VIN search for 50's and 60's vehicles

Have been searching for source of VIN’s. Everything I have found gives me the same message “VIN incorrect” or “need more numbers”.
For example have a MKVII, VIN “A 47128” titled as a 1952. Have another VII, VIN “627415” titled as a 1955. Would like to confirm these numbers.
Have a number of Cars with 5, 6 or 7 numbers or Letter combinations that I would like to confirm.

I think you will find these cars pre date the current VIN system in almost all countries.

I’m no expert on the 1950’s saloons, but I suggest a good starting point to understand some of the numbers is saloondata.com. A bit of poking around would appear to show the following:

  • The “Car Number” for the Mark VIIs (this is the number that identifies the car, and predates the standardized 17-character system) is a 6-digit number commencing with a “7”

  • The 627415 number comes from a LHD Mark V Saloon from 1948-50

  • The “A 47128” number you reference is very likely to be the engine number (some states registered cars by their engine number at that time). There should be a hyphen between the “2” and the “8”, so the real engine number is A4712-8. The “8” indicates that the engine has an 8:1 compression ratio.

I’m sure that someone with more knowledge will jump in at this point, but hopefully saloondata.com will get you started. Good luck!

-David

Exactly.

The present-day 17-character VIN convention began circa 1981-82. Before that manufacturers were free to devise whatever VIN/serial number arrangement suited them. Organizing all this decades-old information into a database would be quite a chore

I might add that even the 17-character VIN system isn’t 100% standardized. There are 3 or 4 variations. Most online VIN decoders recognize only the North American version.

Cheers
DD

This VIN DECODER works for any 1955-1969 Jaguar (Mark I, Mark II, 240, 340, 420, or S-type) or Daimler (2.5 liter V8, V8-250, or Sovereign 420 type) saloon.

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Just tested that decoder and it is accurate.

Gerard

David Langley is correct.
A4712-8 is a Mark VII engine number from late 1951 so the car it went into may have been titled as a '52 when sold.
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Look for the 71xxxx or 73xxxx chassis number and use that to register the car if the state will allow it.
A Packard collector friend of mine once told me that early Fords and Packards had only an engine number, no other numbers, so that’s how they were titled, and some states got into the habit and continued to use engine numbers on titles into the 1950s.