Vin number question

[axel1948]

Hello all,
I'm a newbie to this excellent forum(glad I found it!), and have a question concerning an Austin Healey BJ8 that I inherited from my Father. This vehicle has always been registered as a 1967 model that my Father purchased new in 1967. The car has always been insured with Hagerty, and just for the heck of it I decided to use their valuation tool to see if I had enough coverage on it. When I typed in the Vin number however, the car came up as a 1966 model-not a 1967. I am just wondering if this is somewhat common or not. I checked the Vin number on the firewall, and it agrees with all of my paperwork. Would appreciate any input. Thanks much! Phil

 

[Jim 58 BN6]

Hi Phil,

I think back in the day, this was a common practice. The dealers titled the cars the year they were sold, rather than when they were built. I have both a '68 TR4A (67 was the "last" year of the 4A), and a '65 TR4 that was built in 64 according to its numbers. These cars didn't change much from year-to-year, so it probably wasn't an issue. Curiously, my BN6 is titled as a '58, but was built in March of '59. Go figure that out! Enjoy your new car! Jim

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey Phil,
Just like Jim said, lot of cars registered with the year they were sold versus when they were made. I had a BJ8 registered with the state of Georgia as a 1969 ! No matter what I showed them to prove otherwise would not change it. Guess if they were correct would have been the most valuable BJ8 in existence since made 2 years after the last one !!! Good luck with your Dad's Healey and really cool he was the one and only owner and now you make owner # 2. You will find this is a great forum and a lot of help.
Regards
Mike

 

[axel1948]

Hi Phil,

I think back in the day, this was a common practice. The dealers titled the cars the year they were sold, rather than when they were built. I have both a '68 TR4A (67 was the "last" year of the 4A), and a '65 TR4 that was built in 64 according to its numbers. These cars didn't change much from year-to-year, so it probably wasn't an issue. Curiously, my BN6 is titled as a '58, but was built in March of '59. Go figure that out! Enjoy your new car! Jim

Hi Jim,
I certainly appreciate your reply. I have found the same information in the parts catalog I use when ordering items(Victoria British LTD.), and I quote " Normally in the 1960's car dealers titled imports in the year they were sold. Therefore, the title may be off as many as two or three years from the actual model and series manufactured". Just thought I would confirm your response for any other readers. Thanks again for your help!!!

 

[axel1948]

Hey Phil,
Just like Jim said, lot of cars registered with the year they were sold versus when they were made. I had a BJ8 registered with the state of Georgia as a 1969 ! No matter what I showed them to prove otherwise would not change it. Guess if they were correct would have been the most valuable BJ8 in existence since made 2 years after the last one !!! Good luck with your Dad's Healey and really cool he was the one and only owner and now you make owner # 2. You will find this is a great forum and a lot of help.
Regards
Mike

Thanks Mike for your response as well. When I questioned this discrepancy with Hagerty (before I found out the answer), they had no idea as to why this could be the case. Thanks again!!!
Phil

 

[Bob_Spidell]

My BJ8 was built in November of 1966, but has always been registered as a 1967 (AFAIK). The Brits never bought the concept of 'model year,' which was mostly an American creation to move the metal (i.e. change the grill and taillights, and sell it as the 'new' version).

 

[Griz]

Ditto for me...my Bugeye was built in the summer of 1960 but is titled as a 61, and my BJ7 was built in mid-1963 but is titled as a 64. Very common practice it seems.

Griz

 

[Randy Forbes]

Hi Phil,

I think back in the day, this was a common practice. The dealers titled the cars the year they were sold, rather than when they were built. I have both a '68 TR4A (67 was the "last" year of the 4A), and a '65 TR4 that was built in 64 according to its numbers. These cars didn't change much from year-to-year, so it probably wasn't an issue. Curiously, my BN6 is titled as a '58, but was built in March of '59. Go figure that out! Enjoy your new car! Jim

Equally curious, my BN6 was built May 14-15, 1958, and it's been titled as a 1957 since prior to me buying it in 1978.

Could the 2-seater have been so much desired that they were sold before they were even built...?!?!

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Hello all,
I'm a newbie to this excellent forum(glad I found it!), and have a question concerning an Austin Healey BJ8 that I inherited from my Father. This vehicle has always been registered as a 1967 model that my Father purchased new in 1967. The car has always been insured with Hagerty, and just for the heck of it I decided to use their valuation tool to see if I had enough coverage on it. When I typed in the Vin number however, the car came up as a 1966 model-not a 1967. I am just wondering if this is somewhat common or not. I checked the Vin number on the firewall, and it agrees with all of my paperwork. Would appreciate any input. Thanks much! Phil

Welcome to the Forum, Phil -

The "year" of a Healey is not really all that significant. Most of the rest of the world outside the USA considers the "year" of a car to be the calendar year in which it was built. BMC did not build these cars by "model year", as we are used to in the USA. As the keeper of the BJ8 Registry, I have many examples of a car that was a 1967 in the USA becoming a 1966 (or a 1965, or a 1964) when it was sold and registered overseas.

