Vehicle Dates
The age of a car is commonly desired, yet is the hardest of all information to obtain.
While no records of production dates are known to have survived, it is still possible to deduce an approximate date from the limited sources available.
Approximate dates
An indicative summary of build years for car number ranges has been constructed using available sources.
For example, car number 12345 is in the range '7000 to 21000', so would be a 1962 car.
| Year | Car Numbers (approx.) |
| 1961 | 501 to 7000 |
| 1962 | 7000 to 21000 |
| 1963 | 21000 to 41000 |
| 1964 | 41000 to 58000 |
| 1965 | 58000 to 60688 |
Production date vs. delivery date
When considering the age of a car, there are two types of dates often referred to: 'production date' and 'delivery date'.
PRODUCTION DATE
Production date is the date that a car was completed and came off the production line.
With no factory records it is impossible to know the exact production date. An approximate time frame can be inferred from the manufacture dates of various components. Allowing for some time between the component manufacture and assembly of the car, an estimate for the car production date can be made.
DELIVERY DATE
Delivery date is the date that a car was delivered to the first owner by the selling dealership.
The delivery date was recorded in the original Passport to Service supplied with the car. After fifty years most service books are no longer with cars, so often the delivery date must be estimated like the production date. Comparison to surviving service books and period publications gives opportunity to identify an appropriate delivery date.
The time between the production and delivery date would have varied for each car, depending on where it was sold and how long it took to sell. A car sold in New South Wales had less distance to be transported from factory to dealer than a car sold in Western Australia, thus less time elapsed.
Identifying dates
Beyond approximate date ranges, more specific dates can be identified for a Morris 850 based on various components, window glass and published documentation.
A variety of components were stamped with their manufacture date, especially electrical items.
Window glass was stamped with the maker’s logo and the manufacture date in code. Learn how to interpret the stampings.
A limited number of published resources exist that hold samples of dates in the absence of factory publications.
Last updated 8 September 2021