British Motor Industry Trust at Gaydon have recently been made aware of a forged Heritage Certificate being used to create a false identity for a rare vehicle that was not the model claimed. They are not revealing too many details as investigations are ‘ongoing’, however they say that this problem could be “especially pertinent to Austin-Healey 100M and Mini Cooper S models”.

A wide range of Heritage certificates are now available for most (but not all) BMC/BL related cars.  The information given ranges from a basic dating letter that gives just date of manufacture right up to a premium quality one giving all information on a vehicle production record. They are produced from the original factory records that are now in the care of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at Gaydon, using chassis numbers or, where not available, engine and body numbers supplied by the person ordering the certificate. As they are copies of factory records from the organisation originally set up by BL to maintain them, Heritage certificates are accepted as proof of age and identity for vehicle licensing purposes.

BMIHT now advise anyone presented with a Heritage Certificate to authenticate a car, and especially a car that is a rare/valuable/desirable version, to contact BMIHT and check the Heritage Certificate is authentic and that the details are a genuine representation of the information held in the vehicle’s factory build record.

The number to call is (0)1926 645076, or you can  email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You can also order a fresh certificate, or to see if your car is one for which records exist, by calling the same number, or logging on to www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk