That tagline is usually a telltale sign that the seller has their hand on it.

I can understand on particular Ford models, where the engine number & body VIN number match each other, where a "matching numbers" claim can come from, but in the Holden world, 2/3 important numbers that need to be "original" bear no correlation to each other (body/tag/PSN, Engine, Chassis from '72 on).
The only place they are all recorded (GMH PSN tag lists for certain models) is generally inaccessible to most (or gone forever), or the other place is open to tampering (owner's manual).

And how many Holden engines have been decked during a rebuild & had the original number re-stamped with the wrong stamps? Who knows what was once under there?

This is a topic that I view with disbelief most of the time. It seems every 25+ year old car that turns up these days is a "barn find" or "all original" and none of them have ever had anything about their identity compromised. Yet you take an educated look, and all of a sudden there's a can of worms. People either have short memories, or weren't around in the 70s & 80s when Holdens (particularly V8s) were hot poroperty for theft, and thousands of them lost their original numbers. Engine reconditioners didn't care what they gave you back as an exchange, and neither did owners. Engines were reco'd all the time. Yet in today's cer-selling market, none of this seems to be considered. It seems every car had a perfect life.

I understand what you guys are saying but let me give a sample of where I believe the statement "matching numbers" for a holden for sale, would be a fair statement to make. One of my cars is low mile 253 HG Premier. All numbers, including engine number, keys etc matches its original books and purchase reciept. The motor shows no sign of ever being taken out of the car, or even having the heads off. I would have no hesitation if I was ever to sell it to advertise it as "matching numbers".
So over the years I have learnt to never dismiss a car advertised as matching number as you might miss out on a real gem. A chat with the owner then a close inspection will soon sort out the truth of the claim.

Edited by user Tuesday, 18 March 2014 9:21:32 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

...yes castellan you've certainly touched on a finer point.. a little off topic but apparently the GTHO phase 3 cam was a bit of a bugger when the engine was cold and left a bit to be desired regarding braking....hence the vacuum tank...

"matching numbers" is normally associated with the engine and chassis alligning. But there are also other numbers, some cars have date coded panels and parts, radio serial numbers, gearbox serial numbers just to name a few.

Interestingly you could have a car that grenaded an engine, so fitted with a replacement block, every other part as it left the factory and it would be considered less original than a fully rebuilt car with its original enigne.

Warren

...i fitted a "Trans Go" shift kit to the TH400 in the GTS350 way back in the early 'Eighties and unfortunately, promptly proceeded to wreck this original correctly calibrated gearbox that these GTS 350's had....

...the only TH400 available was ex HQ Statesman (from memory) and she went from what was originally a very slick shifting car to an absolute slush box!! (aaah the exuberance and stupidity of youth!)...

...the real "criminal" part on my behalf was not retaining the buggered 'box (and its data tag) with the car and sold the sorry mess for about $100.00 ....i thought i'd done pretty well to get that kind of money....

....hindsight is such a wonderful thing when the "matching numbers" scenario comes into play....but that notion didn't amount to a hill o' beans back in the day.....cheers fellas

quote:

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Originally posted by HGV8
I understand what you guys are saying but let me give a sample of where I believe the statement "matching numbers" for a holden for sale, would be a fair statement to make. One of my cars is low mile 253 HG Premier. All numbers, including engine number, keys etc matches its original books and purchase reciept. The motor shows no sign of ever being taken out of the car, or even having the heads off. I would have no hesitation if I was ever to sell it to advertise it as "matching numbers".
So over the years I have learnt to never dismiss a car advertised as matching number as you might miss out on a real gem. A chat with the owner then a close inspection will soon sort out the truth of the claim.

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Greetings, The best response to the original question by a country mile. This term - matching numbers - is applicable to any and all car makers. If the numbers present on the car today match those that the manufacturer has on file then it is a matching numbers car. Nothing more nothing less. An engine number doesn't necessarily have to match a chassis number or any other number on the car. But they must match the records held by the maker. For a Holden, the car numbers must match the GMH records. Numbers can be made to match as one poster suggested so that a car appears to be matching numbers when checked against the maker's records.

True Warren, but at different times at the body and assembly plants the chassis numbers align perfectly with other numbers on the cars (but not all the time and not at all assembly plants). You just have to know the sequences and when/where and a non-matching car's chassis number stands out like the proverbial.