Barn find registration

[oats and barley]

I have just pulled out a genuine barn find Austin Champ out of a barn, that was registered at one time bearing YCF 79 but no paperwork at all, now the number plates are obviously very old, my point is the DVLA have no knowledge of the number but will say you cannot retain it it seems to me some years ago the DVLA nicked all these numbers and now deny any knowledge of them, it seems they nicked them back and then destroyed the files.

[XS650]

Afraid I can see the DVLA'S point,  if anyone could claim a reg. no. with little evidence what would be the result.

When rules were easier and low reg.no.s became valuable much skullduggery was done. 

One of my workmates had a lucrative sideline dragging then almost worthless  S1  Land Rover wrecks out of hedges with low numbers , putting their id  plate/reg. number on to his good one and getting it MOT'ed so he could sell the number on.

[oats and barley]

I think you are missing my point i have no interest in the value of the number its just that they were quick enough to take it back and now have no knowledge of it surely in 2020 a search would come back with example-  number retained from morris 1000 unsorned in 1976 for sale 6/6d anyway i am not trying to ring up a landrover i just want a logbook/v5 without jumping through hoops    

[79x100]

YCF was an early 1964 Suffolk (West) registration. (They were one of the areas that didn't use the 'A' suffix, I believe).

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any surviving records but these are unlikely anyway to have provided a link between chassis number and registration.

During the late 1970s,  Swansea decided to definitively put any surviving vehicles on their computer record and there was extensive advertising to enable vehicle owners to do just that. Unfortunately, many didn't and after the exercise was over, the local authorities who held the paper records were instructed to destroy them. Most did, but one or two with devoted archivists held on to the records.

I've never seen any evidence to suggest that Swansea have sold or re-issued non current numbers although local authorities sometimes used to.

A shame really that the transfer of numbers has ever been allowed.

[oats and barley]

Now that is really interesting 79x100 now we are getting somewhere the champ did indeed come from suffolk and what you have said makes sense, the point i am getting to and intrigues me is why they destroyed the records as said i am not trying to ring up a coil sprung 300tdi series one  i would pay for an examination of the vehicle they must have known  these situations would have arisen and at the end of the day all i want is a v5  there was a system where as if you bought a vehicle without a log book they would approach the previous owner and say somebody is trying to get a logbook for your vehicle perhaps a bit to simple

[MatchFuzee]

4 hours ago, oats and barley said:

but no paperwork at all,

Not even a tax disc? 

Have you tried the Austin Champ Owners Club? It maybe an old entry in their register:-

http://www.austinchampownersclub.com/03 Register/registerhome.htm

[79x100]

Computerisation began in the early 1970s so by the the time the paper records were destroyed, this vehicle had not been taxed for more than ten years. The paper records were held by local authorities and there would have been a significant cost for securely storing the cards...which would have been a thieves charter if made public.  This sort of decision regarding public records is made all the time.

There is also little doubt that DVLA were aware of the abuses going on at the time with number plate dealers and were desperate to draw a line under it.

Tax discs have not been acceptable as sole evidence of entitlement for some years. They do not actually identify a vehicle....If it's not on the DVLA computer with chassis number then it's really a case of finding the old 'buff' log book or nothing.

[MatchFuzee]

 

36 minutes ago, 79x100 said:

If it's not on the DVLA computer with chassis number then it's really a case of finding the old 'buff' log book or nothing

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by MatchFuzee

[2691H]

Hard copy registration files for the London area were kept in large offices across the city in the early 70's before computors came in. The Croydon section took from zero to about 25% of the total files and when details of a registered owner was urgently needed out of office hours a police officer was called off the streets to open up the office to gain the information required. This was a slow and time consuming operation and I was glad to see it go.

When the new system was started, owners were  requested to apply to have there vehicle details copied to film and saved at the DVLA. All other unclaimed vehicle information was then distroyed. I have known of a vehicle registration number being returned once after this date as an MOT cerificate was found with all the data required by the DVLA.

Good luck, you may need pain killers, it is a very hard wall you are going to bang your head against.

Cheers Mick

 

[oats and barley]

Hello 2691H Mick yes the system seems to be deliberately trying to be awkward its no skin off there nose and to destroy files of this nature seems a backward  or evasive move and with all this so called freedom of information act does this mean we have destroyed all records so you cannot see what was on them

[oats and barley]

there should read their

[tankdiver]

If you want to register it .save time and go to champ owners club they are great  Jerry  Toms  did mine and was amazing had it done in a Jiff. The DVLA will have you going around in circles as I have found to my cost.

Laurence

[Chris Hall]

I’ve got an old 1936 Rudge motorcycle that a few years ago I was trying to regain the original reg. I have 3 old tax discs which is a start and DVLA said they can likely re-issue the reg but with a not for sale or transfer caveat which is fine by me.

[snort]

They have said the same for me for my 1934 Rudge!

 

[Chris Hall]

Another rudge owner with MV interest. We must be a rare breed.

[snort]

Still haven't found any 'green' paint on it though!

[tankdiver]

Registration now has become very hard with the DVLA  and they will have you running around the houses  for months .To avoid frustration join the Champ owners club and they will get another champ on the road without fuss  recommended.

 

[snort]

Having had eleven Champs in different states of repair over the years I now find they are a bit expensive for me. I wish I had kept my best one as then mint ones were only 3 to 4K, however now its a different story as for all military vehicles. If only we had hindsight!

[Tony B]

The age related plates seem to have some weird kinks. My WC51 has Registration not transferable. My WC54  had two English registrations then went to Jersey and had her Jersey registration, then came back to me. So I went down to the office at Sidcup, and guess what You had helpful humans then. They sorted the  paper work with me,  and the Lady toild me that one of the original registrations was still available, did I want it back? Took about an hour. Though there is no restriction on the VC5 re transfer on that one.