I received a letter from the DMV informing me the VIN number on the title for my MG Midget didn’t appear to be valid. I took a closer look and found out a number “1″ had been recorded on the title as an “L”. So, with any luck that will soon be straightened out. I think it’s pretty cool that they noticed, but I suppose they need to watch out for mischief.
It took me a few minutes to actually find the VIN plate on my MG. It was well hidden inside the engine bay on my car. I found this page quite helpful, but it made me wonder what purpose the body number played.
On my 1961 Mk1 Midget the “body number” plate exists on a plate inside both the right-, and left-hand doors. Why doesn’t this number (which is very close to the VIN number) match exactly? What was this number used for? What does “GBE” stand for? Any idea why the first few thousand cars made, of which mine is one, apparently had the body number attached to both door pillars?
Not sure if the above link will work – it is from a Google book and details which prefix is used and where, but not what it means.