Census number
 

I have been looking at an Austin 8 saloon car which may or may not be ex military. It has a repair plate fixed to the bulkhead with the following information-
Vehicle number - M23142671
Class of repair - A (This I believe means a rebuilt or replaced engine)
WKSP number - 22
Inspection - 13
Can anyone assist with what type of vehicle the 'M' number was allocated to? and where was workshop 22?

Hi Mike,
The details stamped on this plate appear so wrong, firstly the census number is 8 digits long and as far as I know, the largest numbers were only 7 digits long.
Classes of repair were denoted by Roman numerals, ie I, IV, etc., not letters. The inspection number was normally an inspection stamp.

regards,
Richard

Richard,
Many thanks for this, I had my doubts about this vehicle hence the enquiries here and with the Austin 8 register. As so often your experience and knowledge is so useful.

Hi Mike,
I am also sceptical that this type of plate was in use in 1945, I have seen them with post 1950 dates on only. There were blank ones for sale in years gone by. Hopefully the Austin 8 Register will be able to tell you if the chassis number was in a batch ordered by the War Office.

Thanks Richard,
The only records held by the Austin 8 Register so far as saloon cars go relates to 1885 impressed civilian cars right at the start of the war and this is not one of those. So far as they are aware there were no military contracts for 8 saloons during the war.