Tracing US Stag

[Babord]

Question for the US residents that visit this forum.

My Federal model spent most of its life in the US before being imported into Europe, yet I know nothing of its history there. Is it possible to find any details from the chassis number? I have a heritage certificate that shows the date of transportation (and name of the ship), with British Leyland Motors Portland as the destination. Was this destination recorded for all US models, or was this an actual dealer?

If you think it is a possibility, I would appreciate any pointers on how to start a search.

I tried to contact the Triumph Stag club USA, but did not get a response.

[trunt]

Not so easy over here as the tag (number plates) don’t stay with a car. I am not aware of any national searchable register like in U.K. aside from the stag club one. I guess it could be there.. what’s the vin? I’ll look.

PM me if you are not comfortable putting it on a thread.

[sujitroy]

I'm aware Stag were also imported into New Jersey.

[cjp]

I don't know what the PoE (Port of Entry) to the US was, but mine was shipped via Harwich to Jacksonville Florida. It then spent time in Minnesota, and is now in Indiana. Each State runs its own Bureau of Motor Vehicles (some are called different things), with their own licensing/emissions/registration/insurance/inspection rules. For example, I think Minnesota and Illinois cars keep plates while registered to an owner in State, but most states replace plates annually or every few years. If a vehicle moves state to state you start over with a VIN inspection by local authorities, and start a whole new paper trail. There is no national registry, and the Federal agencies are only interested in current information (where can I go to arrest this criminal today?) so even the police databases are no help (and not exactly accessible!). The only way to get a full vehicle history is to pray every previous owner kept a paper trail, and that any dealer who got their hands on the car did not throw the paperwork out because of rampant privacy laws. You can pay for a CarFax search on the VIN. That will (mostly) tell you service history, reported accidents, registration changes and number of owners for a recent vehicle under warranty. But, good luck with anything BC (Before Computers) there or with anything serviced outside of a big network. Hope this helps explain the context if not exactly solve your problem!

[malc4d]

Mine came with the Californian papers showing it belonged to a famous LA restaurateur in the '80s which unfortunately i had to give that to the dvla. (.I kept a copy)

[Babord]

ah, that is a pity. Thank you for the info, and special thanks to Terry for doing some digging behind the scenes (re. your PM).
Demonstrates the value of keeping history/paperwork with the car.

[malc4d]

Have you typed the chassis number into google ? you might find it was up for sale and has details.

[Babord]

Have you typed the chassis number into google ? you might find it was up for sale and has details.

Yes, I tried that. It identified a wide range of topics, but nothing to do with a Triumph Stag. I do now know my chassis is also an Easy Jet flight number though!

[Rob A]

I am trying to find for sure the original owner of my Stag I believe it was Harold Maddick who was the Canadian ambassador to Ireland. I have filled out a form V888 from Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Ireland and sent it in but not certain if they can help

[DJT]

I am trying to find for sure the original owner of my Stag I believe it was Harold Maddick who was the Canadian ambassador to Ireland. I have filled out a form V888 from Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Ireland and sent it in but not certain if they can help

DVLA in Swansea ceased accepting V888 applications several years ago citing GDPR.