1981 Solihull built cars (North American Spec)
There were some Solihull built American specification TR8s and possibly similar TR7s that carried another variation of the VIN system. These new VINs were introduced to comply with new American and Canadian chassis numbering regulations. They were in many respects similar to the European system except that a 'Check Digit' was now incorporated, which increased the length to 17 digits.
The Check digit was inserted at the 9th position of the series and could check the validity of the entire chassis number. The other digits that differed from the European system were the 6th, 7th and 8th digits. The check digit was calculated as follows:
| Chassis | Representation | | |
Numeric | Weight |
| Digit | | | |
| Factor |
| 1. | Continent: | S | Europe | 2 | 8 |
| 2. | Country: | A | U.K. | 1 | 7 |
| 3. | Manufacture: | T | Triumph | 3 | 6 |
| 4. | Model range: | P | TR7/8 | 7 | 5 |
| 5. | Specification: | V | U.S.A. (49 States) | 5 | 4 |
| | Z | U.S.A. California | 9 | 4 |
| | L | Canada | 3 | 4 |
| 6. | Type of body: | 5 | Coupe | 5 | 3 |
| | 4 | Convertible | 4 | 3 |
| 7. | Type of engine: | 1 | 2 litre four cylinder | 1 | 2 |
| | 5 | 3.5 litre V8 | 5 | 2 |
| 8. | Steering and | 4 | LHD, Automatic | 4 | 10 |
| Transmission: | 8 | LHD, Manual 5spd | 8 | 10 |
| 9. | Check Digit: | see below | 0 to 9 or X | | |
| 10. | Major model | A | 1980 Model Year | 1 | 9 |
| change | B | 1981 Model Year | 2 | 9 |
| | C | 1982 Model Year | 3 | 9 |
| 11. | Assembly plant: | A | Solihull | 1 | 8 |
| 12. | Serial number: | | | | |
| 1st digit | * | | * | 7 |
| 2nd digit | * | | * | 6 |
| 3rd digit | * | NOTE: *=any digit | * | 5 |
| 4th digit | * | between 0 and 9 | * | 4 |
| 5th digit | * | | * | 3 |
| 6th digit | * | | * | 2 |
Taking a typical US spec. TR8 with a chassis number of SATPV458*BA408565 (note an * has
been left for the check digit), each of the chassis digits must be converted into its equivalent
numeric and multiplied by its weight factor.
