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New member searching for car history
- Thread starter Arderra
- Start date
Indi9xx
New member
If so, email it to the Porsche factory records chap, who will be able to tell you the chassis number that the engine should be installed into, if it is different, check that chassis number to see if it is currently recorded as stolen and not recovered.. If so, worry!
If you have a car with no chassis number, there is, or was, a provision for getting an age related plate or a Q plate.
For an age related plate, DVLA give a set amount of points for each sub section of car. For example an engine might be X amount of points, transmission another X amount of points, Steering and suspension and so on.. If you pass a set amount of points, the car will qualify for an age related plate, bellow that level it will be given a Q plate.
This information may be out of date, but I know up until a few years ago this is how the rules were with a car without ID.
However, you can expect extreme scrutiny from the Police, so the more info you can get, including contacting the previous owners of the car (DVLA will release a list of names and addresses if you claim to be researching the history of a classic car, for a small fee) as well as getting their stories, which insruance comapnies were involved and which recovery companies and salvage firms were involved.. Once you have a good picture, you should be able to prove some history of the car...
But, beware, I am not sure of the ins and outs, but I know a salvage yard a few years ago was closed down and the owners criminally charged, not for stealing cars, but for having cars without an identity in their possession... They were stealing cars, but the police could not prove it, so they were prosecuted under this lesser charge.. But the difference in your case is that you obviously have at least some paper trail showing where the car came from, rather than just saying "Some bloke sold it to me for cash"
I once bought a car without a chassis number but a good cover story, it even checked out with the police as there being none of that type of car stolen at that time, turned out that six months later the owner reported it had been stolen.. Fortunately the police had checked over the car for me months before, and it turned out to be a double scam.. One guy wanted to claim on his insurance because he could not afford the HP, another guy had a business charging people to make cars vanish for a set fee if you gave him a few months head start... In this case, he was being greedy and selling all the parts and then selling the shells with the chassis numbers removed, supposedly as "Stolen Recovered" and claiming the insurance company removed the chassis numbers and retained the log book so it could be put on a Q plate... Luckily I had done nothing to it and it did not cost me very much money to buy the rolling shell.. Even more lucky that as I helped the police and insurance company I was allowed to keep the rolling shell... But this was about the same time as this car seems to have materialised, back in the mid 90's.. So there is an outside chance that this car could be another one like this, or even that this is something that insurance companies used to do with stolen recovered cars back then.
It all may have changed now, because I do not know when I last noticed a Q plate car on the road, in the 90s and 80s there were much more common. Maybe the SVA test and VIC checks changed the way things happen?
Good luck, but proceed with caution!
I sent an email to Marc in Porsche and he was able to confirm that the body number and the engine numbers matched the vin number I gave him. (its the same vin number on the certificate of export) All I need to do now is identify the serial number on the gearbox to see if it also is original.
Anyone know where to look?
So a little happier now
I have also been in contact with the gardai (irish police) They gave me the name of their crash/stolen recovery officer and suggested that he might be able to shed some light on why the vin was removed. He can access a lot more information on the car the me.
Indi9xx:
I share your concern but I am 95% confident that it is not stolen. Crashed in the UK in Oct 94, in Ireland since Jan 1995, with the importer until 2003, the previous owner had it until March of this year and I have it now! Hopefully the Garda check will confirm.
So, hopefully, if the gearbox is original to the vin, I will have the body frame, engine, gearbox and trim spec matching the Build specification for the Vin. All that plus the original UK cert of export (vin number and engine number recorded on it), 2 HPI searches AND the Garda search results (to confirm not stolen etc), I should be able to convince the revenue that the car is legit, pay the Vehicle Registration Tax (36% the Irish value of the car) and get her registered into my name (and legally put the Vin back on)
So it might be a Happy Easter!!1
Will let you know
Arderra
First of all, a big THANK YOU to all that have replied to my post. Your assistance and advise is much appreciated
Just to keep you up to date.
Following several conversations with authorities over here and a lot of head banging against walls (I had to explain to the guy that the car does not have a separate chassis and what a body shell actually is!!) I have decided to wrap the car in cotton wool until she reaches 30!! (2019) I have several reasons for doing this, the main one being that I will be liable for a fine of nearly €15k as she was never registered here before!! (And that fine drops to €1k when she is vintage -30yrs old). Also, I don't have the funds to put her on the road now. (Thank you recession!)
I will still be gathering information about the cars history so when I do approach the "powers that be" to get her legal, I will have all the history no matter what they look for. To this end, is there anyone here that have access to dvla? (Drop me a pm please)
My plan for the next few years is to store the car in a container (water tight) I have a dehumidifier installed to prevent rust. I will take her out a few times each month and drive her around the field to keep bits working etc. also planning to give her a full service now (belts,water pump, filters, oil etc) just so I know they have been changed. I will change again in (2019).
Anything else I should be looking at?
I'm also open to the idea of buying a tired (blown engine, clutch, gearbox, knacker interior etc) 1989 944t. If you come across one (for the right money of course). I'd register that and swap parts over over the years!!
I am sure that someone here knows the car. She has a porsche gb sticker on the windscreen. Any long term members here (pre 1995)? Reg number F312 RKX (earlier number AOK .....)
Regards,
Eoin
Update on the update
After several additional months phoning around and talking to the authorities, I got in contact with porsche UK. They confirmed all that Marc noack was able to tell me and were kind enough to send cert of authenticity and optional extras codes.
I also got in contact with a vehicle engineer (he does crash reports, vehicle history searches, conformity / road worthy Certs on badly damaged cars etc). Showed him my research. He sees no problem getting the cars legal.
So good news all round
Eoin

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