I was looking at my i/d tags and i noticed that it was built 5 / 71 but on the rego papers its a 1972 model ???? why's this....

I just got my new plates MY.1971

rego papers would be the year of first registration.

while its technically a 71 model, its probably most commonly referred to as a 72

So the plates are no good

id say plates are good!

it IS a 1971 model if thats whats on the chassis.

Plates are fine mate it says 5/71 on the tags as you stated. So your sweet.

Good to hear. . . . thanks guys

By the time the car was built, stored in Japan, loaded onto a boat, shipped halfway around the world, unloaded, stored, & passed through customs, transported to a storage yard, stored untill needed, shipped to a distributor or dealer, displayed on the floor, sold & registered, it could easily be 1972.

I have seen cars on showroom floors in January of one year that had build dates of November or December two years back making the car [still unsold] about 14 or 15 months old.

This was not uncommon at the more expensive end of the market, particularly in the showrooms of Euro car dealers.

Don't sweat it, if the plate says 1971, particularly May 1971, then it's a '71 model. Hell the rego Nazi's wouldn't know if their arses were on fire, let alone what model a car is.