TR2/3/3A Heritage Trust Certificate for TR3B

[mgbmedic]

This is puzzling...I recently bought a TR3B project car from a friend who has owned this car for 21 years. He basically came to the realization that he wasn't going to finish this project. He has since lost the title. I applied for a British Motor Heritage Trust certificate and was amazed to find the build date - 6 Aug 1963 and the date of dispatch 10 Aug 1962. Does this mean I have a 1963 TR3B? What is a DATE OF DISPATCH? Would this have been when the dealer ordered the car for a customer? I will be applying for a title and want to know what year it should be titled.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Odds are the car was first sold and titled as a 1963 model, having been built and "despatched" (shipped) in August 1962.

 

[Marvin Gruber]

What is the commission number. If it begins with TSF or TCF you have a TR3B.

Marv

 

[martx-5]

Here's the Commission numbers and build dates.

 

[luke44]

I not sure why it's such a big deal with the year of titling in a situation like this. If any car was built say in late '58 - say December - it would easily not be titled/registered for the first time in the USA until 1959 - domestics or imports.

But I have seen others worry that an ownership shows 1959 on the title with a known build date from the previous year, and should it be a '58 or '59. I read a recent review of a TR2 sale in a magazine I subscribe to where they reported a "discrepency" between the build date and title date. So what? Built in '54, titled as a '55.

Makes perfect sense to me...

 

[Geo Hahn]

...Makes perfect sense to me...

Not to me. He said:

...was amazed to find the build date - 6 Aug 1963 and the date of dispatch 10 Aug 1962...

Which, if true, would mean it was despatched about a year before it was built. That would be a neat trick.

Very possible that there is a typo or misread number in there. It happens, took 2 tried to get my cert right -- they (BMIHT) were very helpful getting it sorted out and a correct version sent.

 

[Number_6]

I googled it, Despatch is "send away towards a designated goal". Could it be that the build date of Aug. 6 1963 is a typo? I would think the despatch date would mean when the car left the factory which would make sense if the car was built on Aug. 6 1962 and despatched from the factory 4 days later on Aug 10th, but for it to have a despatch date of nearly a year before it's build date doesn't make sense. I looked at my BMIHT certificate and it has a build date of May 1961 and a Despatch date of May 17, 1961.

I just reread the posts. Geo Hahn beat me to it.

 

[af3683]

There is likely a typo in the build date appearing on the certificate. The same thing happened to me. If you email them and explain the problem they will send you out a corrected copy. My experience is that the majority of the "TCF" cars were originally registered as 1963s.

Art

 

[luke44]

...Makes perfect sense to me...

Not to me....

Sorry Geroge - what I meant was in general it makes sense to me a car can be built in one year and titled in the following year.

In the above specific case certainly something isn't adding up.

 

[Geo Hahn]

I have been told that the specifics were written on an index car that, among other things, traveled down the line with the car. Later, those cards were microfilmed, Finally (50 years later) a nice lady (forget her name) has to sit squinty-eyed trying to read what was written on that card. Guess we're lucky that anything is available and hardly surprising that errors creep in.

 

[Andrew Mace]

When I first replied, I'd honestly thought the typo was yours; sorry 'bout that! Meanwhile, I was just assuming that both dates on the Heritage Certificate read the year 1962, since it was in October 1962 that the last TR3B was built. And as said many times before, it was very common back then to title cars -- especially foreign cars that tended to change little if at all from one year to the next -- in the "model year" in which they were sold. In the 1960s, the new model years tended to begin around September of the previous "calendar" year.

I also seem to recall that the 3B was not quite the hot seller as one might have hoped. Looking back at old VTR vehicle register listings, a lot of the surviving 3Bs models were apparently sold as 1963 models originally and titled as such. And I think the 3B might even have been price-listed in S-T USA literature into 1963 (just as the TR4A was price-listed into 1968 and the Triumph 10 Estate Wagon into 1961).

Just for fun, take a look at this September 1962 Triumph Price List and note that the cars are identified as 1963 models, including the 3B.

 

[TR3driver]

+1 on the 1963 date being a typo.

At this point, it would appear that whether to title as a 62 or a 63 is entirely up to you. As Andy and others have said, it might well have originally been titled as a 63 (or even perhaps a 64), but if you don't know, what's the point in duplicating that confusion?

Although it's gone now, I had a Triumph Sports 6 that was dispatched in 1963, but registered as a 1965 model. It even had an additional plate signifying the 1965 model year. (Sorry for the poor photo, I only had a very cheap POS camera at the time.)

 

[mgbmedic]

Wow, thanks for all the replies...My car is a TCF/1281LO...but this car is all original, all numbers matched...but it has overdrive, so it should have an "O" behind the "L". The BMIHT cert does not show this. I shall contact them about both discrepancies. Now, as for the date, I have a original page from the Louisville Courier Journal dated Sunday, Dec 30, 1962 showing an advertizement from Tafel Motors: TRIUMPH U.S.A.'S No. 1 SELLING SPORTS CAR...SEE WHY! The ad shows a TR4 with the caption- All new with roll up windows. And beside it. a TR3B with the caption- Still the most popular sports car in America. Two days later, it's 1963, which would be the first day one could respond to the ad. Hmmm...Tr3B's would have been sold in '63, perhaps titled as '63. If anyone would like a copy of the ad, I can scan it and e-mail...I'm not sure how to post a picture.

 

[Andrew Mace]

I've heard many times that records for the 3B cars were somewhat spotty, perhaps in part because they were assembled at Forward Radiator, part of Mulliners, in turn part of Standard-Triumph. It's also possible the overdrive was added at the dealer or by an early owner.

I'd love to see that ad, btw!

 

[rlwhitetr3b]

I just checked the BMIHT cert on my TR3B. It was dispatched six days after it was built.

I would like to see the ad also. I'll pm you my email address.

 

[mgbmedic]

Well, Here is my first attempt at sending a picture...

 

[Geo Hahn]

Awaiting your second attempt.

Seriously, ask if you need a tutorial.

 

[mgbmedic]

Yes, it is apparent I am not savvy. I followed the tutorial, or so I thought. I did notice my pictures are too big for posting. How do I make them fit?

 

[TR3driver]

You'll need a software tool to resize them. I find that Irfanview works well for me, and the price is right. https://www.irfanview.com/

A different route is to post your photos on a web site, like flickr or Photobucket , and then post a link on BCF. They have a much higher size limit, and will automagically resize to meet their limit. Plus then you can put multiple photos in one BCF post. You'll have to create an account with them, but it's reasonably painless, and free (except for the various ads they put up). It also has the advantage of not taking up room on Basil's server, which will help keep his costs down and thereby help keep BCF on the air.

 

[Don_R]

I use Irfanview to reduce mine.