Lancia Beta Forum

Whilst cleaning up the front of the car today I came across a plate riveted to the top of the front upper crossmember. It's stamped CP01161979.  Does this designate a date of manufacture of 16th January 1979? My car was first registered on 29th May 1981 which is quite a gap!

Guy

Guy,
Don't be surprised by any gap like that, around this time these
were sat parked in fields for years, waiting for customers.

I can't help on your plate info, mine has Australian-conforming
stamped plates [2] riveted in a similar place. One of them,
conveniently, states " Built Dec 83 ".

Knowing when it was built would be nice to get though. I think Neil has that info.
He provides dating certificates for LMC members. Not likely that you'll need one though.

N.

Thanks Nigel, I'm not surprised that the car might have sat around for a couple of years and I bet that's when they were shovelling in all the rustproofing fluid to keep them in a sellable state. My very first Lancia HPE sat in a heated showroom for three years (and lost the dealer a fortune!) following the breaking of the rust story... And that car was also as solid as the current one appears to be where it matters! I don't think the actual age of the car will matter one jot, it's already coming up on 42 years old by date of first registration so it's not going to cost anything in road tax! I won't need to bother Neil for anything, it's got a registration document (that matches the chassis plate, I just need to unearth the stamped number in the scuttle which is painted over somewhat!)
Guy

I have got all the copy factory records but that doesn’t sound like a Beta  VIN off the top of my head. I’ll check when I get home on Monday. The VIN is on the blue, or later red, plate on the offside inner wing and stamped into the rear engine compartment area.

Sadly I already know the VIN number Neil....
It's 828BC1024265

Call me geeky..... The wife does!