Early Registration Madness???

[RoverFolkUs]

45 minutes ago, greengartside said:

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Here’s a very early Mk7 Fiesta on an ‘08 plate. They were launched on a ‘58 plate so this one is a pre-launch model. I’ve only ever seen one more ‘08’.

on eBay…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166083823234?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=z4E5EFEsTfu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=2OenAfhOTCK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I can't believe those Fiesta's are 15 years old now...!

[jon.k]

I just saw a K reg 306 - got to be quite a rare thing now?

[JJ0063]

Thought I saw a really early Fabia tonight until I MOT checked it and saw it’s a 2000 model

@AnnoyingPentium there’s hope for yours yet, this is a 1.4 pez and MOT done on 31st May shows it to be on 212k!

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

4 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

Thought I saw a really early Fabia tonight until I MOT checked it and saw it’s a 2000 model

@AnnoyingPentium there’s hope for yours yet, this is a 1.4 pez and MOT done on 31st May shows it to be on 212k!

 

That's mental mileage, quite surprising (fifth head gasket on that MPI maybes). Behind that reg it'll be a W-registration since it was registered July 2000.

Pretty much as early as you'll get for most Fabias, unless you can find yourself a V-reg, of which there's about eight left.

[RWL2012]

Sorry for no photo, but I just saw a burgundy/maroon/dark red V-reg Mk6 Transit minibus 2.4 Duratorq Diesel - V667 PPU - of (something) Theatre Company, in the car park of the Vale of Rheidol Railway's Aberystwyth station.

According to the DVLA checker, it was manufactured in 1999 (with the V, that would be late 1999), but first registered in December 2001 (so an "age appropriate" reg was given at just 2 years old, rather than just a 51?)

Until now, I've never ever known of any Mk6 Transit earlier than 2000 W-reg.

[cms206]

On 14/06/2024 at 21:18, JJ0063 said:

Thought I saw a really early Fabia tonight until I MOT checked it and saw it’s a 2000 model

@AnnoyingPentium there’s hope for yours yet, this is a 1.4 pez and MOT done on 31st May shows it to be on 212k!

 

Interestingly this shows as only having one previous plate, but it was re-registered on the day it was new... from P148 SPU?!

[Imhotep]

3 minutes ago, cms206 said:

Interestingly this shows as only having one previous plate, but it was re-registered on the day it was new... from P148 SPU?!

I never understood that, I had a Xantia that was L301THC, that was reregistered from L660TUF, same thing, day it was registered I believe. 

[RWL2012]

3 hours ago, RWL2012 said:

Sorry for no photo, but I just saw a burgundy/maroon/dark red V-reg Mk6 Transit minibus 2.4 Duratorq Diesel - V667 PPU - of (something) Theatre Company, in the car park of the Vale of Rheidol Railway's Aberystwyth station.

According to the DVLA checker, it was manufactured in 1999 (with the V, that would be late 1999), but first registered in December 2001 (so an "age appropriate" reg was given at just 2 years old, rather than just a 51?)

Until now, I've never ever known of any Mk6 Transit earlier than 2000 W-reg.

...and now I've seen that the "Check Car Details" website says it was first registered on the 31/12/1999, so not sure why the DVLA says manufactured in 1999 but first registered in December 2001 (including "222 g/km" in the post-March 2001 CO2 emissions field)?

[horriblemercedes]

Could it be one of those discrepancies you used to get when a vehicle was first registered to the Ministry of Defence? 

[MantaGTE85]

I may be biased because I own one, but I vividly remember the Fiat Grande Punto being the dog's balls at launch - you could even race it on PlayStation 2's Need For Speed Most Wanted. But nowadays though, considering how popular they were, I have not seen a single 55-plate example this year. I still see plenty of '06-plates just about clinging on by their fingernails though.

I recently spotted a grey Audi A4 being carted away for scrap - N353UTT. I thought that was quite an early one since my dad once looked at these at the A4 Open Day at Renwicks Newton Abbot in about March/April 1995. We considered it the most solid feeling car in the world at the time, certainly next to his already-rattly J-plate E36.  So does anybody know if there are any M-reg A4's remaining? 

[quicksilver]

As it's the Montego's 40th birthday this year, have a pre-launch car, the oldest and only A-reg survivor. For some reason it's had a recent plate change and was A122 TOO until 2021.

 

[MantaGTE85]

Well caught on that Clove Brown Montego. New in April 1984! Has to be THE very first! I don't think I've seen a Montego with the earliest-style Austin badge on the grille like this one. And given this car's build date, does this mean that it has the early Maestro's R-Series engine fitted? I read somewhere that the S-Series wasn't ready until the following June.

