Hello to all who responded, it seems your laws are a little more restrictive in data protection. Here as long as you can prove you are the current owner, the licencing authority will do a search and send whatever they have.
There is a lot of good information in your responses which enables me to follow up in a few areas so thanks for that, especially as the info from M.Miller states that BMC has long gone. This may be the dealer that my vendor was alluding to, in which case traceability becomes a little more difficult. I have picked up a couple of lines on the net when the car was being restored around 2005 by a chap from the Bay area.
Can someone give me a clue as to how close the Bay area may be to Monterey? I am waiting for an email reply from him if the email address is still valid, so Wogbe I have already started the sleuthing! Not sure if this guy was passing through or of his connection with the site where he saw the car. So again may be a red herring.
Does anyone know if there is an e type club local to the area or perhaps an email address, I guess its worth making contact to see if the car or situation rings any bells, as it seems many Jaguar owners in the US belong a local club or at least use them to network.
Thanks
Tony