I have been doing some research to arrive at the answer. It is not going to be accurate down to the last car, but it will be at least as good as we can get.
The research is extremely time consuming, so results will have to be published over the following two issues of TTT 2. However, the first tranche of results may give us an indication of the possible end result in terms of numbers and percentages.
The research method is to trawl the MGCC ‘T’ Register’s TA database and exclude any non-UK cars. Where a chassis number and corresponding registration number is shown, the registration number is then cross referenced to the DVLA enquiry facility and the car will be either shown as:
- Taxed
- Untaxed
- Not taxed for road use
- SORN
(or won’t be shown at all i.e. is not known to DVLA).
Some explanation of the above categories is required as follows:
SORN stands for Statutory Off Road Notification. It was introduced on 31st January 1998 to deter vehicle excise (car tax) evasion. Any car for which a SORN declaration has been made will not be on the road.
The ‘untaxed’ and ‘not taxed for road use’ categories are exempt from SORN because they were not taxed at the time of its introduction and have not been taxed since. I have written to DVLA for an explanation of the difference between the two. Any car in any of these two categories will not be on the road.
Cars in the ‘not shown’ category are not known to DVLA. It is likely that some, and possibly, quite a few exist. These are vehicles which for one reason or another were not notified by owners to the DVLA when the central vehicle record was being set up. Going back in time, it was feared that these would not be able to be registered and put on the road. However, through the good offices of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) agreement has been reached with DVLA whereby classic car clubs can, by adhering to strict criteria, certify entitlement to registration as and when the cars are ready for the road (many have been lying dormant for several years and need to be re-commissioned, often by means of a full restoration). Sadly, many owners will die, leaving the car unfinished.
For the purpose of this exercise, only cars which are currently known to DVLA (whether taxed, untaxed, not taxed for road use or on SORN) have been included to arrive at an auditable figure of cars which are actually in existence. If owners have been through the process to get their car on the DVLA central computer there is a good chance that the car actually exists.
A separate listing of cars by chassis number which are not known to DVLA is included at the end of the list of cars known to DVLA in this issue of TTT 2 and will be included in subsequent lists in the December 2021 and February 2022 issues.
I need to acknowledge the help and support of Stewart Penfound in this exercise. Stewart is the Registrar of the ‘T’ Register of the MGCC for the TABC models and is dedicated to the cause of tracing these cars, wherever they may be.
In his quest to find them all, he currently has 281 TAs listed by registration number which do not appear on the MGCC ‘T’ Register’s TA database as their chassis numbers are unknown. These ‘cars’ (some may not exist) have been identified from photos, for sale advertisements, etc, etc. It is possible that this list may be whittled down as the exercise proceeds, but in any case, the list will be published at the end of the exercise.
An interesting by-product of this exercise is the DVLA information on engine cubic capacity. Whilst this information is only as good as that received by DVLA (so some information may be wrong because owners have not updated it) it should give a broad indication of the types of engine fitted e.g.
1141cc XPJM, 1250cc XPAG, 1292cc MPJG.
What follows are details in respect of chassis numbers TA0251 to TA 0987 (TA0251 not shown as it is not in the UK):
Chassis Registration Engine On the road?
0252 CJO 617 1141 SORN
0266 DRF 575 1293 Taxed
0267 JB 9446 1345 Untaxed
0272 JB 9449 1141 N/T for road
0275 JB 9447 1141 Taxed
0276 NJ 9704 1250 Taxed
0279 CYY 800 1350 Taxed
0280 DUB 219 1124 N/T for road
0282 CAH 637 1250 Taxed
0283 CNF 4 1290 Untaxed
