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lost riley elf

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2024 6:30 pm
by maxidave
Can anybody on this site point me to the owner or location of a Riley Elf registration number MPM 464F.It's on a Sorn at the moment.
The lady owner was a customer of mine for many years (until my retirement )She told me she spent a lot of money on it when she
aquired it in 1972 including a full respray in red.I'm not sure if this was a colour change.She would very much like to catch up with
the current owner.I hope this is an appropriate topic for this section of the forum.

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2024 6:40 pm
by Catmint
There is a face book page for hornets and elfs, might be a better place to ask

https://www.facebook.com/groups/30278901186/

Gordon

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2024 6:45 pm
by Peter Laidler
It seems as though the DVLA are fair minded in this respect and will pass on letters to owners. Someone I know recently asked them to pass on to the current owner of a VW Beetle a lot of paperwork that they had from when their father purchased it new in whenever.....

A letter to the controller of DVLA with the paperwork that was available for him to see/read (presumably to ensure that there was nothing underhand going on) was sent to the new owner within a few days.

However, they won't reveal any addresses.

On the other hhand, you could just go into your local Police Station with a stamped, unaddressed and open envelope (for the same reason as above of course) and ask them to send it on.

There's no breeches of any protocols or privacy either way

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 8:50 pm
by miniminor
Not sure that's a valid reason for a search on PNC these days!

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:20 pm
by mab01uk

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 9:30 am
by maxidave
I contacted our nearest elf hornet register secretary a while back regarding this.I'm sorry to say he could not have been more unhelpful.
My friend just wishes to know if her first car is still on the road,being restored or deceased.Like many of us she has fond memories of the
car and is just curious about it's fate.Have we got so cynical these days that people think there is an ulterior motive? Mind you ,I'm feeling
quite cynical this morning.

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 10:09 am
by Peter Laidler
I'm afraid Maxidave, that a basic '.....does it still exist....' sort of querie won't open any doors at DVLA. But as I said, passing along original docs did work.

As for not being a good enough reason to search the PNC (the Police National Database) Miniminre, above. Do the modern day police need a good and valid reason to log into the PNC nowadays? Surely not! Maybe that's the difference between the old, no nonsense, bags of common sense cops of the olden days of Police Forces and the modern cover-your--backside modern police 'service'

That said, when I dropped/lost my Cooper S keys in Hungerford a couple of years ago, they were found and handed in later that same day. The key tag was stamped with my phone and car reg number. 3 days later, they turned up in an envelope at my house......, posted to the registered keeper, me, by the thoughtful station duty officer who''d done a PNC check on the car number and promptly posted them on.

Followed up a few days later by a thank you letter from me to the local Police boss at Newbury.

So it CAN work, given a bit of goodwill all round I say

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 10:24 am
by peasantslife
I concede I'm not familiar with searching the database on this age of vehicle...
I see that the series MPM is legitimate and quite early in the F year for East Sussex County Council. At approx 1400'th car registered...
But My database just returns 'No Data Results Found'
Exactly what that means I dont know, as the cars I generally search are normally much younger, will either give me Scrapped: False, or if they are correctly disposed of will give me a Cert of destruction issue date.
I suspect it means the car never made it, perhaps may have been scrapped before the records became computerised, but thats a bit of an open question as there are multiple break points for that...There were multiple requests for owners to get their cars moved onto V5's through the 74 (DVLC took over) until the last big push to get all the cars still with log books on the register in the early 80's.
You may care to enquire at E Sussex County Records. They will in all probability still hold their vehicle registration documentation from that era. It may bring up something to follow.
Inevitably the attrition rate for mini and derivatives is enormous with 90 something% (99%? of early) now lost, so chances are this is one of them.

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 10:37 am
by Exminiman
Does the fact that it has a SORN status not mean that someone has had to change its status to SORN ?

Last logbook issued 2005....according the the Gov website

SORN was apparently introduced in 1998.....

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 11:11 am
by mab01uk
Peter Laidler wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 10:09 am As for not being a good enough reason to search the PNC (the Police National Database) Miniminre, above. Do the modern day police need a good and valid reason to log into the PNC nowadays? Surely not! Maybe that's the difference between the old, no nonsense, bags of common sense cops of the olden days of Police Forces and the modern cover-your--backside modern police 'service'
Back in the 1970's I had a relative in the Police who would do a search on a reg number if you were say trying to track down the owner of a car involved in an accident, etc. However the power of modern software security and data protection rules, etc have moved on and I would expect for the modern day Police any 'unofficial' search on something like the PNC (the Police National Database) would now log a trail of who accessed it, when and for what 'official' approved reason....which means the person involved could be disciplined and loose their job as a result.

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 11:22 am
by mab01uk
Exminiman wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 10:37 am Does the fact that it has a SORN status not mean that someone has had to change its status to SORN ?

Last logbook issued 2005....according the the Gov website

SORN was apparently introduced in 1998.....
Yes, someone would have had to change it status to SORN it never happened automatically which is why many cars long gone just appear as 'untaxed' because they were already untaxed and off road in storage pre-1998 or scrapped/dismantled with the log book never being sent back to the DVLA to officially be recorded as scrapped.
So the Elf is either off road in storage and on SORN since 2005 or it may now just be a 'virtual' Elf with only the V5 sitting in a drawer or filing cabinet somewhere...

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:23 pm
by Exminiman
:lol: "a Virtual Elf" sounds like something from Harry Potter.....

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 1:29 pm
by mab01uk
Exminiman wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:23 pm :lol: "a Virtual Elf" sounds like something from Harry Potter.....
:lol: :lol:

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 2:15 pm
by Costafortune
An Elf I spotted earlier - looks like it is undergoing surgery.

Note the dreadful Invacar - bonfire material!

Re: lost riley elf

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 9:02 pm
by miniminor
mab01uk wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 11:11 am
Peter Laidler wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 10:09 am As for not being a good enough reason to search the PNC (the Police National Database) Miniminre, above. Do the modern day police need a good and valid reason to log into the PNC nowadays? Surely not! Maybe that's the difference between the old, no nonsense, bags of common sense cops of the olden days of Police Forces and the modern cover-your--backside modern police 'service'
Back in the 1970's I had a relative in the Police who would do a search on a reg number if you were say trying to track down the owner of a car involved in an accident, etc. However the power of modern software security and data protection rules, etc have moved on and I would expect for the modern day Police any 'unofficial' search on something like the PNC (the Police National Database) would now log a trail of who accessed it, when and for what 'official' approved reason....which means the person involved could be disciplined and loose their job as a result.
Exactly this.