[MantaGTE85]

On 29/09/2024 at 14:10, quicksilver said:

As it's the Montego's 40th birthday this year, have a pre-launch car, the oldest and only A-reg survivor. For some reason it's had a recent plate change and was A122 TOO until 2021.

 

Interestingly enough, I remember  A_ _ _TOO reg plates also being used on the earliest mk2 Fiesta XR2 press cars.

[Richard_FM]

57 minutes ago, MantaGTE85 said:

Interestingly enough, I remember  A_ _ _TOO reg plates also being used on the earliest mk2 Fiesta XR2 press cars.

It's interesting that an Austin Rover press car would have a Chelmsford registration, as most were registered in Birmingham, Oxford or Coventry, though the pre-production Wedges had London registrations to try to disguise their origin!

[adw1977]

14 hours ago, MantaGTE85 said:

And given this car's build date, does this mean that it has the early Maestro's R-Series engine fitted? I read somewhere that the S-Series wasn't ready until the following June.

No, the R series was never fitted to the Montego. 

According to AROnline, the S-series was introduced to the Maestro three months after they started building Montegos with S-series engines, so June 1984 sounds about right for the first S-series engined Maestro, presumably once R-series stocks had been used up.

[Austin-Rover]

On 29/09/2024 at 14:10, quicksilver said:

As it's the Montego's 40th birthday this year, have a pre-launch car, the oldest and only A-reg survivor. For some reason it's had a recent plate change and was A122 TOO until 2021.

 

I know the previous owner of this one. They now own an earlier example which is undergoing restoration, so there's more than one A reg around. 

The brown one above wasn't a press car - they all had Midlands reg series as you would expect. It just happened to be registered on the competitor's home turf. 😄 

[MantaGTE85]

You mean there is an even older one? This brown one only had 1744 miles at its 2006 MOT, when it was 22 years old. I would love to know the engine serial number if it's as early as this. 

[Austin-Rover]

4 hours ago, MantaGTE85 said:

You mean there is an even older one? 

...and someone in the Club has rescued this one registered in the same A--- KWK series as the press cars. 

 

[adw1977]

Looks like A290KWK is a Vanden Plas, too!

[MantaGTE85]

I would love to know how that VP is coming along. It's 5 days older than the brown one! I've just found a February 2024 article on AR-Online about the Montego's 40th anniversary, solely covering the 1.3 Base. It was a great read, and Tommy's old 1.3 Estate gets a mention half way through. In the article is a press photo of A140KWK, which is a February 1984-registered Base model. Interestingly, DVLA says it's a 1.6, not a 1.3, so it could be the first S-Series engine ever made. I kind of like them with the Maestro HL wheels.

[quicksilver]

I actually thought this was a private plate as Mk2 BXs didn't go back that far. Turns out, according to our resident BXpert @richykitchy's video on this very car, the Mk2 was launched in July 86 so there are very very few of them on a C-reg. This is one of the pre-production batch used as press cars and demonstrators and registered in the C-CBX series that by a happy coincidence was being issued by Haverfordwest VRO at the right time.

[Austin-Rover]

41 minutes ago, MantaGTE85 said:

I would love to know how that VP is coming along. It's 5 days older than the brown one! I've just found a February 2024 article on AR-Online about the Montego's 40th anniversary, solely covering the 1.3 Base. It was a great read, and Tommy's old 1.3 Estate gets a mention half way through. In the article is a press photo of A140KWK, which is a February 1984-registered Base model. Interestingly, DVLA says it's a 1.6, not a 1.3, so it could be the first S-Series engine ever made. I kind of like them with the Maestro HL wheels.

I ran a Montego 1.3 years ago. It was a brilliant car. I also had an A reg example. Both are long dead. 

 

[Richard_FM]

2 hours ago, Austin-Rover said:

...and someone in the Club has rescued this one registered in the same A--- KWK series as the press cars. 

 

I've noticed many Austin Rover press cars from the second half of the 80s have Coventry registrations like this one.

[Markeh]

No photo and didn't get a full reg but W-reg Mk6 Transit pickup/tipper spotted in Taunton earlier. Didn't look like a private plate, wiki reckons Mk6 came out July 2000, W reg ran to end of August 2000, so I guess it's possible?

[cms206]

18 hours ago, Markeh said:

No photo and didn't get a full reg but W-reg Mk6 Transit pickup/tipper spotted in Taunton earlier. Didn't look like a private plate, wiki reckons Mk6 came out July 2000, W reg ran to end of August 2000, so I guess it's possible?

I've driven one, W469 KNA. They do exist.

[Richard_FM]

I believe some Mk1 Toyota Yaris press cars were registered on an S reg ahead of the launch in April 1999.

[sheffcortinacentre]

The original fiat panda press cars were W reg I believe.