Unable to verify Dealer Code on 1955 Production Code

[GlenBird]

Hello,

I'm decoding the tag on 1955 Tbird and hit a snag.

The Production Code reads... 29G277

29 = 29th Day
G = July
27 = Here is the problem, there is no #27 dealer listed, it goes from 26 (DC) to 31 (Cincinnati)
7 = Scheduled car built that day

Any insight would be appreciated, thank you.

[swatson999]

I think you have the 277th production item.

http://1956-ford.com/images1956forddata ... ecoder.pdf

[David Tulowitzky]

Starting in early July the sales districts were eliminated for the balance of the model year. This also happened occasionally throughout the 1955 model year but on an off and on basis. However, there were no districts codes after early July.

[GlenBird]

Thanks for the replies, that makes perfect sense.

[ward 57]

WOW! If that's the case, that is one of the first produced in a sequence of all Fords built that year. I thought mine was an early '57 with a sequence of 5343. That definitely tops it.
When tinkering on it keep in mind that there were subtle changes made during the production year so be cognizant of that if you want to keep it 'as produced' correct. I do that as there are a few things I had to correct to the very early '57 configuration after somebody else didn't have the originality in mind when keeping it running as that was the only point when it was 'just an old car' and not yet a classic. I strive for that as a driver as close to original as practable and not go overboard striving to a concours recognition.

[swatson999]

WOW! If that's the case, that is one of the first produced in a sequence of all Fords built that year. I thought mine was an early '57 with a sequence of 5343. That definitely tops it.
When tinkering on it keep in mind that there were subtle changes made during the production year so be cognizant of that if you want to keep it 'as produced' correct. I do that as there are a few things I had to correct to the very early '57 configuration after somebody else didn't have the originality in mind when keeping it running as that was the only point when it was 'just an old car' and not yet a classic. I strive for that as a driver as close to original as practable and not go overboard striving to a concours recognition.

I may be reading the magic decoder rings incorrectly, but I'm not sure that's correct. 55 Tbirds were manufactured from from 9/9/54 to 9/14/55, so one manufactured in at the end of July of 55 is near the end of the production run for 55s. The 277 number is, if I'm reading the charts correctly, the 277th vehicle from the specific plant on that day (in this case, July 29th).

Is that correct?

[Alan H. Tast]

WOW! If that's the case, that is one of the first produced in a sequence of all Fords built that year. I thought mine was an early '57 with a sequence of 5343. That definitely tops it.

I hate to tell you all this, but if I understand from what others have found out about how the numbers worked during mid-1955, the '277' number means it was the 277th unit (full-size Fords and T-birds) scheduled for assembly at Dearborn Assembly Plant on that day (July 29th), and not indicative of the entire model year's production sequence or the cumulative number of T-birds built up to that date, regardless if assigned to a sales district (or not). Where the car falls in the cumulative production sequence, in part, is what the serial number indicates. '29G' would be late '55 production on July 29, 1955, and more than likely your serial number starts '18' or '19' or '2' followed by five numbers, i.e. your serial number probably starts out *P5FH2#####. As noted above by others, the destination code dropped out from the '55 data plate during this time. Dave T, who knows this stuff much better than me as he's been 'playing the numbers game' for decades, can narrow down when the 200,000-range started and what range was used in late July '55.

As noted by others, serial numbers (the 6-digit number at the end) mixed 'Birds with full-size Fords, and is made even more complicated by the fact that there were well over a dozen final assembly plants being allocated blocks of 6-digit numbers to use throughout the model year. Luckily for T-birders, only one plant assembled T-birds, making tracking of T-bird serial number sequencing easier to do.

