Help in finding lost registration number

[Dave Ashworth]

Hi All,

 

I don't know the registration number of my TR4!

 

I have a TR4 sitting in a barn up the road, awaiting more than a little TLC.

 

I acquired the vehicle about a year ago in a part exchange. I have a Heritage Cert, the Commission No and Engine No, but the number plates and V5 don't exist any longer. The chap I acquired it from did have a number plate, but can't find it, but there was no V5 when he purchased it and he never got round to applying for one. Subsequently, the car sat in his barn for 11 years, until I liberated it and so there is no pathway to trace previous owners.

 

It is CT30269 and was dispatched from the factory on 20th February 1964, destined for Hollingdrake Auto Company in Stockport.

 

It was Triumph Racing Green, with Surrey Top and Overdrive.

 

There is a hint that the registration began with WK ----

 

I also have a note that it may have belonged to:

 

Mr. Damien Lovegrove,

33 Brighton Road,

Redland

Bristol BS6 6NU

 

around April 1993, but I have no idea how accurate this might be.

 

Question:

Is there any way of tracing the original Registration number?

 

Or shall I apply for an age related plate?

 

Any help on this conundrum greatly appreciated.

 

All the very best.

 

Dave.

 

 

[threej]

You might pick it up from the chassis number from a detailed search from HPI.

[TR 2100]

There is some background to the xxxx WK series, although

I don't know the true story.

I have a xxxx WK registration on my 1962 (April) TR4 and

have noticed other TRs and quite a few other classic sports

cars with similar numbers.

 

I have the original pinkish logbook is titled "EXPORT QUOTA" and

it contains the following warning:

 

THE VEHICLE TO WHICH THIS BOOK RELATES HAS BEEN DELIVERED UNDER A SPECIAL

CONCESSION. ITS DISPOSAL WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM MAY INVOLVE A BREACH

OF UNDERTAKING OR AN OFFENCE AGAINST THE EXCHANGE CONTROL ACT, 1947

 

First registered to Standard-Triumph Sales,

COVENTRY C.B. COUNCIL,

MOTOR TAXATION SECTION,

THE COUNCIL HOUSE, COVENTRY"

First owner lived in Berkshire.

Built in mid-April, first registered 1st June 1962.

The car was exported to Hong Kong when 6 months old,

one owner until 1981 when I bought it.

I had the original registration re-issued about 5 years ago

when I re-imported it (but I did have all the supporting

documents)

 

I have tried to get more information on the xxxx WK series

but not discovered anything, so I can only speculate.

 

In the early 60s, there were restrictions on the amount of

sterling you could take out of the country. My first overseas

jaunt was about 1964 and my passport was stamped with

the amount of currency I was taking. I seem to recall a

£25 maximum. My spending money for the week was

£17.50.

Maybe buying a car in the UK, in sterling, then exporting

it for re-sale, was a way of getting more sterling out of the

country.

 

xxxx WK cars were sold without purchase tax, for export.

If you sold the car in the UK, then purchase tax would

become payable.

 

Judging by my number (approx. 1900) and another TR4

that I know of, a little earlier than mine (approx 1600), I

estimate the series started in 1961.

 

There must have been additional records kept at the time

to track these WK cars. That's not to say the records still

exist, but it does open other possible areas of investigation.

 

I wonder if ALL xxxx WK cars were first registered to S-T

as a means of control of the "export quota"?

 

Any further information/thoughts welcomed.

 

AlanR

Edited February 22, 2015 by TR 2100

[Dave Ashworth]

Thanks Alan and threej.

 

I called HPI and they were very helpful, suggesting that they can't give this information to a member of the public, but if I speak to a dealer who is registered with them, they can do a search.

 

So, that's the next step. I'll have a chat with my local garage and see are they registered with them.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Dave.

[stuart]

WK is a Coventry reg no and so was issued to a lot of ex works cars as well as being used as temporary UK plates for the export cars.Jaguar used the same, a lot of early E types and MK2`s were on WK plates and they are still running around in this country so its not just the export ones. DU plates are the same from the same area but slightly earlier period and you will find several such registered cars on the ST films of the European rallies that they organised for the Americans to come over and collect their cars do the rally and then take them home afterwards. But by the same token there are quite a few DU reg cars still running around here.

Picture below of US flyboys with their WK reg TR4`s

Stuart.

Edited February 22, 2015 by stuart

[pfenlon]

Hi All,

 

I don't know the registration number of my TR4!

 

I have a TR4 sitting in a barn up the road, awaiting more than a little TLC.

 

I acquired the vehicle about a year ago in a part exchange. I have a Heritage Cert, the Commission No and Engine No, but the number plates and V5 don't exist any longer. The chap I acquired it from did have a number plate, but can't find it, but there was no V5 when he purchased it and he never got round to applying for one. Subsequently, the car sat in his barn for 11 years, until I liberated it and so there is no pathway to trace previous owners.

