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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - AH Frogeye Sprite Reg number

If I had found a rusty Frogeye that didn't have number plates or a chassis number.... where might I discover these things ?

Asking for a friend.
Malc Gilliver

On a 1500 midget sold on eBay I guess!

Alternatively I think you need to try and find old photos of the car and go from there.
Daniel

IIRC there should be a number stamped onto the RH damper mount plate and the top of the RH footwell. The footwell number is a body number and IIRC will be close to the chassis number but may not be the same. I've seen the body number on the footwell top on mine when I had the paint stripped but the other number is gone as the front cross member has been replaced at an earlier point in its life like when it was worth enough to do it.
David Billington

There is also a body number on the nearside inner A post. The body number does not equate to the chassis number but it may be traceable from the archives at the British Motor Heritage Trust at Gaydon. For example my chassis number ends 45615 but the body number ends 44919
Bob Beaumont

The chassis number, which is also known as the body number, can be found on the back of the dashboard in a Frogeye Sprite (Austin Healey Sprite Mark I). This number was often written in yellow crayon at the factory. It's also where you might find the optional equipment codes for the car.
Flip Brühl

When I got a heritage certificate for my Frogeye all I supplied them with is the chassis number. The certificate came back with body number, gearbox number, and rear axle number. I presume if you give them your body number they might be able to fill in the blanks.
Rob
MG Moneypit

I believe the body number was stamped onto the bare tub before it was delivered to the paint shop. Painted bodies were then moved to the assembly line, but not necessarily taken in numerical order so when the chassis number was added they would usually be a little different. The discrepancy seems to increase with later production, possibly because some bodies delivered were then rejected or maybe returned for correction?
GuyW

Thanks Guys,

I hope he can find something to identify it, I do wonder if the car has became an IOW Sprite, but we'll see.
Malc Gilliver

When l visited Gaydon to research my Midget's history l noted that the cars are listed in chassis number order. Body numbers and other identifiers seem to be pretty random...my car's 《 sisters' 》 bodies and engines were most definitely not sequential, so a search using any other number except the chassis # would be difficult and time consuming to ssy the least...Dave
David Cox

Gaydon won't necessarily have the registration number even if you can track down the car from its chassis number, as this wasn't supplied by the factory. It was allocated to the garage selling the car, by the local registration authority (pre DVLA, so a county or city authority).

In the case of my MK 1 Sprite I only had the reg number,but I discovered that the car was initially delivered from the factory to a dealer but presumably didn't sell as it was later transferred to a second dealer before being registered several months later. The registration authority (City of York) still have the hand written ledgers listing the reg number, chassis, colour and date plus some other details. For a small fee they searched for and photographed the ledger entry for me.
GuyW

This thread was discussed between 16/07/2025 and 17/07/2025

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.