Decoding Griffith chassis number / VIN?

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Hi all,

I'm trying to find any build information or other history that might be documented on my father's 1994 Griffith 500 (pre-serp). I've contacted the TVR Car Club, but the archivist there said that the chassis number / VIN that I provided did not appear to be valid.

The number we've read from both the chassis plate and a plate on the inner fender is: SDLDGA5B8BA17xxxx. (I've omitted the last four digits for the sake of privacy.) Can anyone help to decode this, and/or confirm whether the number is valid?

--Colin

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davep said:

Hi Colin,

Strange, here's the commonly accepted decoding of VINs and where Dan's departs:

SDL = manufacturer TVR
D = drop head
GA = Griffith, A = America? this is usually an N (non-Cat) or C (Cat)
5 = engine size i.e. 5 litre
B = usually P for petrol
8 = security code number
B = build year, should be R for 1994, your B gives 1981 or 2011 (could be a new chassis)
A = build month, an A gives January
123 = three number digits, usually no significance
456 = three digits showing TVR's build number.

So there's a few anomalies there! What's the history of the car?

Definitely strange. The car was privately imported to the US, and I don't know much about its history. It did have its original UK registration plate still attached (painted over to provide a mounting location for the US plate), so I know the UK registration number. I think that confirms that it was *not* one of the few Griffiths imported to Canada by John Wadman back when the Griffith was still in production. I think those cars were LHD anyway, and this one is RHD.

I've attempted to do a DVLA lookup of the car's history (https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk), but this oddly shows that it was manufactured in 1987 (incorrect) and first registered in August 1998 (possible, I suppose? but unlikely.) The make and color are correct. What's going on here? I'm starting to wonder if one or more digits were stamped incorrectly on the plate.

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geeman237 said:

Is there a metal plate welded to a front chassis crossmember above the radiator with the VIN stamped on it? Have you found the engine number? It’s stamped on a flat ledge where the dipstick goes into the engine block below the exhaust manifold. If you have the engine number the TVR club might be able to cross reference it to the factory VIN.
It’s not a dark blue Griffith Japanese market Blackpool Edition is it? There was one for sale in Texas a year or two back.
Have you tried an MoT history search using the U.K. number plate on the DVLA database? It’s possible the numberplate could be fake. If the plate is correct for the car the DVLA site should have it marked as exported.

Yes, the VIN plate is intact. The stampings on it are fairly light (and have been partially filled with paint) so I was questioning whether I was mis-reading one or more digits. After re-checking it, I'm fairly sure that I'm correctly reading what's there. The engine number stamping is very legible, and seems to be appropriate for the car (47A50Pxxxx, indicating a 5.0L).

No, this is not that Japanese market B340. I also remember seeing that for sale and being confused by it -- was the "B340" designation just something that a distributor in Japan came up with?

The numberplate seems to be legitimate, since it shows in the DVLA database as a red TVR with 5.0L displacement, all of which is correct.

I have seen at least one TVR with a mistake on one of the stamped ID plates (apparently done by a careless factory worker), so now I'm wondering if that's happened here.