 

It is CT30269 and was dispatched from the factory on 20th February 1964, destined for Hollingdrake Auto Company in Stockport.

 

It was Triumph Racing Green, with Surrey Top and Overdrive.

 

There is a hint that the registration began with WK ----

 

I also have a note that it may have belonged to:

 

Mr. Damien Lovegrove,

33 Brighton Road,

Redland

Bristol BS6 6NU

 

around April 1993, but I have no idea how accurate this might be.

 

Question:

Is there any way of tracing the original Registration number?

 

Or shall I apply for an age related plate?

 

Any help on this conundrum greatly appreciated.

 

All the very best.

 

Dave.

 

 

Without pinching your post Dave, I have been looking at plates and their areas of issue for some time.

 

WK as they say is a Coventry plate, I sent my registration pack for the De Tomaso to the DVLA along with a letter asking if I could have a Manchester registration plate.

 

The registration details returned seven days later with an East london plate beginning with LO. It seems they just ignore people who write these days unless there is a cheque in the envelope.

 

good luck with the search.

[TR 2100]

So, wrong again. Thanks Stuart!

 

Anyway, thanks for the detail and the photo. It's been

bugging me for a long long time, so now I can forget

about it!

 

AlanR

 

Edit :

Then again, American servicemen could well have

bought the cars free of purchase tax, for export to

the US.

And (from parallel thread) - would a car exported to

Jersey be free of purchase tax?

Edited February 23, 2015 by TR 2100

[Cew]

There is a Hollindrake Landrover dealer in Stockport,is it possible that they are the same and may have an archive,just a thought. If your car is right hand drive and was sent to Stockport then perhaps the WK reg. is a red herring.

[pfenlon]

As far as I know Hollingdrakes are long gone, its Lamborghini Manchester these days.

 

I did send my first TR2 to them for work in the 60's, they were worse than awful.

[Dave Ashworth]

Thanks again for all the information.

 

Thanks Stuart for info and photos, very interesting.

 

I do remember the Hollingdrake name and they are still listed as Landrover Dealers, just down the road from you Pete.

 

Thanks Clive for the suggestion, I'll give them a call.

 

It's also possible the chap I got the car from has mixed up some of the paperwork as he did have three TR4s.

 

I'm having trouble finding someone with a Dealer Account with HPI though. If anyone knows anyone, can they please let me know and I can ask them to do a search for me, in exchange for some beer vouchers.

 

All the very best.

 

Dave.

[snowric]

Try our insurance scheme - surely they can HPI check?

Snowy

[Dave Ashworth]

Thanks Snowy,

 

That would be a really good service if the can. I'll give them a call.

 

All the very best.

 

Dave.

[Alec Pringle]

Hi Dave,

 

Marko could probably do the necessary for you ?

 

Cheers

 

Alec

[miltonzoom]

I owned a Red 1954 TR2 (912 ever built). The reg number was JVY 500. Does anybody know if either the car or the reg number still exists? Regards Roger

[Nigel Triumph]

I just checked with the DVLA online:

https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/?_ga=2.171679456.1977428841.1573663763-1192403095.1488445811

There's nothing known about your registration at the DVLA. Either the car sadly no longer exists or it was taken off the road long ago (before the SORN system started) and is still stored away somewhere unknown to the DVLA.

Nigel

[Dave Grosse]

The reverse WK series was issued to Coventry CBC for use with the Home Delivery Export Scheme whereby a new buyer could collect his new (British-made) car in the UK and use it for up to three months before his supplier arranged for its shipping to the eventual destination for which it was bound. Sometimes, but not always, when such a car returned to Britain, these original HDES plates could be re-mounted and some of these can be seen still today, looking innocently as if they have never been away. Many were indeed allocated to Jaguar (and Daimler) for their factory team cars, as well as bona fide HDES registrations to other Coventry-based manufacturers like Standard Triumph.
The Coventry HDES series began in Jan 1953 with NDU xxx, then NHP (8/53), NRW (6/54), NWK (4/55), NVC (12/55), NKV (6/56), then UDU (3/57), UHP (8/57), URW (3/58), UWK (7/58), UVC (12/58) and UKV (5/59).
The HDES series continued in 7/59 with 3001 DU upwards with 9999 DU being followed by 1 WK in Sep 1961 and reaching 8511 WK in May 1964 before suffixes began on 1st June 1964 (DDU 1B being the first Coventry suffix HDES series).
3923 DU was the first issue of 1960; 7826 DU the first in 1961, followed by 1 WK as above.
440 WK was the first issue of 1962; 3843 WK the first in 1963 and 7305 WK the first in 1964.
 

[Lebro]

Contact Mike Ellis, TR2-3B Registra.  he may some records of it.

Bob

[ianc]

As it's a TR4, Jon Marshall, the TR4/4A Registrar, may be able to help.

Ian Cornish

[tr graham]

If it does carry a Coventry registration that will be easily recoverable via the V765 registration scheme .

graham