VIN NUMBER

[MatraCroatia]

Hello,

I have matra 2.2 with engine 1.6 (VIN 0B-00980216), matra is bei restauration and I take this motor....before my wish was engine from peugeot 1.9...but now....engine 1.6 is simple for me.
Question....where I can see year production of my engine, how many PS...etc.


Best regards from Croatia!

Romeo

[Dokkedal]

Hello,

I have matra 2.2 with engine 1.6 (VIN 0B-00980216), matra is bei restauration and I take this motor....before my wish was engine from peugeot 1.9...but now....engine 1.6 is simple for me.
Question....where I can see year production of my engine, how many PS...etc.


Best regards from Croatia!

Romeo

The letter B means year model 1981, means manufactured between june 1980 to may 1981.

[roy4matra]

Hello,

I have matra 2.2 with engine 1.6 (VIN 0B-00980216)

Hello Romeo, if you have a Matra Murena with a 1.6 engine, then it is not a Matra 2.2!  The Matra Murena was either a Murena 1.6 or a Murena 2.2 model with different chassis, engines and gearboxes.  That number you have provided: 0B-00980216 is not the VIN nor is it a chassis number.  That is a 1.6 engine number.

As we don't know yet exactly whether you have a 1981 or 1982 Murena 1.6 model it might not have a VIN at all, and may have a Matra coded chassis number.  You (and all other owners) should be aware that the universal international VIN, standing for Vehicle Identification Number, only applies to all 1982 cars onwards.  Any cars before that, from all manufacturers, had various chassis numbers which were coded by their specific manufacturer.  Since all these different type chassis numbers contained codes that were specific to each manufacturers different ideas, it was decided it would be better if all manufacturers worked to a standard international coding, and that is how all cars from 1982 had a VIN instead of a chassis number.

Now that 0B-00980216 engine number tells us that it was made in 1981, (the 'B' is 1981) but that could have been fitted into either a 1981 or 1982 Murena, because there were still new 1981 engines around when the 1982 model year production started.  One of my 1982 Murena had a 1981 engine fitted.

So we need to know the chassis number or VIN of your car first.  If the chassis plate is missing from the top of the right hand inner wing under the bonnet, then check the right hand side of the chassis in the scuttle area where the number is stamped into the shell.  If it is a 1981 car, then the chassis number will start with 'X5551 BX 6' and have five more numbers after that.
If the Murena is a 1982 model, then it will have a VIN starting with 'VF853C392 CX 6' and five more numbers after that.

These two differently coded numbers show you why the international VIN was brought into use.  The Matra chassis number 'X5551 BX 6.....' only tells you it is a 1.6 Murena built in 1981 - provided you know how the coding was designed.  However, the VIN tells you the country where it was made and by which manufacturer as well as its model and age.  The 'VF' is Vehicle France and the number '8' immediately after it is tells you it came from Matra Automobiles SA, whilst the '53C' is the Talbot coding for a Murena and the 'C392' tells you it is a 1.6 model.  The next letter is the year code and a 'C' means 1982.  So you can see much more information from a VIN code.

All this and more has been on my website for many years.

Question....where I can see year production of my engine, how many PS...etc.

Best regards from Croatia!

Romeo

The year of manufacture of your engine is 1981 as indicated by the 'B' in the engine number.

The power output of the engine was 89.4 PS horse power.  See my website for the explanation of the true power outputs of the Murena engines, as the marketing information was incorrect.

Roy

[Dokkedal]

Every time I see a picture of a Matra with the reg plate I check if the car is knowed and it gives me the date of the last MOT.

For example for the Rancho, 42 have a good MOT at this date and 92 have an old MOT before the year 2000, so this ones are not counted.

For the Bagheera I know 247 reg plates, I will check again how many are knowed with a good MOT ar SORN.

[roy4matra]

Every time I see a picture of a Matra with the reg plate I check if the car is knowed and it gives me the date of the last MOT.

For example for the Rancho, 42 have a good MOT at this date and 92 have an old MOT before the year 2000, so this ones are not counted.

For the Bagheera I know 247 reg plates, I will check again how many are knowed with a good MOT ar SORN.

If these Bagheera and Rancho figures are meant to be for cars in the U.K. then I'm afraid you are not talking about reality!  There are only ten (yes 10) Bagheera actually on the road, and currently only 2 Rancho on the road with 8 SORN!  Our DVLA doesn't have the right information for these rare cars, because of the way the computer was set up, and I can give you lots of examples, but I have been over and over this subject many times, as well as speaking to people from DVLA and they know they have multiple faults when it comes to all rare cars and small manufacturers, but it would cost too much and take too much time to put it right, so they have no intention of changing things.

Sure, I know of possibly more than 250 Bagheera that have been here in the U.K. in the past, but most have rotted away, been scrapped, have been sold abroad, or are just lying somewhere yet to be found but rotting away like many old abandoned cars.

The reality is there are only a handful of Bagheera and a few Rancho left.  Even the Murena with its galvanised chassis number only around 50 fit for the road.

If you want to send me that list of 42 Rancho with good M.o.T. I will double check them myself, but I seriously doubt they are all truly fit for the road.  The DVLA had 42 Rancho listed back in the year 2000, 25 years ago, but never as many since!

Roy