1929 155B Briggs body plate

Aerocraft

Aerocraft

Well-known member
I do have a question that I hope someone will be able to help me with.

Last week, a 155B followed my wife home and took up residence in my shop. This new treasure has a valid Illinois title but it has a April 1931 VIN number that matches the engine currently installed. In years past, the Illinois DMV would do this when a new engine was installed.

I am very curious as to what the original VIN number is and realize the only way to find out is to lift the body and remove the left hand splash apron. I was hoping that I could possibly come close by trying to cross reference the body number. I do realize that the engine (frame) number could be as much as three months "late". The firewall does not have a date stamp.

The Briggs tag still installed on the sill cross member reads 199-9287. Has anyone or club kept any records of those cars? Hopefully someone could come up with a guess as to the production date or VIN number using the body number. Gar Williams
 

Attachments

  • 3n23m93l45X45R35S6a5q2c3793d9629e1dc6.jpg
    3n23m93l45X45R35S6a5q2c3793d9629e1dc6.jpg
    8 KB · Views: 38
  • 3n23kb3p35O15Q35U6a5q18e1629541fd12b0.jpg
    3n23kb3p35O15Q35U6a5q18e1629541fd12b0.jpg
    8.2 KB · Views: 31
  • 3o93p03l75Y25V05R1a5q5b710494063d1efd.jpg
    3o93p03l75Y25V05R1a5q5b710494063d1efd.jpg
    8.3 KB · Views: 32
Last edited:
Not knowing the complete history of the car, I can only speculate.

IF the car is as it was when originally assembled, maybe the reason the gas tank does not have a date is because it was assembled in the later half of 1929...that would narrow it down.

If the chassis parts were as such, maybe you can use the MARC/MAFCA restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards to narrow it down even more.

Is your frame that of the mid 1929 style or the late 1929 style? That information would be by looking at the front cross member...that would narrow it down even more.

These are just some ideas to do to decipher the apx. date of mgf of your car.

On the other hand, if someone before you have outright changed some things, well, then it becomes a guessing game.

Pluck
 
The car has never been disassembled and has only had a poor repaint some forty years ago. It still has most of the correct goodies such as the wiper and popout. I'll check the front cross member this morning. Werner (Town Sedan club) is looking and hopefully will have some clues for me. Thanks! Gar Williams
 
I have a 1929 Briggs Town Sedan also. My Briggs number is 199-8318 and the stamp on the frame indicates a date for the Friday before Black Tuesday (October 25, 1929). Based on your Briggs number (9287), I would think yours came off shortly after mine, or about late November or early December.
 
Terrific information! Thanks very much.

The Briggs I have has what appears to be most of its original parts that seem to indicate late '29. This confirms my suspicion and is a great help in narrowing down the date. My reason for "needing to know" is that, as I repair parts or add missing ones, I want to be "close" so that I don't have to do it again. Gar Williams
 
Does anyone have Werner's email address? I tried the one I could find and got my message back.
Thanks
MarkG 29 Briggs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top