1931 8-90 UK Registration

[Guest jules greenway]

Hi guys,

In order to register an historic vehicle in the UK our DMV like to see some documentary proof of the year of manufacture, and to this end most of the UK car clubs have a system of providing a certificate which is checked against factory records and keeps DMV happy! I wonder if the BCA do anything like this? Alternatively could one of you experts (Dave Corbin maybe?)provide a written note that our Buick Frame No:2539023 is indeed a 1931 8-90 Sedan

thanks in anticipation

Jules Greenway

[jscheib]

I take it you will need something on BCA letterhead, so it is recognized rather then just a note. Perhaps you could explain that in your request.

Will they require to see the car as well? I would imagine so. How about a copy of an old advert, or the Standard Catolog of Buick which shows photos with captions of the year.

Interesting, in Connecticut we just had a problem in that they did not want to recognize the VIN mounted on a plate on the frame, rather then the firewall, so you might want to keep that in mind as they look for the correct number.

Good luck. These DMV things are never easy no matter what country.

[Mark Shaw]

Jules,

I had a problem with the Washington State Department of Motor Vehicles when I tried to license my 24 Buick. I referenced the website below to verify the locations of frame and engine numbers by year of manufacture. Then you can reference "The Standard Catalog Of American Cars" to find the range of numbers for your car. Dave Corbin can tell you what month and year it was manufactured, but until he has published his book, they may not accept his determination.

http://members.aol.com/buickohv/ars.htm

If the U.K. is like the USA in how they document registration, I expect you may need a recognized publication to document your car rather than just a letter from the BCA or Dave Corbin.

[Guest jules greenway]

Mark, many thanks, will let you know how we get on. I have the Standard Catalogue of Buick so really they should accept that! In the UK some manufacturers (Jaguar are especially good) issue Heritage Certificates for authentication if we give them all the known details and pay a fee

all the best

Jules

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear Jules:

In regard to your inquiry, 2,539,023 was in the 4th batch of frame numbers issued in the 1931 model year for cars in the 90 Series , all of which had straight eight engines, hence the designation 8-90. The batch began at 2,539,018 and ended at 2,539,341, thus your car is the 6th car in batch 4. It is one of 4159 Model 90's for the 1931 year.

My source for this information is the actual Buick factory records, which I have compiled so as to have this information for all Buick from 1904 thru 1958, more than 9 million cars.

I hope this answers the questions the nice folks at your DMV have asked.

Regards,

David F. Corbin, 37 year member of the Buick Club

12 year member, Society of Automotive Historians

[Guest jules greenway]

many thanks to all of you, will let you know how we get on

cheers for now

jules

[50jetback]

Many Australian car clubs have an executive committee position designated Dating Officer.

This officer is responsible for determining the manufacture date of various motor vehicles ( some are easier than others ) and his determination is accepted by our licensing authority.

Sounds like the BCA needs an official Dating Officer and I know just the man for the job, what do you think Dave???

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear Stuart:

Who, me? Terry Dunham would be my choice,as he's known world-wide to Buick people. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I just try to help anyone who asks. There's no point in anyone having to do all that research over.

Regards, Dave Corbin

[DBT]

Jules,

Possibly asking the obvious but am assuming that you dont have the registration papers from the country of import or that the car is a UK car but has been off the road for quite some time?

When I brought the 38 90L into Singapore the citing of the Australian registration papers which state year of manufacture was sufficient proof for the local LTA [singapore's version of the DMV]. A colleague who has a Pre-War Citroen without papers has spent the best part of 6 months proving the car's details to the LTA. Tough work.

You make a good point about Heritage services. Jaguar is fantastic at this as are other British marques but Buick [in my case Buick Canada] just dont seem able to help at all. I engaged the archivist in Oshawa on the matter and he cited costs as the main reason.

A company has just got to want to do this for it to happen and I think thats missing here. Shame with over 100 years of heritage and such a wide enthusiast following. I think Buick may have missed a trick here.

Regards

David Thomson

BCA#43539,

Buick Car Club of Australia, NSW

[Guest jules greenway]

Dave, that's correct, we do not have recent registration but it seems to me that, if Canadian Authorities are happy with documentation to allow car to be exported, then it would be churlish of ours to be awkward about registration over here! The Research Package seems like a good idea (thanks Mark) so we will invest in one and let you know how we get on

cheers for now

Jules

[Guest imported_Thriller]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DBT</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You make a good point about Heritage services. Jaguar is fantastic at this as are other British marques but Buick [in my case Buick Canada] just dont seem able to help at all. I engaged the archivist in Oshawa on the matter and he cited costs as the main reason. </div></div>

It take it then the letter on GM letterhead with the details on the car wasn't sufficient? Or is it that they don't have records going back that far? I've had good luck with the GM Canada archives - they don't have all the information, but the cars I've asked them to investigate ('66, '56, and '54) they've always been able to put a manufacture date to the car. Of course, I haven't started talking to them yet about the '29...it isn't that critical here with restored cars, but the registration process can still be pretty frustrating.

[DBT]

Derek,

Sorry I should be more specific.

For me the issue is Canada Buick don't have records prior to 1946 and my car is a '38. The reason cited was that records take space and manpower to keep, both of which are costly. I appreciate that but by comparison other companies seem to have managed.

Best Regards

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear DBT:

Permit me to stick up slightly for the archivist at GM of Canada. I think all of the record destruction of the prewar information was done in the pre-computer age and not recently. The way that the Buick information survived is that copies were in various private archives ouside of Buick, which I managed to find or people like Terry Dunham volunteered to loan me. The cost to compile the records I have was about $6000 in copying costs, travel expenses and other miscellaneous. I then spent about 5000 hours across a 6 year period compiling and editing the information, so it's all computerized and in a searchable form.

However, so far as I can find after a worldwide search and a personal visit at my own expense to GM of Canada in 2006, no information exists that details how many of each model were built each year at McLaughlin/GM of Canada. IF anyone knows of, or has ever seen, any such information, please let me know where, when, and with whom, and I'll compile it.

Regards, Dave Corbin