Derby registrations in 1960's

[clogrod]

Evening all
I was attempting to research the early history of my 1965 MG Midget (yes I know it is not a Moggy but it is a classic and it is a relative) when I came across a connection to some postings on your club website asking if anyone has a Derby City 'HC' registered car. I know the postings were a few years ago now and the thread has probably gone very cold by now but it is still worth a chance. Does anyone in your club have any information about possible BMC/MG dealerships Derby City in the 1960's that might have issued the registration HCH 523 C which is on my November registered 1965 MG Midget MkII. The name Major and Barnes does crop up but were they MG dealers ? I know they sold other BMC vehicles at the time. I would be grateful to hear from anyone who either remembers the original postings or who may be able to point me in the right direction to find out more information.
Many thanks
clogrod

[busguy]

Derby registrations issued by BMC dealers at the time were CH and RC. Major and Barnes on Burton Road were BMC dealers so could possibly have supplied the MG. The biggest BMC dealer was Kennings on Derwent Street who could also have supplied it.

There were other smaller sub-dealers around Derby, eg Goodalls of Repton, but they should have used Derbyshire reg numbers being outside the city limits. Maybe they too used Derby, as it was much nearer than Matlock.

I reckon Kennings is your best bet.

[LouiseM]

A Heritage Certificate will confirm which dealer your MG was sent to from the factory: http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/ ... cates.html

[clogrod]

Thanks busguy, do you know if Kennings still exists in any form? It is a name I seen to remember from a decade or 2 back not in recent years, I seem to remember their name being associated with fleet/lease vehicles. I will have a little look around on the internet and see what I can find. Once again thanks for the info.

clogrod

[clogrod]

Thanks LouiseM that thought had crossed my mind but often I find (looking at heritage certificates) at car shows some confirm little more than the fact that a car has been made whilst others are a mine of information, it would seem to be bit of a lottery at times but may still be worth a go.

[LouiseM]

It will depend on how much info is held in the archives. Probably worth asking on an MG forum to see whether anyone with a car the same year / model as yours has obtained a Heritage certificate and if so, whether it showed the dealer details.

[win]

I obtained a heritage certificate, no dealer information, it did confirm when it was built, and where first registered.

The DVLA sent me log book copies back to 1963, for £5 I believe, very interesting.

I contacted Hertfordshire county council who were very helpful, apparently many years ago, they were having a clear out of old documents, and the car registration books were skipped, some far sighted person, rescued them, good for them.
For £5, they sent me a copy of the original hand written book showing when my car was first registered, and the original owner, very nostalgic.

Then with the help of Rob Thomasson, I obtained the correct first register date in my current log book.
Good luck, hope this helps
Regards Win

[busguy]

See http://www.gkgroup.co.uk/about-us/ about the history and remaining parts of the Kennings empire. GK group is run by three 'Kennings' from the original family business. Kenning leasing/car/van hire is another survivor.

I ran a check of survivors from HCH520C to 530C to see if there were any other survivors, but alas your Midget 523C is the only one. As the dealers often used allocated 'batch' numbers it might have been possible to contact an owner of a closely numbered car for info.

[clogrod]

Thanks busguy, more useful information. It was interesting to see that my car was the only one surviving from your selected registration group, she is also 1 of only 64 Mk II Midgets still on the road from 1965 (20 on SORN) which has changed somewhat from when I bought her 2 years ago when there was 60 on the road with 189 on SORN indicating that 165 would seem to have been 'lost', probably to the parts section of ebay. The Kenning story is very interesting an real rags to riches tale
Many thanks
Alan

[clogrod]

Thanks win.
I haven't tackled DVLA yet but I am pretty sure that after their recent re-organisation and rationalisation loads of historical information, the sort that may be useful to us classic owners may no longer be available .... still it would be worth a try.
Regards
Alan (clogrod)

[clogrod]

Thanks LouiseM
That is a brilliant idea, I will post a notice on the MGOC website and see is anyone else as managed to get any useful (detailed) information about their 1965 MG's
Regards
Alan (clogrod)

[singleton]

I remember posting about derby CH plates a while back, my car is a VCH***G morris minor, registered 6/12/1968, heritage motor centre records show as despatched to kennings derby, the original buff log book copy I have from dvla shows the cars first owner was dealer Derbyshire motors, derwent street, derby (ink stamped) maybe a dealer demo or pre reg car as is very common today. Kennings was on derwent street derby at a later date in the original bmc dealer guides I have but at the time mine was delivered I think kennings may have been part way through taking over Derbyshire motors or maybe owned it already as a trading name? I am in the motor trade having worked at a main dealer for over 17 years and we have "satellite" dealers if you like but as far as manufacturers go the cars are despatched to us and I think back in the day in derby all the cars would have been despatched to kenning derby and they would have in turn despatched them to the other other smaller dealers around the area, so a heritage certificate is prob not always set in stone as to where the original customer ordered and indeed picked the car up from.

[busguy]

I remember posting about derby CH plates a while back, my car is a VCH***G morris minor, registered 6/12/1968, heritage motor centre records show as despatched to kennings derby, the original buff log book copy I have from dvla shows the cars first owner was dealer Derbyshire motors, derwent street, derby (ink stamped) maybe a dealer demo or pre reg car as is very common today. Kennings was on derwent street derby at a later date in the original bmc dealer guides I have but at the time mine was delivered I think kennings may have been part way through taking over Derbyshire motors or maybe owned it already as a trading name? I am in the motor trade having worked at a main dealer for over 17 years and we have "satellite" dealers if you like but as far as manufacturers go the cars are despatched to us and I think back in the day in derby all the cars would have been despatched to kenning derby and they would have in turn despatched them to the other other smaller dealers around the area, so a heritage certificate is prob not always set in stone as to where the original customer ordered and indeed picked the car up from.

I worked in Derby in the mid to late 60's, and Derbyshire Motors was part of the Kennings group at that time.

[singleton]

Thanks busguy, interesting to know, did you actual work at that dealership then?

[busguy]

Thanks busguy, interesting to know, did you actual work at that dealership then?

No, I didn't work for them. I lived in Repton and worked for the excellent Willington bus company Blue Bus, but I attended Derby Tech college from 1967 -71, along with motor vehicle apprentices from local car and commercial dealerships, including Kennings guys.
I went on to run the big Derby vehicle fleet of International Combustion Ltd in 1972 which included a considerable number of BMC cars including quite a few Oxfords, 'Landcrabs', Austin FWD 1800/ 2200, 3 litres, G/H reg Minor Travellers and H/J reg vans/pickups, plus Sinfin Garage and ERF mixed and special types haulage vehicles. I spent a rewarding 11 years there. Happy days!
It's all now part of the Rolls Royce Aero complex.