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MG MGA - History of MGA Coupe YUY 552

Have tried all the usual sources now; MGA Register, DVLA, BMHT etc. Still would like to establish the early history of my car, a 1600 MK 1 coupe reg YUY 552. The earliest name I have is David Dowse, Yeading Lane, Hayes, Middlesex, who owned the car in the late 60's. Originally alamo beige, then maroon and perhaps blue. He was perhaps the last person to use it on the road, before passing though various hands in differing stages of restoration. Does anyone remember this car in the 60's, or David Dowse.
H BUCKELDEE

A David Dowse wrote a book called Morgan at Lemans; a history of the Morgan automobile. There are also a few David Dowse perons named in Google. Give it a try, I hope it works for you.
mike parker

That should have read "persons"
mike parker

H,

When I researched my car I found that:
http://www.kitheadtrust.org.uk/

Had all the info I required.

DVLA records where either destroyed, kept by the local county, sent to DVLA or kept at Kithed Trust when DVLA was created / computerised in the early 1980's. Depending on the County it was registered in.


Your lucky your DVLA record goes back to 01 01 1960 my car only went back to 1981. Strange the date is 01/01 though....

Had DVLA given you all the keeper info back to 01/01/1960?

http://www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/

Good luck.
Mark.
Mark Hester

Hi Mark,
Sorry have not replied to your response earlier, as been away for Christmas.
The DVLA info only goes back as far as 1984, when presumably the owner at the time decided to register the car on the DVLA computer.
Kept with the car was an old style continuation log book, covering the years 1969 to 1974. Because later owners did not bother to maintain the keeper details on this log book, it was not taken into account when registering on the computer.
By contacting the MGA Register, I was able to fill in the years 1974-84, with some certainty. You perhaps miss read my thread in believing I can go back 01/01/60.
The missing years are 1960 - 1969.
Having said that, I did have some luck in that the original registers are still held by Worcester Record Office. They provided me with a copy of the entry taken out by Bells Garage when the car was new.
Regards
Henry
H BUCKELDEE

Hi Henry,

I'm not sure you clicked the DVLA link above and entered your cars details. Did DVLA say why they show a date of 01/01/60 on the above web site, but you say their records only go back to 1984? Perhaps they have not given you everything.

I've found that they still have access to substantial paper based info which they have to request back from their archives.

I wonder if they will add the details you have discovered to your DVLA record. This interests me too as one of my cars has no early DVLA history due to the switchover to computerised records.

Hope this helps and HNY
Mark.
Mark Hester

As an additional thought I might see if Barney can put together a page on how to track the history of your car, as this topic springs up time and time again.
I can only add info on UK searches, as I've tried a few times with my other LHD T/Cam and never got anywhere as each state in the US has different rules and none appear to have online searches available.

Cheers
Mark.
Mark Hester

Markk -- I have that page already, but it's rather brief. See here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/buying/buy107.htm
If anyone has more to add, do tell.
Barney Gaylord

Hi Mark,
Just tried the above DVLA link. 01/01/60 is purely a reference to when the car was first registered. I think the registration number was taken out by the dealer a day or two before.
When I contacted the DVLA for keeper history, it took about 4 weeks for them to reply as they had to send a request to the archive dept for photocopies of any remaining paperwork.
A follow up telephone call confirmed that they have no more information.
The Kithead Trust website is very informative, as it directed me to Worcester Record Office, where the original registers are still held for that county. However any more detailed record cards have either been lost or destroyed during the computerisation process.
I doubt whether any of details on previous owners I have unearthed will be accepted by the DVLA. The old continuation log book is incomplete, and I have filled in some years by reference to MGA Register records.
I have however sent a complete list of owners, for the years I know about, to the MGA Register.
My only chance now I believe to find further owners for the years 1960-1969 is luck.
A few years back I placed an ad in Classic Car Mart, concerning another car I owned. Amazingly I had 2 replies. The more unusual the car, the more might be remembered.
Happy New Year
Henry
H BUCKELDEE

The history of the car is difficult to track here in the USA. I know that California only keeps records for like seven years on cars with no activity (ie, no renewal of license or title, no change of ownership, etc.). Same for WI, about 7 years. I think MO is also seven.

James Johanski

Tracking the history of a car in the US is more difficult today. We have privacy laws now that limit what can and can't be given out even if it is public record. When I did my search back in '79, the great state of Illinois gave me photostats of several previous titles as far back as they had. The documents had names and addresses. Try that today.

Chuck
C Schaefer

Does anyone know what these US states do with the records after 7 or 10 years. I'm sure when they say they destroy them, them simply archive them off elsewhere.
I'm sure in this post 911 era, there is another law preventing the destruction of data.

Anyway Barney has kindly updated the above page again for those that are interested:

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/buying/buy107.htm

Still very thin on the US front though.
Surely there are some states with less stringent laws?

Cheers
Mark.

Mark Hester

This thread was discussed between 18/12/2007 and 03/01/2008

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