0291 JV 4917 1290 Taxed
0298 JB 9444 1141 Taxed
0299 BTB 670 1292 Untaxed
0302 JM 2751 1141 Untaxed
0305 JB 9842 948 Taxed
0309 CYT 610 1292 SORN
0312 BUR 754 1292 Untaxed
0314 HG 4679 1250 Taxed
0318 MG 4881 1350 N/T for road
0319 DLG 849 1250 Taxed
0335 DTN 488 1250 Taxed
0336 ADA 764 1292 Taxed
0338 312 UXE 1292 SORN
0341 DVX 402 1292 Taxed
0342 AHR 703 1141 N/T for road
0346 BKV 67 1292 Taxed
0352 MG 4950 1292 Taxed
0358 EPE 104 1250 Taxed
0360 673 MMG 1141 Taxed
0361 EPJ 338 1141 Taxed
0364 DCD 17 1292 Taxed
0366 RV 9688 1292 Untaxed
0367 CRB 539 1292 Taxed
0375 BDF 315 1000 Taxed
0381 FPB 91 1141 Untaxed
0382 YJ 4012 1292 Untaxed
0390 CKB 433 1292 Taxed
0393 MG 6303 1292 Taxed
0397 SSV 873 10 N/T for road
0404 CWE 398 1292 Taxed
0408 DCD 144 10 Taxed
0411 CFY 548 1141 Taxed
0417 CWE 399 1000 Untaxed
0418 DGH 23 1141 Taxed
0421 CBP 961 1250 Untaxed
0427 ACY 496 1141 Taxed
0428 DXD 910 1250 Untaxed
0437 ABL 67 1141 Untaxed
0439 DGY 858 1292 N/T for road
0446 JN 8235 1141 Taxed
0452 SO 5643 1141 Untaxed
0455 CHY 605 1249 Untaxed
0456 FPG 357 1141 Taxed
0457 SH 5351 1141 N/T for road
0463 JI 6976 1999 Taxed
0467 CKF 519 1300 Untaxed
0469 BTC 998 1292 Untaxed
0470 BDF 323 1292 N/T for road
0471 FPD 737 1141 Taxed
0472 CKB 526 1141 Taxed
0475 MG 4582 1292 Taxed
0481 CBP 345 1250 Taxed
0484 MSU 807 1250 SORN
0487 MG 7250 1292 Taxed
0488 MG 4851 1250 Untaxed
0489 MG 5209 1141 Untaxed
0490 KS 7221 1141 Untaxed
0492 CCV 374 1141 Taxed
0502 YXG 371 1292 Taxed
0506 CBP 536 1141 N/T for road
0507 BYD 526 1141 Taxed
0513 AWO 998 1250 Taxed
0529 SL 2352 1292 Untaxed
0532 JN 7931 1141 Taxed
0537 ARX 997 1292 SORN
0548 AJB 43 1292 Taxed
0549 ADA 796 1141 Taxed
0551 FPH 918 1141 N/T for road
0552 BVE 469 1141 Taxed
0554 EPF 290 1292 Taxed
0560 NAS 295 600 Taxed
0574 DT 8070 1250 Taxed
0578 JUM 2 1292 Taxed
0591 DGK 87 1141 Taxed
0605 DWB 124 1141 N/T for road
0607 AFS 866 1292 Taxed
0619 MG 4959 1292 Taxed
0620 AGA 383 1141 N/T for road
0622 AGA 381 1150 N/T for road
0624 BAB 938 1250 Untaxed
0632 BTC 943 1292 SORN
0633 EZ 4679 1141 Taxed
0634 MG 5605 1292 Taxed
0635 CBJ 84 1292 SORN
0645 UXS 162 1250 SORN
0654 BNP 865 1292 SORN
0655 DUG 710 1141 Untaxed
0656 CKC 605 1292 N/T for road
0664 EMX 116 1250 Untaxed
0668 EPF 487 1292 Taxed
0679 AGB 188 1250 Taxed
0682 EMK 850 1292 Taxed
0688 EPL 777 1500 N/T for road
0697 DXP 546 1292 Taxed
0717 RN 6064 1292 Taxed
0719 EPG 325 1172 N/T for road
0720 COL 771 1250 Taxed
0728 MG 5225 1250 Taxed
0729 FPA 810 1141 Untaxed
0736 EP 6633 2390 Taxed
0744 YWG 356 1250 Taxed
0746 AGB 240 1292 Taxed
0748 JU 9626 1292 Taxed
0758 358 UXM 1290 Untaxed
0774 ETW 985 1141 SORN
0777 AV 8776 1250 N/T for road
0779 DEL 973 1141 Untaxed
0783 AJU 211 1200 Taxed
0785 EHK 186 1140 Taxed
0789 IB 6797 1292 SORN
0793 BTD 804 1292 N/T for road
0797 CKF 222 980 Taxed
0799 CFY 820 1292 Taxed
0812 BAK 822 1292 Taxed
0821 BDF 906 1292 Taxed
0822 HD 6172 1250 Untaxed
0824 MG 5104 1141 Taxed
0833 DGH 173 1200 Untaxed
0844 BTG 855 998 N/T for road
0847 COM 745 1124 Taxed
0852 BDG 589 1141 N/T for road
0853 361 CYD 1498 Taxed
0856 GFO 164 1141 Untaxed
0859 BTD 806 1250 Taxed
0865 ASC 468 1290 Taxed
0873 BTD 810 1292 Taxed
0875 CON 971 1292 Taxed
0876 BAH 861 1141 Taxed
0877 EMX 212 1133 N/T for road
0878 LXS 604 1250 Untaxed
0880 ST 8907 1141 N/T for road
0881 CYD 533 1292 Taxed
0885 ELH 238 1141 Taxed
0887 AMJ 131 1292 Taxed
0905 CVO 553 1141 Taxed
0908 FPD 986 1141 Taxed
0919 MG 5307 1141 Taxed
0923 AGD 739 1292 N/T for road
0932 ABL 962 1141 Taxed
0934 ABL 964 1292 Taxed
0935 ABL 965 1292 Untaxed
0939 BCY 223 1250 Taxed
0943 DDH 900 1141 SORN
0952 233 VPK 1250 SORN
0967 EZ 5745 1296 Untaxed
0986 DUM 603 1292 Untaxed
0987 AGE 986 1295 Untaxed
The foregoing completes the listing of all known chassis numbers with their corresponding registration number from Stewart Penfound’s database, which can be identified from the DVLA enquiry facility. As previously intimated, this is ‘Part One’ of the TA listing and takes in the first 750 chassis numbers (TA0251 to TA1000). The December TTT2 will take in chassis numbers TA1001 to 2000 and the February 2022 TTT 2 will take in the remaining chassis numbers (TA2001 to TA3253).
