Exported Minor

[Lawrence of Algeria]

Dear Forum, I recently looked at a Minor Converible for a restoration project.

The seller belives (but could not verify) that the vehicle may have been exported new, reimported when it did not sell and then re-licenced as new upon it's return. As a consequence the dash board is one year "older" than it should be.

Chassis number is M/AT3 912 - is this export and re-import feasible please?

PS I am new to this, so any help is much appreciated.

[LouiseM]

Welcome to the messageboard

The chassis number beginning 921 signifies a Minor that was built in mid 1961. The dashboard features changed in November '61 when glove box lids were removed but a major change of dashboard features didn't take place until October '64. It's possible for cars to be exported then re-imported with a 'newer' registration number but the only difference between the dashboard of a Minor which was built in mid '61 and one built/registered a year later in mid '62 would be the lack of glove box lids. Everything else would remain the same. Is the seller saying that the dashboard is one year older or is this a conclusion you have reached yourself? What does the dashboard look like eg does it have any glove box lids and what colour face does the speedo have?

From the information you have provided I think that you need to do a few more checks in order to confirm the vehicle age & identity.

What year is the car showing as built & registered with the DVLA? Details of how to check registration details are here:
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19159

This thread contains lots of useful information relating to identification: http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/Identify.htm-

There are also various ways to tell if a convertible is genuine or not. Is the car advertised on-line? If so, can you post up a link. If not, do you have any photos of it?

[Lawrence of Algeria]

Superb information Louise, I really appreciate the guidance.

[POMMReg]

Is the body number available?

[rayofleamington]

Often cars were 'registered late' after getting stuck in stock, waiting to be sold

Even more of a long shot...
Some cars were exported to the channel islands and came back after a year of light use, but were re-registered in UK as new (with corresponding nearly new mileage). I'm not sure if this happened to Minor's but it seemed to be the case with my mum's 'new' 1996 Rover Metro, originally built in 95 for export, which returned to the UK main dealer network & was re-registered. If rumours are true, this practise had lasted for decades and dealers would class these cars as 'ex-display' etc... and not actually second hand.

[KeithGSY]

In the 70s and still today, new cars are imported to the channel islands for use in the summer hire fleets then sent on to the UK. This was not a common practice back in the early sixties though.

[Lawrence of Algeria]

Dear LouiseM,

Sorry for the delay in coming back to you, but I have checked the 1961 Morris converible, the dashboard has an enclosed glove box, and the colour of the speedo is a silvery gold - it has a yellow tinge to it.

Any additional info or opinion is much appreciated. Lawrence.