Name this id plate / NOS badge

[newmexTR3]

I was going through some stuff from my wrecked yellow TR3 and came across this. It was mounted in the engine compartment near the VIN plate. Any idea what it is? Something from a dealership?

Also, I picked this up on ebay recently. A steal for $30.. NOS.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

I believe that STC was either a Herald or Vitesse designation. Maybe a Google search will turn up something.

Great snag on the badge!

 

[Don Elliott]

All TRs sold and registered in California have a plate like that, just where you found this one. I'm sure you'll get confirmation of this from Randall.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Not necessarily "all" of the cars had them. This plate was added likely by the regional distributor usually to cars that most of us would've called "leftovers" and essentially "redated" the cars to the current model year when first titled and registered. On this particular example, the "STC 60" would indicate a car that was built later in the 1959 CALENDAR YEAR but either sat on a dealer's or distributor's lot -- or simply wasn't shipped from England -- until very late in 1959 or perhaps even early in 1960 and then sold and titled. Back then, model years weren't very tightly defined, especially not by Federal safety or emissions standards. Also, there was very little to distinguish a "1959" Triumph TR3A from a "1960" Triumph TR3A other than those little tiny details that we anoraks debate endlessly! :wink: So, since no one wanted to sell "last year's" product as new, this sort of "retitling" was allowed.

All these years later, surviving cars have moved all around the country (and the world), so these tags show up on cars all over. I don't know if it was limited to Cal Sales and its successors as Western US regional distributors, or if other regional distributors did the same.

Meanwhile, nice TSOA badge. But is it NOS or a replica? Most originals would've had "Made in England" on the face of the base where the mounting holes are, and I believe you will also find "J Fray" and/or other OEM marks on the back side of originals. I've not seen any replicas close up, so I don't know how "convincing" they are in terms of such marks.

 

[newmexTR3]

Interesting about the dealer plate- that makes sense as my car was made in '59 but the title says it's a '60. Thanks for the info!


Maybe this TSOA badge is an NOS replica. It's not cloisonné, and there is no made in england anywhere on it. It still seems as though it was made a few years back though. Oh well. Here's some pics of the back:

The stamp has a "B" and "A" on either side of the circle. Along the top of the circle it says "1542". On the bottom there is "1004"

 

[Andrew Mace]

Then it's likely your TSOA badge is a replica. BTW, though, I don't think these ever were cloissoné like the bonnet badges.

The '1004' likely is a reference to British Standard 1004 , "Specification for zinc alloys for die casting and zinc alloy die castings." I'm not sure about the "1542"; there is a British Standard by that number, but it seems to apply to protective gear used during welding operations!

 

[TR3driver]

I agree with Andy, just wanted to add that the "STC" plates apparently started around 1960 and ended presumably around 1966. Before that, cars were "redated" willy-nilly; and after that the emissions regulations made it more-or-less impossible/illegal to "redate".