I am not claiming that the listing accounts for every single TA in the UK (for the first 750 chassis numbers) which is live on the DVLA computer, but I would not be surprised (and I would be delighted!) if a couple more turn up.
A separate listing of TA chassis numbers with their corresponding registration number (for the first 750 chassis numbers) in respect of cars NOT known to DVLA is provided after the following brief analysis.
Of the 157 TAs listed;
87 are Taxed (55.4% of total)
57 are Untaxed or Not Taxed for road use (36.3%)
13 are on SORN (8.3% of total).
Please bear in mind that this is early days, and of the total TA production of 3003 cars, only the databases covering the first 750 cars have been interrogated (says he with a groan at the size of the task still to be completed!).
Predicting the end result for cars which are taxed and on the road is fraught with difficulty as there are a number of variables. However, I’d be disappointed with a total of less than 300 and ecstatic if the total exceeded 350. We will just have to wait and see, but the results coming out of the next analysis (chassis numbers 1001 to 2000) should enable a more accurate prediction.
The listing of cars by chassis number and registration number NOT known to DVLA which follows, will help Stewart with his records if owners come forward to confirm that their car is still in existence. The records in respect of some of these cars date right back to the 1980s and there is the possibility that some may have been scrapped (at least one TA is known to have been scrapped – not included in the listing) or exported.
TAs with chassis numbers in the 01251 to 1000 range NOT known to DVLA
Chassis number Registration number
0264 JK 6000
0270 EPC 678
0277 BRK 509
0290 CPP 736
0295 HV 7913
0321 ADA 202
0328 EPD 641
0358 WXG 492
0388 DGJ 853
0332 JB 9445
0405 ABL 39
0426 DBH 245
0478 DGF 786
0482 DUB 804
0499 DLA 676
0536 DLP 440
0569 MG 4917
0575 DKL 667
0576 DKN 915
0577 EPE 704
0609 MG 4951
0637 DYW 246
0660 UD 8580
0673 DLD 834
0680 HMV 570
0684 BFD 271
0732 RD 9263
0735 BG 4947
0742 FMC 539
0772 DWL 949
0792 ADC 374
0800 CRU 336
0801 BTD 805
0802 DLB 537
0803 DKA 75
0807 ASC 789
0869 BTD 808
0870 BTD 809
0882 ENK 850
0809 COP 684
0901 ARV 737
0902 CWJ 961
0922 BTD 811
0931 ABL 961
0933 ABL 963
0960 ABL 960
0961 BP 411
0962 DKT 839
0967 EZ 5745
0978 FPH 578
0984 DTA 761
0985 EPK 448
Please send any information regarding either of the lists to me (John James) jj(at)ttypes.org [please substitute @ for (at)]. I will pass any received on to Stewart Penfound.
Finally, a note of explanation for our non-UK readers. DVLA stands for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. It is a Government Agency (not a Government Department, but similar to one) that operates the central licensing system for drivers’ licences and vehicle licences.
Vehicle registration (the licensing system) was originally operated by Local Government offices until it was centralised in 1974, with the DVLA progressively taking over this work and installing the records on to the central computer in Swansea, Wales.
With regard to MG TA RD 9263, I am happy to report that it has been registered by DVLA within the last 10 days and retains its original number. The car was last taxed in 1969.