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TR4/4A More Commission Number Questions. Mine is nowhere to be found!

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M

MintyFresh

Freshman Member
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Hey guys,

The saga continues. I just went to register my car with the title provided by the seller with a VIN (commission number) of CTC 70414L, but the number is nowhere to be found inside the engine compartment. The only number that is present is the body number, which is 70414 CT (see picture). I also have the engine number which is: CT 61589.

My questions are:

1. Am I just not looking in the correct place for the Commission Number or are there additional stamps anywhere else on the chassis?
2. Is it possible to obtain it if I have the body number and engine number?
3. Is it ever possible that the body number and the Commission Numbers are identical like this?
4. Are there any resources available to find the entire chain of title from the 1960s?

Any additional help would be greatly appreciated!

Mark



View attachment 41166

 
The numbers usually vary but can also be the same by simple random chance.

I believe BMIHT can issue a build record using just and engine number (&/or possibly chassis number) which may give you proof of the commission number.

With that I suppose you will not be too far illegal by making a new commission plate - but I do not know what happens if the correct commission number does not match the prior title.

I know of no way to trace all prior ownerships -- bit and pieces can sometimes be tracked down but not easily.
 
Mark,
Ive gone thru this process before and they were unable to supply a certificate based on the engine number. In some cases they can...order a certificate and send an email at the same time requesting the info you need or they will just reject your application.
Good luck, Rut
 
I'm not sure I've ever seen "matching" commission and body numbers, although it is vaguely possible. Meanwhile, the engine number seems quite a bit LOWER; that's unusual a: because of how much lower (usually the gap is only several hundred) and b: because engine numbers usually ran HIGHER.

In all honesty, it appears to me that the smallest possible can of worms you could open is to (presuming that the paperwork is acceptable to the State of California) just quietly get yourself a new commission number plate and have it stamped with the number on the title. I just have the gut feeling that getting BMIHT to research the car based on those body and engine numbers might result in your discovering you have a commission number that doesn't match your title. :(
 
I live in Califirnia and I have virtually NO confidence in anybody from DMV OR CHP being compassionate or helpful. So get your ducks in a row before going to them. I think officious is the word that comes to mind.
 
I'm betting your current title certificate was issued based only on the number that was found. I'd doubt many DMV offices these days would be able to discriminate among body number, commission number, type/serial number, etc. on older cars. Lots of fun when I took my 1958 Mercedes-Benz to DMV: they found the frame number, the body number, the commission number, the type/serial number, and the "finish" number. They chose the type/serial number to use as the "VIN".

(By the way, when you say you have "the title provided by the seller", is that an actual title certificate? or just a registration certificate? In many states, a car older than 25 or so doesn't get a new title certificate - just a new registration certificate.)

Might help if you ask the person you bought the car from, to write down his/her memory of how that number was chosen for the title document.
 
At least for me, in California, when I had a discrepancy in the VIN number between the title and numbers on the car DMV sent me to CHP ( highway patrol) to have them verify it. Probable a good thing in some ways as the DMV clerk while looking at the commission tag misread what was written on it.
Charley
 
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