Serial number trace

Ok, this may be a weird one.

I live in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and one of the local things to do is to check out cars at the local Auto Souk. Anything and everything shows up on occasion.

I found a tired testarossa for sale, red on tan, centre nut wheels, which has been converted from single mirror to double mirror. An early car in other words.

The car seems to be Swiss spec (it has a Swiss ferrari club emblem on the rear grille), no central high tail light but a complete emissions sytem. As I recall that is consistent with a Swiss car.

Here is the rub.

Due to what appears to be a translation / transcription error, the model year of the car on its ownership appears as 1994, not 1984 (which my guess says that car is). This may not be a scam, errors translating into Arabic happen.

I also thought that testatossas have a plate affixed to them somewhere which says the year and month of manufacture, but I can't find it (where should it be?)

Finally, the serial number (the steering column matches the frame number) is:

ZFFSA17S000090870

Anyone able to tell me market and year of the car?

Anyone able to tell me where to check if it was stolen? Will ferrari help?

Thanks in advance. Thet car is not that cheap by Dubai standards (yet) but if it checks out I may be able to hammer tham down (a lot).

 

The vin number is accurate, I will get the engine number, are there any other numbers available which may help?

The car does have single nut wheels (I don't imagine that they would fit too easily to a later car, but I suppose anything could be done).

The two holes where the single high mirror mounts were filled in and painted over. Not a great quality job, I can still see the places where the holes once were. When did ferrari stop using the single high mirror? The car has dual mirrors now.

In place of the prancing horse on the rear grille, the car has the emblem of the Swiss Ferrari club. As I remember, the Swiss also have the same emissions specifications as the US, so finding a full set of cats and an air pump also make sense. I think it is Swiss in origin.

Ther car has aftermarket 4 point harnesses rather than it's original safety belts, so I cannot check the dates of manufacture on the belts.

The owners manual is in the glove box, but it suggests no date of manufacture. I do recall that one black 1984 TR I looked at had a rectangular plate affixed to the inside of the door frame, much as my 84 308 GTS did, these plates state the year and month of manufacture. This one has zilch.

Dubai has a reputation as a place to resell stolen cars. This one has been in Dubai a little while. I would let it pass, but there are few cars of this age here (lots of 360's and 550's, but they interest me less).

If I can figure out how to download pictures, I can send some of the serial numbers on the car. They do not look altered, but I am no expert.

Does any global police agency (Interpol?) have a list of stolen car serial numbers?

Thanks to all.

 

The Swiss do maintain a website of stolen cars (very organized group, those Swiss), there have been about 30 Ferraris stolen in Switzerland, but only one Testarossa, a red 1989 version, Plate ZH 583496, with the serial number ZFFSA17S000081543.

When that serial number is compared to the one on the car I am looking at, aside from the last 5 digits they are identical, which seems to bear out that it is a Swiss Testarossa.

Is it that same car? I don't think so, as it did have a high mounted mirror at one time,and it does have the old style wheels. The wheels and mirror could be swapped (I imagine) but why go to that length to hide a car but leave the swiss ferrari club badge on the back?

Aside from the mirrors and wheels, are there any other easily discernable features which mark it as a post 1989 car? I vaguely recall reading something about a hole in the chin air spoiler or something.

The biggest mystery is if it is a pre 1989 car, why is the serial number higher, i.e 90870 vs. 81543 on the later 1989 car?

When did they start using even numbers for serial numbers anyways?

Thanks again to all.

 

For the record, I attach pictures of the engine number, the number on the frame and the number on the plate in the engine bay. The steering column number matches the frame.

Why does the plate number contain a "T" while the frame number does not?

If the pictures did not attach, my apologies, I am new to this.

Cheers to all.
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An error? In a vin plate? I know ferraris where kinda hand made, but hand made VIN plates?

At the end of it all, I just want to know if it is stolen. Anyone ever approach a dealer and ask them to run a VIN?

Does Ferrari even keep such records?

I attach another pic. No horsies on the headrests either. The lower seat leather is rough too. This would be a "beater" TR.
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A possibility is that the owner sold (or traded) the 91 wheels with another owner of an early car before this one was sold to the current dealer.

What does a hub of a pre 89 car look like compared with a post 89? I would think the hubs must be different (5 bolt vs. single nut?) Not an easy swap.

Can I change the location of this posting? I would love some inner wheel / hub pictures.

The dealer has no clue, btw. he thought the car was a 93 model (?!)

Thanks to all.

 

Just to prove my point....
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16 inchers.

 

The odo is on the centre console, not in the middle of the speedo.

I read somewhere that suggests an early car.

Anyone know when they switched?

Thanks.

 

Some good news, some bad news...

I took some advice and based on the Swiss Ferrari Club emblem on the car I sent the VIN and engine numbers to the Swiss Ferrari club and asked them if they had any nformation on the car.

They responded that it they had not heard of it but no members had had a TR stolen (some good news).

They then forwarded my email to Ferrari-Suisse who were most helpful.

According to Ferrari-Suisse, though there is no explanation for the center nut wheels, the serial numbers on the engine and frame do match, the colours are as delivered; it was originally sold new in Austria.

The year of the car... wait for it... 1991.

Why the car shows up as a 1994 model on the Dubai ownership is because (and this is odd, but not inexplicable), the car was delivered on August 6, 1991. It was stored immediately without being driven by its collector / owner.

The owner decided to use the car some time later, but what is weird is that the dealer agreed to delay commencement of the warranty period until the car was driven. The warranty began to run on February 18, 1994 when the car was registered for road use in Austria and expired 2 years later.

Presto, 1994 ownership for a 1991 model year car.

So far so good. Tonight I am going to look at the one thing that can't easily be faked on a pre 88.5 TR, the construction of the rear lower suspension arms. The early ones were welded tubes, the later ones were welded stampings.

The "assemblage" number on the record sheet is 7849. Does that mean anything? I thought only 7177 TR's were made. Anyone know where the transmission serial number can be found?

As for the bad news?

Well, the car only runs on the left bank of 6 cylinders and I can't check the a/c as the fan does not work. The master cylinder also shows some signs of leakage and needs a new reservoir bottle.

The drama continues....

 

There are three features which don't belong, the wheels, the centre console odometer and the rear lower control arms are the welded tube type, rather than the solid type. According to the parts book, the last car with such rear control arms was no. 75995.

I wonder why anyone would retrofit, or why Ferrari would use such old parts on a 1991 car?

At any rate, the numbers are all there, they match records for a legitimate car, so assuming they fix the gremlins and we can agree on price, I may have years to try to figure this out.

Thanks.