Since Triumph only made 94,400 TR6s, it's an obvious error. The commission plate is correct. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Darrell_Walker]

My 1966 TR4A had the registration as "66CTC...." in California (where it was first sold, and where I bought it). When I moved to Washington, they corrected it on the new registration. They did give me a bit of a hard time about the new commission plate (at the time, out of state cars had to be "inspected" by the state police).

 

[Geo Hahn]

Some states added digits to accommodate their system, some DMV/BMV/MVD personnel fat fingered the data.

My TR4 was wrong when I got it -- back in 64 someone interpreted the 'L' at the end of the commission number as a '1'. Once I explained it the AZ MVD fixed the title for me.

 

[TR3driver]

No doubt it varies by state, and likely even by which clerk you get at the DMV. But I've been through similar issues several times with the CA DMV and it's never been a problem. From their reactions, it appears to be a common SNAFU. The TR3A I bought here back in 84 or so was later found to have a totally different number than the one on the title & registration. No one noticed, until the state started matching insurance against VIN numbers. (My insurance of course had the number off the car, so it never matched.) Took the car to the DMV and told them the story; they issued a new title and registration.

With Stag #2, the VIN plate had obviously been tampered with, the plate on the car was the "European" size which is smaller than the original US plate and you could see the yellow paint that had been under the original plate. After a little hemming and hawing over what year to call it, they assigned a new VIN and created all new paperwork.

With the current TR3, I never got the original title, just a bill of sale. They never even looked at the bill of sale, just asked how long I had had the car in my possession (several years), had me fill out and sign a "statement of facts" outlining how I got the car and wrote up new paperwork. There was some extra hassle over keeping the old "black" plate (they wouldn't let me keep the plate on the car unless I could prove it had once been assigned to that car), but that didn't make any difference to the title process. If the previous owner's aunt hadn't found an old registration, the DMV would have just assigned new plates to the car (and let me sell the old ones on eBay).

Anyway, my suggestion is to go ahead and get the numbers sorted out now, rather than waiting until you want to sell the car. I doubt your DMV will be overly impressed with a certified Heritage Certficate, since it says nothing about who owns the car on the certificate nor does it prove the car hasn't been tampered. And in all 3 of the cases above, it took more than a month for the new paperwork to arrive, which might make your buyer nervous. I know I was unhappy about the tampered VIN plate (and felt a bit stupid for not noticing it earlier).