I am in the market for a Classic Mini and i'm fairly new at this. Can someone explain why certain vehicles have separate registration dates. Like a 1980 registered as a 1967. What is that exactly?

 

In a nutshell, cars such as Minis that are imported into the US need to be at least 25 years of age to be legal. To get around this, sometimes people will change the VINs on a newer Mini and replace it with the VIN from a junked older Mini to make it appear at least 25 years of age. The practice is considered illegal, and if caught by customs the vehicles may crushed or shipped back out of the country. I haven't heard of this happening if the vehicle makes it past customs at the port and gets a state registration.

So to answer your question...a 1980 registered as a 1967 means that someone imported a 1980 Mini and put a 1967 VIN plate on it to get it to pass customs.

 

But isn't a 1980 over 25 at this point?

 

The 25 year old rule applies to the age of the vehicle at time of import. The 1980 vehicle in question would have to have been legally imported 2005 or later. A 1967 vehicle, however, could have been imported as early as 1992.

Hope it helps,
Jeff

 

Partially true statement. Currently true regarding the 1980.

A 1967 could have been imported at any time since it was never excluded as the fed rules didn't take effect until 1968. Minis were imported & sold by dealers until 1968.

Anything between 1968 and the mid 1990's was illegal to import until about 1995 when the feds changed the law to make the date "rolling" instead of "fixed". That is, until about 1995 all post 1968 Minis were illegal. After that change, any mini 25 yrs old or older became legal and the date changed every year. Feds look to the date of production or first registration to determine. Just about all post 70's Minis came in since then. Some illegally. But once registered, who's going to care?

 

Thanks for the clarifications. So you really have to look at production details to determine the true year of manufacture. Classic Mini's seem to have so many variations, one really has to do a lot of research to get the straight story on a particular vehicle.

 

Is there a particular place i can look at to see what the "real" story is regarding production since it sounds like people change things on these cars? How can i tell if what i am buying is in fact what is being presented?

You guys are awesome by the way. Never been on a site where people are actually looking to help one another without bashing!

 

www.minimania.com has a lot of info - the message board over there is full of "old timers" with more knowledge about minis than is probably necessary, just ask them and they can help you.

there are a number of distinguishing features that can help you come closer to figuring out about what year a mini really is:
external door hinges
tail lights
front windows

also, the windshield wiper motor and boot (trunk) handle have the year of production stamped into them and since these are infrequently changed it can be a good way to tell the actual year of a Mini.

 

Also you can look in the rain gutter at the top of the engine bay opening (near the windscreen) to find the actual VIN stamped in the rain gutter. It's underneath the rubber seal, and often doesn't get covered when the VIN plate gets changed.

 

for the most part, it's used to get around customs and smog laws.

 

My New Zealand import does not have the VIN stamped on the bulkhead rain gutter. I suppose that applies to the UK-made cars?

 

i got an idea... get it in on changed vins... then change em back- whos gonna care?

 

I wanna say that the VIN is stamp in the passenger floor board for 81 and down minis. 82 and up is stamp in the rain gutter