I hope you will notice the BJ8 Registry link at the top of the forum page and will allow me to add your car to the BJ8 Registry - or to update the ownership record in case I have the car already listed under ownership of your father. As of today, the Registry has data and records for more than 49% of total BJ8 production -- 8,750 of the 17,712 cars produced.

 

[Jim 58 BN6]

Randy,

One theory I had (but wouldn't work for your '57, so?) is that mine was within the last 50 BN-6's, so maybe it was on the lot with early BN-7's, and they sold it as "last years' model" along side the most current one. OR maybe just inattention to detail by a DMV employee-but I don't think that would happen! I would like to correct it with a BMIHT certificate, but it might open a big can of worms. Jim

 

[blueskies]

I once owned a BN6 100-6 that was sold and registered as a 1961 model. Didn't 100-6 production end in 1959? That confused me at the time.

 

[axel1948]

Welcome to the Forum, Phil -

The "year" of a Healey is not really all that significant. Most of the rest of the world outside the USA considers the "year" of a car to be the calendar year in which it was built. BMC did not build these cars by "model year", as we are used to in the USA. As the keeper of the BJ8 Registry, I have many examples of a car that was a 1967 in the USA becoming a 1966 (or a 1965, or a 1964) when it was sold and registered overseas.

I hope you will notice the BJ8 Registry link at the top of the forum page and will allow me to add your car to the BJ8 Registry - or to update the ownership record in case I have the car already listed under ownership of your father. As of today, the Registry has data and records for more than 49% of total BJ8 production -- 8,750 of the 17,712 cars produced.

Hello Steve,
I went ahead, and entered the info on my BJ8 into the registry with the exception of the batch, body, and engine numbers, which I will do when it is more convenient for me to do so. Thank you.

 

[Jim 58 BN6]

I once owned a BN6 100-6 that was sold and registered as a 1961 model. Didn't 100-6 production end in 1959? That confused me at the time.

I believe BN6 production ended in March or April of '59, so the car probably sat at the dealer while the new models were selling. Maybe it took over a year for it to sell, and someone got a good deal! Jim

 

[blueskies]

I believe BN6 production ended in March or April of '59, so the car probably sat at the dealer while the new models were selling. Maybe it took over a year for it to sell, and someone got a good deal! Jim

That probably was what happened. At the time, without the internet and discussion forums, we did not have access to a lot of information.

I paid $575 for the Healey Blue 100-6 in 1968, drove it hard for a year and then sold it to raise money to buy a VW van for a post-college graduation trip to Alaska. Not one of my smarter moves.:dejection:

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Hello Steve,
I went ahead, and entered the info on my BJ8 into the registry with the exception of the batch, body, and engine numbers, which I will do when it is more convenient for me to do so. Thank you.

Thanks, Phil -
I have received the questionnaire and will look forward to completing the record for your BJ8 when it's convenient for you. I did not have any previous record of your car, so its addition to the registry brings the total cars now accounted for to 8,751 (49.4% of total BJ8 production).

Some additional thoughts on the "year" of a Healey:
Our "new model year" in the USA has traditionally begun in September. We expect the new model to look and/or have significantly different features than the previous year's model (not so true anymore). A 1963 Ford Galaxy is distinctly different from a 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, etc. But as stated before, Healeys weren't built that way. Speaking specifically of BJ8s, production was continuous from October 1963 to December 1967 with only a few minor changes being incorporated as convenient, rather than saving them up to come out with a "new model". Rather than models, significant differences were designated by "Mark". But even the most significant change in BJ8 production -- from Phase 1 to Phase 2 -- was not considered a different "Mark". Phase 1 only became Phase 1 after the Phase 2 appeared.
BJ8s arriving in the USA anywhere near the beginning of the "new model year" were likely advertised, sold, and registered as that "new model year". Even cars that were left over from the previous year that hadn't been sold could have been included in the "new model year". Consider also that ALL new cars being advertised in September 2016 as "all new 2016s!" were built in calendar year 2015.
One state required that the manufacturer's identity and the "year of manufacture" be included on all new cars. Since there was no such coding in the BMC VIN system, black and white plastic tags were added to the firewall on cars despatched from the factory to California. California also added a two-digit "year of manufacture" to registration documents and titles: e.g., 67HBJ8L39693. This has caused problems when such a car was transferred out of California and the VIN on the tag and the VIN on the paperwork didn't agree.