British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certificates

On April 23, I ordered copies of the “official” documentation for Pearline. I got the shipping notice on May 14. The certificates arrived today via international post from the UK.

The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust is a part of the British Motor Museum. The trust holds record books of Britain’s motor manufacturers. These record books allow owners and restorers the ability to see how their cars originally were built. For those owners that want to restore a vehicle to “as near as possible” condition, these records are a must. For people like me, with a beloved British car, the documentation is an interesting chapter in the life of our cars.

The Trust issues a “Certified Copy” of the factory record for a vehicle. I purchased one of these as well as the “technical specification” for Pearline. You can see these below, minus the couple of bits that might assist someone in relieving me of her comforting presence. The certificate is a very heavy “resume paper” (80#) faux parchment while the technical specifications are on a heavy grade (28#) printer paper. The signatures appear to be human-made although I have no idea if the signature represents someone affiliated with the museum or not.

I don’t think there’s anything on these documents that are surprising to see. The body and engine numbers line up. It’s good to know the firing order, although I’m pretty sure that’s illustrated in my Haynes Manual for the car.

British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certicates

As for how she is now versus how she was then, these things have changed…

• She’s still white, but the paint is Mopar (Chrysler) Bright White (Pw7)
• The interior is now Autumn Leaf instead of Navy and the carpets are tan instead of black
• The factory hardtop is now in a landfill after taking flight from the back of my pickup, sometime in the early aughts
• The cigar lighter is now a USB port. Gotta keep those devices charged.
• The whitewall tyres (sic) are now solid black Cooper 4-ply. I inquired in an online group if whitewalls made sense, and the consensus was that they did not unless going full factory original.

The rest is mostly stock or replaced with OEM parts. I am (as of today) having the clutch replaced. The replacement is allegedly still from the Borg & Beck factory. I had the front and rear brakes replaced last fall at Glass Auto in OKC. She still has the original front glass.

I’ll put these documents in a folder to go with us to car meets. Perhaps someday, we’ll meet out there on the open roads.