Heritage Certificates. Certification of Rootes Car Models.

Rootes Archive "Heritage Certificates".

Ever thought that it's a pity there are no Rootes factory production records? Ever wished you could know more about when your car was first registered and sold?

Well, now you can, thanks to the Rootes Archive Centre Trust. Factory production records numbers 1-35 from 1939 up to the end of 1962 have survived; they are in private ownership but the Trust has privileged access to them, so we can offer a range of Heritage Certificates. We also have access to other records through partnerships with related Clubs and organisations. These records allow us to provide a certified copy of the factory build details for the car as it left the production line.

We have an agreement with the Coventry Culture Herbert Museum (previously the Coventry Transport Museum) to provide information about Rootes related vehicles built from c.1934-48 and from 1962 through to the mid-1970s for which they hold the original factory records. This particularly applies to the earlier Sunbeam-Talbot, Humber and Singer models. The Museum holds the post-1962 line lists, but information from these is less detailed. So, if your car was made after 1962, we can still provide all the basic information about your car at the time it was made including the exact week of manufacture. This not only applies to later Alpines and Tigers, but all Rootes designed cars produced until c.1982.

The information we provide includes the chassis and engine number, vehicle type, colour, date of build, date of despatch and which dealer it went to, any factory fitted extras, and original registration details (date and place of issue) subject to information available. Click on the image to see a larger sample. In addition to the certificate we supply a "Car Details" sheet which you can use to display at shows. This will contain similar information in a bolder format, but without the owner's address or other private information.

As well as the Certificate we can provide copies of relevant technical information sheets, and other appropriate material like a period advert for that exact model (subject to availability).

The cost of a certificate is currently £45. Overseas members please add £4 to cover extra postal costs. We will include as much information about your vehicle as we can find.

Here are some comments we have received (click).

We regret that at present we can only provide a limited service for owners of Rootes commercial and military vehicles, but we are attempting to provide all information which we have available and make enquiries with our partner organisations. If you can help with this please contact us. Enquiries about any vehicle are welcome.

* Note: DVLA may not accept a Heritage Certificate as proof of original registration, but it is fully acceptable for dating purposes and can supplement other sources of information. We will try to identify a local records office that may have the registration information.

To order your Certificate, contact:

Bob Allan,
Shadewood Farm,
283 Chester Road,
Grappenhall,
Warrington WA4 2QE, UK
Tel: 01925 267084 (daytime saturday, sunday, monday, wednesday or 6-8pm eve.)
e-Mail: boballan@rootesarchivecentre.org.uk

If possible, please include any known basic information about your car including its chassis-body number and original registration number; this will help the search through the factory records. A sample order form can be downloaded here.

Thanks to:

• Arbury Service Station Limited
• Coventry Herbert Museum: http://www.theherbert.org/
• Coventry Transport Museum: http://www.transport-museum.com/
• Essex Records Office: http://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/researching-vintage-and-classic-vehicles/
• Maidstone Records Office
• Portsmouth History Centre
• Military Vehicle Trust: http://www.mvt.org.uk/
• Wroughton Science Museum: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wroughton/
• British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, Gaydon Museum: http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

Please note that heritage certificates for other makes can be obtained from the BMI Heritage Motor Centre, Banbury Road, Gaydon CV35 0BJ. They offer full archive services for Austin, Morris, Standard-Triumph, Rover, BMC and related marques.

Web site developed and maintained by R.J. Allan "Hand Knitted Software" 2005-18

Comments on and contributions to the Web site should be send to Bob Allan (e-mail).

Page last modified: Sunday, 12-Sep-2021 14:31:42 CEST