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Not sure if this has been posted before but I have learned from Surrey that all their records were sent to the DVLA in Swansea in 1978 and they have also confirmed to me that "Unfortunately there are no vehicle registration records surviving for Surrey at the DVLA before 1980."
Cliff

Wow sad news!
I have a 1967 Austin Cooper S that was originally sold at Swain & Jones Farnham. It was imported to the US shortly afterwards. Would have been interesting to know the original reg #.

hanlminiman wrote:Not sure if this has been posted before but I have learned from Surrey that all their records were sent to the DVLA in Swansea in 1978 and they have also confirmed to me that "Unfortunately there are no vehicle registration records surviving for Surrey at the DVLA before 1980."
Cliff

.I think u may find it was 76 if I recall..??all to do with computerisation ...i had a mk 3 s reg HPB 814K. that was new from a Surrey BLMC dealer...Foxy52

My understanding is that the records which were sent to the DVLA as part of the process of computerisation in the late 1970s by local authorities was subsequently sent to a warehouse in Wales, as the shear volume of paperwork just could not be dealt with by the staff at Swansea.
Mike Worthington-Williams, a well known motoring historian, told me this and I believe he had been allowed access to the warehouse years ago. He said the place was in a mess with paper and boxes everywhere but as there appeared to be no 'system' of storage of this material the chances of finding anything where pretty much zero.
I don't know if this facility still exists and will make enquires for an update.

skorwxe wrote:. He said the place was in a mess with paper and boxes everywhere but as there appeared to be no 'system' of storage of this material the chances of finding anything where pretty much zero.
I don't know if this facility still exists and will make enquires for an update.

sounds about right for a government department.............

skorwxe wrote:My understanding is that the records which were sent to the DVLA as part of the process of computerisation in the late 1970s by local authorities was subsequently sent to a warehouse in Wales, as the shear volume of paperwork just could not be dealt with by the staff at Swansea.
Mike Worthington-Williams, a well known motoring historian, told me this and I believe he had been allowed access to the warehouse years ago. He said the place was in a mess with paper and boxes everywhere but as there appeared to be no 'system' of storage of this material the chances of finding anything where pretty much zero.
I don't know if this facility still exists and will make enquires for an update.

Skorwxe, any more info on this?

Cheers,
Rachel

Would be interested as well as my Mk2 Cooper was first registered in Epsom in '68, but haven't been able to trace any history back before '70 as the records were 'destroyed'.

When I tried to get details from DVLA on a car first registered in 1963 by Lankesters Dealership of Surbiton , I could get nothing before February 1978 as they stated that when the centralised record was set up a duplicate or continuation book had been presented. Suggesting that anything from pre-1978 that hadn't been recorded at the time of centralisation is irretrievable.

There are really two parts to this question. The DVLC Repository was at Llandow and certainly existed by 1972. Initially records for vehicles not licensed for over three years were sent there and registration authorities could get the records back if a vehicle was subsequently taxed or changed ownership. Whilst all the boxes were numbered the central index of where they were located was eventually 'mislaid' I was told that the whole lot was pulped in the late 1980's.

The date that records were sent to the DVLA for the initial computerised registration of cars depended partly on location and partly when a car changed hands. I remember a friend of mine buying a 1966 Hillman Limp from its first owner in 1978 and still getting the green log book for that. He had to go to the local licensing office who sent it to the DVLA to get the record computerised, whereas my first Mini came with a V5. Once the computer record was set up, the DVLA returned the old log book to the owner - I'm not sure if they had to request its return or if it was returned as a matter of course.

The registration and licensing of new vehicles directly with the DVLA began from the autumn of 1974. It was supposed to begin on 1st January 1974 but, surprise surprise, the system wasn't ready

Regarding original registration records; nowadays they are typically held by a country or city record office; these were normally hand written registers which contain varying amounts of information depending on location. Some have make, model, dealer, 1st owner etc. and some have no vehicle information whatsoever. Back in the day the then current vehicle information and ownership details were also stored on a card register.

County records are generally more likely to have survived than city records but you need to know where a car was registered, you might recall the recent confusion for some regarding a car that was registered in Derby which was a different licensing authority to Derbyshire viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14730. There is virtually nothing for London, Birmingham, Glasgow or Liverpool for example and there is little surviving in Scotland generally. Surrey is one of the county's that has no known surviving records along with Cornwall and Middlesex.

These records that are held in archives are classed as public records and therefore held under the Public Records Act 1958. They were, in some locations, subject to a 30 year closure rule but as it is over thirty years since they were last used and access is now under the Freedom Of Information Act they should be available for viewing.

Simon776,

Very informative and helpful, thank you!

Yes, thanks for that interesting post Simon - informative as ever

Looks like the first couple of TVB 56F's life will never be known

BMIHT stated that the registration number is an age related mark issued in 1970/71, so maybe a private number was put on when new or the owner liked the allocated F plate and kept it

Nice bit of Swain and Jones History here http://www.swainandjones.com/about-us/

Use to get all my mini bits there
Francis