Hi, i have a mk1 escort the vin tags i removed, but no number plates or logbook, the car was left in the care of some one, sadly the number plates and my sale documents went missing, they said that they where not sure where that had go as they where left in the office. the garage is now closed down.
ive tried everything to find out who i brought it from but all the details relating to have gone, i do no the age i remember some parts of the reg, can anyone.
help or offer some advice as its been a complete night mare.
Regards
J

 

Was the car registered in your name?
Are you in possesion of the car or do you have photos, someone on here or the Escorts forums may recognise it?
Is the car complete?

DVLA have got a massive backlog due to limited working through Covid, don't expect an immediate response if you contact them.

 

Why were the plates and V5 in a garage office?

Sounds a bit dodgy to me!

 

Your trying to find your old car with no vin no logbook and no numberplate? And no paperwork relating to the purchase?

 

So sounds like you know nothing about a car you "own" except some of the reg - Hate to say it but erm yer, good luck

 

Hi thank very much for getting back to me, no the car was registered as SORN I was told by the previous owner, he gave me the two registration plates and
some sold paperwork and told me to contact the DVLA, i have located the ex partner of the garage business, i will speak to him on Monday and update you. a friend of theres took some pictures years ago of the car, its a long shot but I'm trying to locate him also, as i no where his wife works.
at the time as the owner was fixing my family car and a friends car and so on i really didn't feel up to it, to accuse him of straight
stealing my stuff, he did say several times that he would look around as things where constantly being moved. silly mistake to trust him i guess
I still have the car body shell. i wanted to start a rebuild. the plates and a other parts where left in his office just buy circumstance.
What i will do, once i get hold of the previous owner and hopefully some pics of tags etc i will send to them in hope but may i sincerely say thank you
for your advice and kindness Regards J

 

Hi thank you for your reply, sorry but not dodgy just trusting, i am an honest person, i really didn't think to much of it at the time as the garage partner who was to do the body work took the rear plate off for me, as the front plate was left in a bag with some bits under the front seat so both plates where put in the office safe keeping metal cabinet and some parts where put in the storage room,
as the owners partner was to do the body work, i thought it would be ok.
It has bothered me ever since but you live and learn, if i cant recover the plate info well I'm going to continue the rebuild anyway because
i ve been collecting parts for it for some time. the car was brought from an owner who lives in greater London I no the area i have the original tags
that match up with the body shell colour i no what cc the car is and its age i no the first four digits of the licence i just cant remember the rest
i was thinking to put out the area of the previous owner may be some one i that area many years ago would remember as i come from the midlands and the previous owner 1000% would remember me and selling it to me, but thank you for your comments. Regards J

 

Hi thank you very much for your reply, i do have the original vin plates that match the body colour and age and cc of the car I have tracked down the co partner of the business so Monday hopefully i will get a little more info, I'm trying not to accuse him, i just want to get some details
I also have the wing badges that i took off and put in my pocket at the time, i hope to get hold of there friend who took some pics of the car as it came into the garage as a body shell.
I was thinking of posting a message out to the site members who may come from a particular area of London, as the car was brought up to me i live in the midlands and I'm 1000% sure the previous owner would remember me and still have the details as he was a genuine person.
Thank you once again for you consideration and comments, if i make progress i will post as I'm going to continue with the rebuild regardless.
Regards J

 

Hi thank yo very much for your reply, to be honest you have a great point but i'm going to continue trying the last thing i thought was that the plates and parts would go missing, Monday will be a big step, as i found out the location of the co partner, fingers crossed he can at least give me the number of the business owner, I'm trying to be so careful not upset anyone i would just
like to no some details
as the owner did take a few pics I'm sure, I do no there area of London the previous owner was from, If i do make any progress i will post as hope 1 day something good comes of it.
Thanks once again thank you.
Regards
J

 

Pay a garage to HPI check the chassis number, should come back with the number plate.

