I noticed something interesting about my car a couple of days ago. On the roof panel of the GTS is an assembly no. stamp, just like in the engine bay. BUT, my numbers don't match! In the engine bay it's 27935, but on the roof it's 27968. Anyone else have the same situation? And, on the other variants (Berlinetta, Spider) are there other parts of the car which have the stamp apart from the engine bay?
Really? Got to love the Italians! Oh well. Do the other variants have assembly no. stamps on other parts of the car apart from the engine bay?
Steve, can you post pictures of both assembly numbers? I've never seen an assembly number stamped into the Targa of a GTS. Is it safe to assume that you own 110934?
Roof: The stamp is located on the rear edge of the removable roof. I have 110899 Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well then I have good news... I know which car most likely has your car's Targa - 110934. Unfortunately, I don't know when (or why) the swap might've occurred. Since your car has a paint-matched Targa top, it would seem likely that, at some point in the past, it was swapped for a black Targa. But 110934 also has a red-painted Targa. Also, I assume yours is an AUS-spec car (D VIN). But 110934 has a C VIN (UK-spec), and I don't have any record of it ever being in Australia. If your car is a UK car, then maybe the two Targas were swapped at some point in the UK. But if your car is a D VIN, then because the serial numbers are pretty close (only 35 apart, and only seven confirmed GTS 355s within that gap), it's possible that both cars left the factory with the other car's Targa. It gets better ...but maybe also a bit frustrating. It was for sale at Rardley Motors (call and ask for Mike Wheeler, maybe he's still there) in May, 2008, on registration R294 HDG. But, unfortunately, it was at seen in October, 2009, on registration B4GCG (so after it left Rardley, there's a possibility that it sold again); but the person who bought it from Rardley might've arranged for the new plates, and maybe even still has the car. I think your best bet is to call Wheeler at Rardley, give him both serial numbers and explain the situation. Hopefully he documents (or remembers) to whom he sold the car, and can get in touch with the current owner to see about arranging for a swap (if that's what you want). Thank you for posting those pictures. I never knew the Targa tops had individual assembly number plates. Can you tell me where exactly on the Targa the assembly number plate is located?
Never mind, I just re-read your last post and took a second look at your picture. I see now where the Targa's assembly number plate is located. Thank you.
That's great information. Thanks a lot. My car is a UK car. I bought it from Nick Cartwright in 2011 and imported it to Oz. Here's another interesting bit to add to what you've said: You mention the Rardley car was wearing R294 HDG at one point. Here's the plate mine was wearing when I bought it. It now sits on my garage wall.... Image Unavailable, Please Login
If you look on the side of the air conveyor box there's a quality control sticker which should tell you when your car was being built down to the day (24/02/90 in my case) Image Unavailable, Please Login
That is some very cool sleuthing Carb!! I dropped you a note last year about my car. What kind if info would you like from owners for your data base? We could campaign owners to get you what you need Great stuff
So it's a C VIN? Definitely? Wow! Way cool. Ordinarily, I'd chalk up the plate being one digit off to a typo. But I have 110934 paired with R294 HDG on five separate occasions. So now I'm wondering if 110899 and 110934 were both owned by the same person at the same time in the UK, since the plates were sequential. Pretty awesome stuff. If you pursue the original Targa that matches your car, will you keep this thread updated, or send me a message and keep me posted so that I may update my records accordingly? R294 HDG is no longer registered to anything in the UK, and B4CGC is currently registered to a Ford Explorer. But R293 HDG is still in the UK's system - not sure why - but it shows that the registration is expired and hasn't been used since 2011. Jeff, that's cool - I've seen similar stickers on F50s. Can you tell me the serial number of your 348? Hey, Bob! How are you? I hope all is well. I'm sorry, but I didn't receive any messages! Did you send me a private message? Or did you post a reply in another thread? If it was a reply in another thread, I'm sorry, I haven't seen it. As for the information with VINs for my database, I'm happy enough to start off with the VIN - after that, knowing where it's currently located and with the current mileage is a great progression. If the current owner isn't the original owner, I'm interested in learning when the current owner acquired it, from where it was acquired, and the odometer at the time of acquisition. Additionally, of course, I'm always interested in each car's exterior and interior colors, the options, any aftermarket modifications, etc. But my efforts aren't exclusively focused on owners. There are plenty of non-owners who are around Ferraris. I'm a member of a few Facebook pages that were erected for local car scenes in different cities: Chicago, DMV (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia), the Bay Area, etc. And I'm on those pages because people often see Ferraris and post them and, in many instances, they'll get the serial numbers of the cars they saw. So indeed while I'm grateful for whatever information owners are willing to send, my dialogue and correspondence isn't relegated to owners; spotters, dealers, mechanics, detailers, transporters - everyone is encouraged to share.
Steve, if you enter the registration here you can get a little bit of detail about the car... www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk Also, if you have a document caled a "V5" amongst the paperwork you can get the vehicle test history which includes milage for the car https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history-vehicle
Thanks guys. Interesting stuff. My car is definitely a "C". The full vin is ZFFXR42C000110899 I have a comprehensive history of the car, including the first owner details (although out of all the owners he kept the least documentation). I have virtually all the MoTs and full details on pretty much everything that was ever done to the car. I even got to chat briefly on the phone last year to the salesman who sold the car new! The salesman is now living in Oz and is friends with the guy who did the compliance work so I could register it here. Small world... R293 HDG was the original plate on the car, but it was changed in 2003 to ECA 202, which it wore until 2009 / 2010 when it went back to the original plate. Given the two consecutive plate numbers, I wonder if the owner bought two and somehow the roofs got swapped at some stage?! Stranger things have happened I guess. Anyway, thanks again.
Have to say my 1995 GTS has no assembly tag riveted to its body coloured roof. I find it hard to understand why the factory would do this?
I bought a 355 roof for my 348 and it came with a serial no on - see below Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you, and thanks for the additional information. Please keep me posted should you decide to pursue reuniting your car with its original roof. This just curiouser... Can you tell me the assembly number of your 355? If your Targa was black, I would think, "Maybe the only 355s whose Targas had corresponding assembly numbers were ones where the roof was painted the same color as the body," but if your GTS has a body-colored Targa without an assembly number, then that throws my theory right out into the street. Maybe it was implemented after a certain time; can you tell me the serial number of your 355? I wasn't aware that a 355 roof would fit into a 348; good to know. Can you tell me the serial number of your 348? I checked my database but, unfortunately, I don't have any match to assembly number 26469
Just for clarification I had to change the rear locating pins to make the roof fit so just be aware of that if you buy a 348 roof for a 355 or vice versa.
