Where Was My Vehicle First Registered?

[alanh65]

I am interested to find out where my 'hoodie' donor vehicle was first registered.

 

It was a Ford Sierra GL, first registered 01.01.1987 registration D397 FMS.

 

It was owned by a guy - Mr T----- S----- who lived in Cowdenbeath from 1994 ... but before that?? I do not know.

 

Back in the 80s couldn't you tell from the registration letters, where the vehicle was first registered?

 

I am trying to create a tax disc (1987 style) and would like It to be as accurate as possible.

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction please, to research the facts.

 

For instance, how much would 12 months road tax have been back then for a 1993cc, 5 door saloon?

 

Cheers guys ... and gals ...

 

Alan

[nicko]

Hi, a bit of web searching stated that car tax in 1987 was a flat rate of £100, which sounds about right. I remember paying about £55 for 6 months on my 1st car (1986) and £12 for a whole year on my motorbike.

HTH

Nick

[alanh65]

Thanks Nick, Richard and Rob.

[knights_templar]

Found this

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_Kingdom,_Crown_dependencies_and_overseas_territories#1960s_to_1982

 

I read it as FMS = Chester, but haven’t read it all

[Guest whiz]

Cowdenbeath is 10 miles from me

[Guest 2b cruising]

Hi Whiz, sorry for breaking topic Alan, but did you complete the hydraulic conversion yet Whiz.

Interested in the mod but not seen anything about it on your blog recently.

Regards. Ken.

[Guest whiz]

see blog for update

[Longboarder]

From 1981 onwards Stirling ceased to issue plates and it was done from Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Stirling area. Used to be that an S in the last two reg letters pretty much indicated a car first registered in Scotland.

 

Nigel

[alanh65]

Thanks Nigel ... all these snippets add up and are extremely helpful.

Cheers.

[alanh65]

After carrying out research, and following the leads given on the forum, I have designed a road tax disc for my 'hoodie'. As tax discs are no longer required. I decided to design my own, in order to recognise the car's heritage.

The donor vehicle started life as a red, 5 door Sierra GL, registration ... D397 FMS.

A combination of an early V5 and the VIN number, tell me that it was built in November 1986, at Dagenham, then first registered on 1st January 1987. The vehicle appears to have spent its entire working life in and around Scotland, finally being sold at auction, in Glasgow, for £138.75.

 

A Robin Hood Sierra based Series III kit was purchased in April 1997 for the sum of £2461.75 and the proud owner/builder of what is now my 'hoodie', set to work building the vehicle.

From the first MOT certificate passed on to me from the previous (3rd) owner of the vehicle, I deduce that 'hoodie' first hit the road on 14th July 1997.

 

The VIN number on 'hoodie' has me completely baffled though. It has16 rather than 17 characters and I can't for the life of me find any system to understand its 'code'!

 

My dilemma for designing and printing my own tax disc was ... do I design the road tax disc for January 1987, to match the registration of the vehicle ... or ... to relate to the year 'hoodie' was born (1997)?

I decided to compromise on the accuracy of the tax disc and date it to match the vehicle reg. but identify the vehicle as a Robin Hood ... naughty, but a nice compromise.

 

The registration implies that the vehicle was first registered in Stirling, or maybe Edinburgh.

It appears that during the 80's Stirling registrations were transferred to Edinburgh, so I have added both to the 'stamp' on my disc, to cover both possibilities!

 

So, purists will frown on my tax disc, with its compromises and inaccuracies, but I hope that it will give a feeling of the era from which the car evolved.

 

If I had been willing to part with cash, I could have undoubtedly have had a true likeness to the original tax disc printed from somewhere like ... britishtaxdiscs.co.uk ... and I'm sure there are other providers ... but I fancied the challenge of trying to reproduce my own version, on the computer.

 

Should more accurate information come to light as to the correct history of the car(s) then I can readily amend the information on the saved image, and print a replacement disc.

1987 tax disc.doc

[fry61]

Three & a half months to build the car --- the first owner was quick!!

[Bob Tucker]

The Hood's VIN no was either made up by the builder, or assigned by the local DVLA or VRO.

But they should all be 17 characters, and a mixture of letters & numbers.

[alanh65]

Interesting ... very interesting ...

 

thanks Bob, I have just sat down and gone through all my paperwork to see where I got the 16 character VIN number from.

 

I was using the very first MOT certificate to calculate the build date of the car. I now find that every MOT certificate up until 2007 had the incorrect 16 digit VIN written on!! Fortunately, every V5 has the same, correct, 17 character VIN as is marked under the bonnet ... phew!

 

Every MOT certificate since 2007 has been correct. When I read your post above I began to think I had a 'bad'un'!!!

 

I can now sleep easily in my bed ... Thanks mate.