Below is from VTCI's 1955-1957 Original Factory Specifications (OFS) Manual, pages F7-1 and F7-4:

Month codes for 1955 & 1956 production:
Month - Code
September ......... J (1954) (Need confirmation if 'J' or 'W' used for September '55-built units)
October ............ K
November ......... L
December ......... M
January ............A (1955)
February ...........B
March ...............C
April .................D
May ..................E
June .................F
July ..................G
August .............. H
September ......... J or W? (Need confirmation if 'J' or 'W' used for September '55-built units)

1955
First day of production: September 1, 1954 (Completion date was tagged as September 9, 1954)
Last day of production: September 19, 1955

1956
First day of production: October 17, 1955 (Date first ‘56 completed)
Last day of production: August 24, 1956

DESTINATION CODE-1955-1956
The date code is typically followed by a two-digit Location Code. Numbers following the Destination Code indicate the consecutive Thunderbird unit order number from the sales district shown for the model year.
NK ....... Atlanta SD ......... Boston
BF ........ Buffalo CE ......... Charlotte
CX........ Chicago CI .......... Cincinatti
CL ........ Cleveland DP ......... Dallas
DQ ....... Davenport DN......... Denver
DS ........ Des Moines DD......... Detroit
RG ........ Fargo SV ......... Houston
NP ........ Indianapolis KJ .......... Jacksonville
KS ........ Kansas City LX ......... Lansing
LP, L* ... Los Angeles LS .......... Louisville
GB ........ Memphis NR ......... New Orleans
KL ........ Oklahoma City NB ......... Omaha
DI ......... Philadelphia PI ........... Pittsburgh
RP ........ Richmond KE ......... Rockford
SC ........ Salt Lake City SK,S*+ ... San Jose+
SE ........ Seattle SL .......... St. Louis
NU ....... Twin Cities DC ......... Washington D.C.
EX ........ International Division
CA ........ Ford of Canada
HO........ Home Office
*Two-digit code was used for these districts in 1955; in 1956, when the number of T-birds shipped to these districts exceeded 999 units, the second character of the destination code was dropped.
+'S' prefix was used in very early 1955 production on all units, regardless of destination. The 'S' prefix was dropped after October 1954.

(Note that the above needs to be updated in the '55-'57 OFS to reflect the dropping of destination/sales district codes in the summer of 1955 and how the scheduling number was used to indicate a day's production when no sales district code was used)


As a bookend, regular production of '57s began September 17, 1956 (Month code "H") and ended on December 13, 1957 (Month code 'Z"), with a changeover in codes from 'J' to 'W' in September 1957 as production ran over 12 months. This has been exhaustively covered in numerous places by several people (including Dave). (Dave T, feel free to correct anything misstated or incorrect above or below - I'll edit the post accordingly to provide most-correct information)

Month codes for 1957 production:
Month - Code
January ............A (1957)
February ...........B
March ...............C
April .................D
May ..................E
June .................F
July ..................G
August .............. H (1956), V* (1957)
September ......... J (1956), W* (1957)
October ............ K (1956), X* (1957)
November ......... L (1956), Y* (1957)
December ......... M (1956). Z* (1957)
*Production ran over into the fall of 1957: the higher-letter code was used starting in August-September 1957 to distinguish late from early production.

DESTINATION CODE-1957
(to 4/57)
The date code is followed by a two-digit Destination Code. Numbers following the two-number Location Code indicate the consecutive Thunderbird unit order number from the sales district shown for the model year. Most numbers end with a "P" suffix, but the letters "A" through "D" have also been documented in early production, as well as no end letter. This number string was discontinued in April 1957 with the revision of the data plate.

[ICON 1956]

Now I need to : verify my production code
Engine Code P= V8 312 OHV 4V Carb (215hp MT, 225 hp AT
Assembly Plant F Dearborn Michigan
Body Style H Thunderbird
Body Type 40 A Thunderbird Body
Paint Color Code Z Sage Green
Interior Trim Code XF Green and White Vinyl
Production Code 23BBF49 February 23, 1956
( 23=Day of Production)
( B = February) Month)
(BF= Buffalo) New York My was was shipped to Lackawanna New York
(49= ? What does this number mean ?
Serial No P6FH229337
Any help what 49 means ?
I am fortunate to have the original invoice

[swatson999]

Production Code 23BBF49 February 23, 1956
( 23=Day of Production)
( B = February) Month)
(BF= Buffalo) New York My was was shipped to Lackawanna New York
(49= ? What does this number mean ?

As we said, it means the 49th car on the production line at Dearborn on February 23, 1956. Not the 49th Tbird, but the 49th of all cars.

[ICON 1956]

gotcha