Production code - 1955 Fairlane

[Jim.UT]

The production code on my 55 Town Sedan is 3E1481P. I've been able to figure out that 3E means a scheduled production date of May 3 but I can't find anything that tells me what 1481P means. I see lots of conflicting theories but none of them make sense to me. Does anyone really KNOW?

 

[rotorwrench]

It that the whole code string. E could be Edgewater Assembly Plant. I don't see a body number there either. they usually had a paint color code in there too. The daily production number was sometimes followed by a shift code depending on the plant. This is a link to a poor quality decoder but there is likely a better one out there. 1955 was still during the evolution of the body and data plates. It got better in 1956 and by 1957, they had it pretty well nailed down.
https://1956-ford.com/images1956forddatacolors/data-plate-decoder.pdf

This is a better one

https://www.1955-ford.1956-ford.com/img-55-ford-data-plate-codes/1955-ford-car-data-plate-codes.pdf

 

[KULTULZ]

SEE IF THIS HELPS - CLICK HERE - https://1955-ford.com/

​

 

[dmsfrr]

The production code on my 55 Town Sedan is 3E1481P. I've been able to figure out that 3E means a scheduled production date of May 3 but I can't find anything that tells me what 1481P means. I see lots of conflicting theories but none of them make sense to me. Does anyone really KNOW?

There were two different Data Plate styles and several formats for the code letters/numbers used from '55 to '57.

To help avoid too much guesswork please post a closeup photo of the actual data plate you're asking about.

IIRC, data plates with Transmission and Axle codes on the second line weren't used until calendar year '57.
.

 

[KULTULZ]

There were two different Data Plate styles and several formats for the code letters/numbers used from '55 to '57.

To help avoid too much guesswork please post a closeup photo of the actual data plate you're asking about.

IIRC, data plates with Transmission and Axle codes on the second line weren't used until calendar year '57.
.

Yeah, I dropped the ball on that one ...

CORRECTIONS IN 1st POST​

 

[KULTULZ]

Well, I can't figure out how to do that so the corrected info is below -

- 1956 SHOWN -

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NOTE The Production Code's scheduled item number may have extra alphanumeric characters [not determined by editor]​

- INFO FROM BILL GARDNERS SITE -

​

 

[Jim.UT]

It that the whole code string. E could be Edgewater Assembly Plant. I don't see a body number there either. they usually had a paint color code in there too. The daily production number was sometimes followed by a shift code depending on the plant. This is a link to a poor quality decoder but there is likely a better one out there. 1955 was still during the evolution of the body and data plates. It got better in 1956 and by 1957, they had it pretty well nailed down.
https://1956-ford.com/images1956forddatacolors/data-plate-decoder.pdf

This is a better one

https://www.1955-ford.1956-ford.com/img-55-ford-data-plate-codes/1955-ford-car-data-plate-codes.pdf

I'm only talking about the "Production Code" listed on the far right of the second row on the 1955 data plate. I already know the body code, color code, trim code, etc. The assembly plant is in the VIN, P for Twin Cities in my case.

 

[Jim.UT]

SEE IF THIS HELPS - CLICK HERE - https://1955-ford.com/​

Well, I can't figure out how to do that so the corrected info is below -

- 1956 SHOWN -


View attachment 652481

View attachment 652482



- INFO FROM BILL GARDNERS SITE -

​

I've seen this one and it just confuses me. This one (after the date, which I understand) shows a dealer code SD followed by a schedule production number of 155. How does that equate or translate to my production code of 1481P? What does 1481 represent? What does P mean? According to the VIN the car was produced at Twin Cities (also code P) so does that mean the my production code is saying it was the 1481st scheduled build that day at Twin Cities? I guess I'll go with that. As for dealer codes, is there a list of dealer codes from that era floating around?