[redandwhitE]

Am I missing something or is the reg. about right?

Built(ish) in last third of 1990 and registered in 1991: seems perfectly straightforward.

I'd be interested in finding out why owner thinks its a 1994 car.

Was it still possible to specify the lower grey paint as late as 1994?

Register date on logbook is 1994 but car seems to have the 1991 bits

But if registered 1994, it'd be 'L' or 'M' reg wouldn't it? I'd say its a 90/91 Car ('J' reg as per your photo) and someone has had the felt tip on your logbook.

[Samwisegangie]

Am I missing something or is the reg. about right?

Built(ish) in last third of 1990 and registered in 1991: seems perfectly straightforward.

I'd be interested in finding out why owner thinks its a 1994 car.

Was it still possible to specify the lower grey paint as late as 1994?

Register date on logbook is 1994 but car seems to have the 1991 bits

But if registered 1994, it'd be 'L' or 'M' reg wouldn't it? I'd say its a 90/91 Car ('J' reg as per your photo) and someone has had the felt tip on your logbook.

I honestly have no idea

[Samwisegangie]

D16 A9 is the early GTi with no cat or lambda sensor

Better or worse than cat one ?

[220 GSi turbo]

D16 A9 is the early GTi with no cat or lambda sensor

Better or worse than cat one ?

More horsepower than cat-equipped car, lower fuel consumption and you won't go outside one morning and find that some scumbag has cut through your exhaust and stolen the cat.
And no stringent emissions test to worry about: it only needs to meet the same emissions standard as a mid-80s Ford Sierra

Montegoman has almost definitely given you the correct answer for the 1994 registration date (it will probably say somewhere on the V5 that the car was previously used abroad and was declared manufactured in 1991/92). Since 1983, cars previously used abroad have been given a registration plate that corresponds to the proven date of manufacture, rather than a 'new' plate.

[Colonel Mustard]

Based on my own experience of reimporting my 220D, the DVLA will have almost certainly based the registration on the log book from where the car was imported from. This would suggest that although the car appears to have been made in 1990, it was not registered overseas until after 1 August 1991, hence why a J plate has been issued - because that is what the car would have got if it had been registered from new in the UK at the time.

With regards to the entry on the DVLA's public facing website, the date of registration of January 1994 will be purely the date the car was first registered in the UK (ie after it was re-imported). However, I suspect the year of manufacture shown of 1994 will have been either a typo or the operative being lazy and not bothering to think about it - after all, if it was registered elsewhere in 1991 it cannot have been manufactured in 1994!

[Samwisegangie]

Based on my own experience of reimporting my 220D, the DVLA will have almost certainly based the registration on the log book from where the car was imported from. This would suggest that although the car appears to have been made in 1990, it was not registered overseas until after 1 August 1991, hence why a J plate has been issued - because that is what the car would have got if it had been registered from new in the UK at the time.

With regards to the entry on the DVLA's public facing website, the date of registration of January 1994 will be purely the date the car was first registered in the UK (ie after it was re-imported). However, I suspect the year of manufacture shown of 1994 will have been either a typo or the operative being lazy and not bothering to think about it - after all, if it was registered elsewhere in 1991 it cannot have been manufactured in 1994!

I agree it’s a interesting story at least

[Samwisegangie]

D16 A9 is the early GTi with no cat or lambda sensor

Better or worse than cat one ?

More horsepower than cat-equipped car, lower fuel consumption and you won't go outside one morning and find that some scumbag has cut through your exhaust and stolen the cat.
And no stringent emissions test to worry about: it only needs to meet the same emissions standard as a mid-80s Ford Sierra

Montegoman has almost definitely given you the correct answer for the 1994 registration date (it will probably say somewhere on the V5 that the car was previously used abroad and was declared manufactured in 1991/92). Since 1983, cars previously used abroad have been given a registration plate that corresponds to the proven date of manufacture, rather than a 'new' plate.

Least I don’t have to panic at mot as much then

[JOHNDQ]

I can see this being a problem at MOT, when you enter the details on the MOT system it will give you a date of first use which in this case is going to be 1994 so the tester is going to assume the car need a cat test

[SteveB]

I can see this being a problem at MOT, when you enter the details on the MOT system it will give you a date of first use which in this case is going to be 1994 so the tester is going to assume the car need a cat test

That's a good point. It's been MOT'd a few times so presumably the tester has made allowances. Does the MOT system bring up date of registration or date of manufacture?

Incidentally, my first Rover was registered about 120 numbers before this one, on 1st August 1991, so I guess this plate would've been issued around that time. I've been told it's a Birmingham registration.