@Disco if it came into uk with no details it would not be a re-import it would be classed the same as a kit car hence Q plate same as if it was built up from parts,it can only be a re-import if it had vin and chassis number recorded on it's export certificate or Jersey log book.
Again, I'm not disagreeing with you.... IIRC LR didn't make these things anywhere else at the time, so ... it is either 1) a re-import, or 2) it's a bitsa ....
1) So, as I see it, at this point, either worthing office CBA'd to sort the paperwork properly ( and if they knew they'd all be out of a job soon ....
) or the paperwork wasn't available from Jersey... You make a
very valid point about the export certificate too - and perhaps the OP can chase this up with the relevant folk ?
2) If it is, then it's probably right it has a Q plate - not all disadvantage IMHO.
You were quite lucky I think to find someone who could assist sorting this out, and my principal suggestion here would be that the OP gets some assistance too.
My import/export and sometimes re-import stuff has always been done with the assistance of an agent and/or the local board of trade who do this sort of stuff all the time.
I took an "item" to Sweden once, on a carnet, and had to get the embassy involved both for the long winded crazy paperwork, and then at the border crossing where some jobs worth was adamant the item and the thing described on the paperwork were not one and the same - it all got very tedious and I'm not saying what we did next time .....
Hence my comment that the OP should be careful