 

Hi thanks once again, i did try a small local dealer near me he said he could't, it was a lot of hassle and you need the full registration.
He just went on about, his LOTUS sunbeam 2.2 which he had out side.
I met up with the co partner from the old garage, he said he would try to help he remembers the ordeal, he dug out the only picture
he could find, my car is at the back of his blue vauxhall victor, sadly the number plate was on the back, no photos of the back but you can just about see my car, i'm going to see if i can get it digitally enhanced tomorrow.
i did pay the bank for a statement which should give me the name of the previous owner as i paid for the car and for transportation,
it takes up to 10 working days, the bank only allow his name and the amount, sad as i paid and i've been with them for over 20 yrs.
I am going to try the large dealership tomorrow hopefully they will allow a check and i get a result
The my statement arrive, i may post his name hopefully some one will recognise it as he also owned an escort van.
So again thanks so much for the advice, i will update you tomorrow.
Regards J

 

How long ago did you buy it?

 

9 years ago as far as i can remember, i was away working when i came back it was closed the owner had some personals, nobody
could get hold of him, according to his partner he left loads of valuable parts in the garage come closing day he never turned up
it taken me years to find him as his number and life has changed.

 

Sorry to be negative but this all seems iffy......

You have offered up nothing but what ifs and maybe's.....

No pictures
No reg or the part you have
No garage name
No model of the car
No details of the vin that you say you have

I for one have bought plenty of cars but sure know the reg when they go anywhere.

 

I don't get the part about why you removed the vin plate before putting it into a garage...
With the reg plates also removed that means there's nothing to tie that car to you.
If you've owned it 9 years surely you would have registered it in your name and declared it sorn by now?
If you were to post up the information that you do have someone here could probably find you the rest....

 

Hi i am half way to resolving this, You can give what ever opinion you like, i only asked for some advice.
once i do have the reg i will certainly post an update its a white 2door Mk1 escort.
other than that i'm honest, i don't do iffy i'm afraid.
but thank you very much for your comments.
Regards
J

 

Hi a miss understanding, i never removed the vin plates before putting it into the garage, I don't believe i said i did?
The number plates where removed not the vin i have the VIN TAGS.
The car was at the garage for a year and a half as the issue rolled on they eventually asked me to remove the car which i did.
every now and again over a few years, i would go back and ask if they had found anything, nothing came of it.
I didn't bother for quite a while, then i decided to go back and try to check for my self but it was all closed, 7 months later the whole area was demolished.
I appreciate that it seems far fetched but its the truth,
Busy today but tomorrow I'm going try to do more sorting,
I'm just waiting for some bank info and other things to come through.
If you do think this is all made up well, thank you very much for your consideration
and advice as and when i will post the result regardless as i feel much better about
everything and not giving up, i'm confident that its going to work out. I would also advise anyone
who has a ford classic car to be very cautious about how much of your personal/car details you give out to the public.
As unfortunately not everyone has good intentionsions.
Regards
J

 

I'm not suggesting it's all dodgy but it's just a bit vague..... Your first 2 sentences in your first post say you removed thd vin tags and left the car in someone's care.... I'm not sure why you'd remove vin tags in the first place? In all my years of modifying and restoring old cars I never needed to remove vin tags...
You say the garage asked you to remove the car and you did.... So you have the car then and you have the vin tags.... ?

 

No offence taken at all, yes i have the car and the vin plates also, the only reason i removed the vin plates, was i had some parts stored away, they unfortunately went missing, a task to replace, so just for security reasons, i have never had to do it before its a case of experience and a steep learning curve,
My apologies for the structuring of my sentences, the timeline of events may be a little confusing, I'm hoping to hear from the bank any day now,
I just need to be patient. I might quickly pop over to the co owner to get some advice on the HPI and post later the result its a lovely day.
Thanks once again.
Regards
J

 

If you have the car and the vin plates surely the dvla can sort out the reg number? Problem might be if its not in your name they might not pass that info on...

 

He also gave me the name of someone who might be able to check, I'm going to see him tomorrow,
He said that the DVLA's policy is very strict now and its mainly computer based algorithms, that are not
sympathetic or flexible. Im going to keep going, in the meantime in thinking of cleaning up my carbs,
lots of sorting to do. i will update tomorrow if i get to, the man that knows a little.
It might be the case that the previous owner did notify the DVLA that the car had been sold to me.
I'm just trying to gather as much info as poss, to make a case, the it won't need to be a gone with the wind epic.

