The MG Midget VIN Number Lookup / Decoder has been fun to write and I hope you find it useful.
I recently bought tickets to visit the code-breaking museum at Bletchley Park (excellent it was too!) With the long, wet and windy winter down here in the southwest of England, the museum visit inspired me to build my own Colossus!
I’m still populating the database but here it is, a machine to decode the enigma that is the Austin Healey Sprite and MG Midget VIN Number.
Tip: If you have a MkI Sprite, you really should visit Gary Lazarus site Photographic Database of MkI Sprites. You can even submit a picture of your own car for inclusion in the database.
VIN Decoder
Just enter your Sprite or Midget VIN Number lookup request and press the button.
(if you don’t have a VIN number to hand, here are a couple of examples to try: AN5501, GAN6UJ202233G and GAN5124953G)
MG Midget VIN Number Lookup
This Sprite and MG Midget VIN Number Lookup tool uses data from a variety of sources:
Books (have a look at the best books for Sprites and Midgets), the internet, details from my own cars and details from a number of BMHIT Heritage Certificates from “friendly” owners 🙂
Estimated Build Date
The estimated build date in the MG Midget VIN Number Lookup tool uses the data in the database to calculate a start and end date for a range of chassis numbers. It then calculates the average number of cars built per day and uses this information work out how many days from the start date your car was likely to be built.
It’s worth noting that, like Rome, Midgets and Sprites were not built in a day. Some build dates that I have seen on the Heritage Certificates are in fact a range, spanning from a day up to 2 weeks.
Colour Schemes
The colour schemes displayed are again, date-range based; the transition from one scheme to the next would have happened over at least few weeks.
The colours used are my best attempts at a colour match. If there are any real howlers, please let me know on Facebook (and ideally send me an image of the colour so that I can improve the tool)
And Finally
I hope you find this Sprite and MG Midget VIN decoder useful. Let me know of any upgrades you think that I should include and, happy researching!