So I'm getting a title for a stepdown I've been restoring. Origional title is long lost. In NC you have to get a DMV inspector to check out your car and read off the VIN. and make sure the vehicle is for real. OK well a couple of days later I get an email with his report. When I look at the report for the VIN , I get a real surprise no prefix just the production sequence number. I called him on this and he indicated that the 7A prefix just meant that it was a 51 Hornet and that that was really not part of the VIN number. Whaaaaaaa? Seems to me that modern 17 digit VINs tell model, trim, engine and place of assembly. Am I the only one who sees a discrepency here or what? Problem now is after I get the title from Raleigh , it will not contain the full VIN. Problem perhaps down the line if I sell. Any thoughts?
I think the inspector is right. Anyway, the title on my 52 Wasp eliminated the 5B from the title, which is just a model designation. However, I had a bit of a scare since I hadn't received the actual title in the normal 6-8 weeks time frame. When I stopped by the DMV office, they checked it, and told me the car was marked as possibly stolen -- which made absolutely no sense. They quickly cleared this up and the title should be on the way now. They said that these older vehicles with much shorter VIN numbers frequently get marked that way becuase trailer manufacturers, etc. use similar shorter numbers and those get reported when they're stolen and the various state systems mark the vehicle as possibly stolen. Harder to confuse those with the typically much longer VIN numbers of modern cars. Anyway, they had several instances where this had happened to older collector vehicles I was told.
Lance, my VIN is 7C20437-; it was brought in from FLA and I had 2 inspectors here at my garage; they photographed the VIN on door jamb, photographed SN of engine etc.
can send you copy of my title by email if you want--you need to call Raleigh--they are certainly wrong !!
[color=#bb0000]EDIT[/color]: can send you my copy of MVR-1 which is the NCDOT TITLE APPLICATION that I believe I received from the inspectors since it is all filled out with type I don't even have on the computer.
I took it to a tag place since I wanted to get an antique tag initially so that my tax would be $4.30 the first year.
Richard, I appreciate your thoughts. What makes this more confusing is that on my other 51 Hornet the title begins with 7A. So why now the change of heart? I know I know this is DMV logic dosen't necessarily enter into it.
Lance,
Documentation in my file for two '53 Super Jets I once had show that the identification numbers recorded for one of them in NY and the other in MA did not include the model number, 2C.
Per
Per, I appreciate that. I have a couple of obsolete NC titles for cars long gone. One has the prefix in the title the other does not. Same state. Same DMV. Very strange. Guess it's up to whoever types up the title in Raleigh. :huh:
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