What is my correct VIN

[4129R]

The other confusing factor is that the Europa TC is a Type 74, and this name does appear on the VIN plate in the front plenum chamber, so 73073862R  is known by some as 74/3862R, being a Type 74 model with chassis number 3862R.

What the registration authorities cannot understand is that due to low volume construction, that car as 3862R is unique. They try to vastly over complicate things as modern VIN numbers are I believe 14 characters long.

[BDA]

My understanding is that they (Lotus) did not use the idea of a "model year" as we're accustomed to in the US.  So if it was manufactured at any time in 1973, it should be considered as a 1973 car. 

Maybe my August 1972 built car was first sold from a dealer in 1973 because the title says it's a 1973 car.  But it's not.

Vince

To make sense of the “sort of model year” thing, quite often you will hear that the model year will be assigned as the year the car was first sold. However, my car was built in June 1973. It was sold to me as a 1974 car when I bought it in May 1975.

I imagine it could get even weirder if dealer in, say 1972, had sold a new TC and later sold a new S2!

[Fotog]

I just looked, and this is the important part of what Andy Graham from Lotus wrote to me:

Thank you for your enquiry. Being in the UK I don’t have any knowledge on how the US title system works, but many cars I have seen
use the short VIN in the windscreen which is normally type number (74) and unit number 2619R. This could be why someone
automatically wrote 74 at the start?
The car was made in August 1972 and sold in September 1972 to the US distributor Lotus East. It could have been 1973 by the time
the car was passed onto a Lotus dealer and then retailed. Before 1980 Lotus did not use specific model years.


I don't have the car at home right now, but that was in response to following I wrote to him.  I think this is the number on the plate in the front plenum: VIN 72082619R. Type 74

[BDA]

My car has not been continually titled. It's a long story but let's just say it was off the road for over twenty years and I no longer had the original title. When I finally put my car back on the road (in another state), I had to get a new title with a VIN. At that time, it hadn't occurred to me that the entire VIN was 73063635R. All I gave them was "3635R" which sense it matches the tag under the windshield. I don't know if the VIN on my title was different from the tag under the windshield would cause a problem at some point but it seems like it could so I'm glad I did it that way.

[Fotog]

My title just says "742619R" and Year 1973, so it's all screwed up.  At the moment it doesn't really matter, and I hope it's still that way when I give it up. :-)

[314159td]

Sometimes things just really fly under the radar in the states...I think I might have one of the shortest "VIN"s in CA DMV's system. Still surprised they let it through, but it's the same as the NM title I used to register. Sometimes the registering employee cares, usually they don't as long as they're convinced and everything seems to line up.

I have a Sunbeam Alpine that was registered as the engine number and then the body number, all squished together, as the VIN. That's gonna be a PITA come time to register it; I might stamp a new plate to match what's on the title, even if it's not strictly correct. 

[Bainford]

OK, I know that my lotus was built in July of 1973, "73073862R" But I don't know if it is a late 1973 or early 1974 model.  Or is the no difference?  It seems that the dealer told it was a 1974 Model. Any idea when the change takes place?  I know that American Cars are sold in the next calendar year starting in September of the previous year. So the manufacture must be earlier than that.   Do the Brits do a similar thing?
JLHhttps://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/Smileys/default/dead_horse.gif

As mentioned, Lotus were not always titled in a consistent manner, and the idea of distinct model years is very loosely applied. I think this is common among cars of limited production from small manufacturers.

For what it's worth, my car is 3682R and also built in July 1973, just slightly before yours. It is titled as a '74 (it was sold new in January 1974), but I have taken to referring to it as a '73. There are a few distinct features that differ from Europas referred to as a '74 vs a '73, such as the engine cover lift-cylinders and the map pocket on the wall between the seats, and my car does not have them. There are a couple other differences as well, but these are the ones I use as easily spotted key identifiers. I'm not sure when these features first appeared, or if they appeared all together as a model-year upgrade, but I guess it would have been sometime in late summer/fall 1973. As far as I know, all differences between a "1973" and a "1974" model year are relatively minor convenience items, and that the general spec of the car did not change.

[4129R]

There are a few distinct features that differ from Europas referred to as a '74 vs a '73, such as the engine cover lift-cylinders and the map pocket on the wall between the seats, and my car does not have them. There are a couple other differences as well, but these are the ones I use as easily spotted key identifiers. I'm not sure when these features first appeared, or if they appeared all together as a model-year upgrade, but I guess it would have been sometime in late summer/fall 1973. As far as I know, all differences between a "1973" and a "1974" model year are relatively minor convenience items, and that the general spec of the car did not change.

3rd. Cloth inserts in the seats. I believe these three main differences applied to cars from around 4300R onwards.