I did try a few HPI sites but they either ask for the reg or 17 digit chasis numbers so no help there.
Thank you once again for your comments.
Regards
J

 

Part 1 goes above. I went to see the co partner, he said to try the main dealer, we did but they don't keep records of chasis numbers that old,
we also asked for the paint code reference for ermine white, nothing there to help either.

Thank you once again for your comments.
Regards
J

 

If you’ve got the car and the vin plates then surely you can use the chassis number for a hpi check?

 

Mk1 Escort won't have a 17 digit VIN thats why he can't get an hpi check done imo.

 

So you have the car, the vin (chassis) tag and nothing else even though you say you went to the garage after being asked to remove the car???

You dont mention the model, why not contact the relevant owners club, Avo owners, mk1 escort owners, rs owners so on and so forth.

Failing that i would of thought once built you could take it for a vehicle check at a local office and get an age appropriate plate asigned??

Your story jumps about abit with differing info...hence the iffy statement...to be honest I'd of thought twice about posting if your not going to supply
tangible details.

 

Thanks again for all your replies and helpful info, the story is a bit convoluted but what i've said is true, i wasn't aware that you could get age related plates, i have, given some one some details, there going to look into it for me but its not 17 digits,
so i will wait, i certainly will approach the owners clubs, I'm trying to get as much info as possible first, I am going ahead with the build anyway.
l've been going through stuff that I'stored for away for some time, if found a receipt from yukspead,
I phoned him and asked him did he remember selling me bits 9 years ago, he laughed and said ' If it where yesterday may be.
Once i get the shell in primer, I will post some pics, as the co owner did say if i did needed some help, he's a good painter so. over the weekend I'm to get organised and also doing some parts sorting, so for all the IFFY'S i might post a pic or 2 of what ever i find.
Thanks once again, i will update if i get a result.
Regards
J

 

I feel like I've had a stroke trying to understand this post

 

 

Funniest thing I've read in ages

 

From what I can gather, this seems to be a 10 year battle over a pair of Ł20 number plates, and a V5 which can be replaced by the DVLA. Unless, I have got that completely mixed up in all the bollocks about VIN plates being removed and the partner of the garage cross dressing to avoid detection

 

At first I read it as if the car itself was missing until the last post said otherwise...

 

There also seems to be a lot of third parties involved, two (I think) co-owners of the business, a guy who is apparently a good painter, the cars previous owner, someones wife (he knows where she works), a small local dealer, a large dealership, a main dealer and the entire staff of the DVLA. Although these could all be the same person.

 

Well an update, may i thank all the members who have contributed i do appreciate your comments/advice,
once again everything i have said is true and has nothing to do with a self replicating alter ego, as insinuated,
if i said that i had brought the car from Noddy and Big ears lost the plates so we all went to Joe 90's house
to meet Grizmelda fro some advice, i guess i would have GOLD STARS and thumbs .
So the BAD NEWS Its so sad but I GOT MY REG IT STARTS WITH V
sorry to spoil the party but I'm so happy I've been waiting so long, its still registered to the last keeper from the 80's
I ve been told to get a V5 as they won't pass on his name but what can i say
I just ordered a load of U pol stuff as Mr Rust has been busy, i suppose its been a fair while.
when the time comes i will send some pics out but I'm sure you wouldn't believe me anyway
All the best for now as i think its time i did a little IFFY body work, Regards


J

 

Seems your obsession with the iffy comment has hit a nerve.

Glad your sorted Jack, information is key and as with most things people will be speculative untill all is laid bare.

 

Thank you very much once again,
i always try to think positively.
Regards
J

 

Thank you appreciated
Regards
J

 

Thank you
all the best
Regards
J

 

Thank you very much
Regards
J

 

Glad u enjoyed
thank you
Regards
J

 

Thank you appreciated
Regards
j