Trying to identify 1994 Griffith registration

[griffert]

I bought a damaged Griffith 500 in the Yorkshire area 5 years ago, it has serpentine engine,estorils,
bright metallic green with grey 1/2 leather interior ,mileage just under 50,000 miles,
and had been hit hard on the drivers door with glass fibre + chassis outrigger damage,it was written off.

The VIN no is GC5P7RHO11758.

I'm trying to identify the original registration number for the body/chassis - as the TVR people
aren't there any more I've drawn a blank in identifying the vehicle, can anyone help ?.

[griffert]

spotted the spelling mistake - the word in the title should be "registration" !

[carbon14]

Re your engine, it cannot be a 1994, as far as I know, the 1994 griffith had a pre-serp engine. Maybe this is a hint that your car is not a 1994 car ? unless the engine was changed. If you send the engine number to dom at tvr power (you find his e-mail at the tvr power homepage), he may provide you the exact fabrication year and performance data (what he kindly did for me). My 1994 car has an engine produced late 1993.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Alain
PS: 2 criteria that may help you to identify the production year:
1) do your speedometer and rpm needle starts at 12 o'clock position (built until 1994, eventually 1995) or "standard" 6 0'clock (newer models)
2) where is your reverse gear (left -the earlier rover sd1- or right -the borg warner T55-)

[Uncle Fester]

My 1994 car has a Serp engine, T5 gearbox, GKN diff and later speedo with digital odometer.

The stickers on the back of the instruments suggest the car was being assembled in August 94.

The numbers all match up with the original documents, so the engine is original fitment.

[Aussie John]

Mine is March 94 and is preserp with T5 box and later instruments, John

[carbon14]

Happy to know that the production was so much "non-standard"... sorry not being able to help further.
c14

Edited by carbon14 on Sunday 13th January 12:27

[griffert]

Thanks for your input guys, does anyone know if there is any one left at the factory at all ?.

[Ballistic Banana]

Have you tried the TVRCC? they may be able to help if a previous owner gave them the vin detaills? no hame in asking them.

BB

[DarkMatter]

As I recall, if you are the registered keeper of the car (in the V5) then I think you can write to the DVLA requesting copies of the previous V5s. I would have thought the old V5s would include the registration numbers too. I think the DVLA charge a nominal fee for this service.

[Bluebottle]

Uncle Fester said:

My 1994 car has a Serp engine, T5 gearbox, GKN diff and later speedo with digital odometer.

The stickers on the back of the instruments suggest the car was being assembled in August 94.

The numbers all match up with the original documents, so the engine is original fitment.

Mine is the same spec as well. chassis date plate Oct94 and car first registered Jan 95

Edited by Bluebottle on Friday 18th January 09:01

[griffter]

DarkMatter said:

As I recall, if you are the registered keeper of the car (in the V5) then I think you can write to the DVLA requesting copies of the previous V5s. I would have thought the old V5s would include the registration numbers too. I think the DVLA charge a nominal fee for this service.

He's right; you can write to the DVLA asking for a list of previous owners. Any reg change details will be provided as well. But I think you'll need to supply a current registration number - not sure they'll do it off the chassis number. Is the car registered at the moment?

[Tildo430BV]

If you want the original reg you may find it written on the bottom of the seats in permenant marker (assuming its the original seats). My 1992 car has this - not entirely sure why - maybe something to do with manufacture process.

[Gaffer]

Tildo430BV said:

If you want the original reg you may find it written on the bottom of the seats in permenant marker (assuming its the original seats). My 1992 car has this - not entirely sure why - maybe something to do with manufacture process.

more likely to have the last part of the VIN number (this is the same as the build number) as cars werent registered till they were a)sold by dealers or registered after build by TVR.

If it has the reg than it could mean they were re-trimmed and it was a way of identifying what seats went with wich car.

Claire

Edited by Gaffer on Friday 18th January 13:34

[5.0ltr]

griffert said:

The VIN no is GC5P7RHO11758.

It might make a difference to your search, but VIN no's should be 17 characters. Or have you just dropped the SDLA at the beginnning?

[5.0ltr]

Another thought... And this depends on why you want this info..Write to your local DVLA, first floor. 42, Eastgate. Leeds. LS2 7DQ. Explain your problem and quote the full VIN. They may be able to help, but I know if you are looking for this to register the car on original plate they will also need year of registration, otherwise it may be a Q plate.

[Simpo Two]

If you're guessing '1994' simply by the reg no, then you may be wrong. You can't fit a private plate to make a car look newer than it is, but you can fit (say) an M plate onto a later car. Maybe that's what happened?