Vin # mystery

[gtdohn]

I have a very stock 1948 F1 and it has a vin# that should belong to a 3/4 ton vehicle. Did they make mistakes that often back then. My vin# is 87HY108976,
It matches the firewall and the glove box door tag. The glove box door has the weight capacity at 4700 lbs. and the same tag says that it is a model F1
I always thought it should have a "C" in the fourth character of the Vin.
Anyone else ever heard of this happening?

 

[rotorwrench]

The 8 indicates 1948. The 7H in the prefix indicates the H series 6-cylinder. The Y indicates 1-ton F3 but may also indicate a 4-speed transmission option. With Ford you never know. It depends on all the running gear and cab characteristics. Generally C designated 1/2-ton and D designates 3/4-ton with Y for the 1-ton.

I wouldn't worry about it too much if all the numbers match and it has all the F1 characteristics. There have been a lot of options available plus all the trucks that have been put together from parts since that time frame. If it has the short frame with that number on it then is could also have been some form of package option but I can't tell you for sure. There are a few guys on here and over at the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum that know the Bonus truck VINs pretty well. The real confusing ones were the 1950 models with the 1949 VINs on them. Ford did some strange things in that time frame.