Well my Touring spawned a new car. I acquired a 1925 Tudor Sedan at an extremely good deal. While working on it I found a number on the body and I am hoping someone knows what this number means. First a picture of the number that is on the drivers side just inside the door.
Next some pictures of the car
This last is a picture of an actual B gas ration sticker. This car has been owned by one family since before WWII. It needs some things like the magneto fixed, bands and Rockies. But it is a good start.
Steven
Hmm, are you certain that is an original? Back in the '70s these were reproduced; I had some for my A.
T'
David D.
The "A" stickers were reproduced by the thousands. Nearly every one you see today is not an original. The "A" sticker is the one most people wish they could have had. (My grandparents had them because they were farmers producing peaches for canning.)
I think a few "B" stickers were reproduced, but not many. IIRC, they were sold in sets. I couldn't tell from a photo if that is an original or not.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
That is a beautiful thing, STeven!
By the way, Steven, nice new car! But didn't someone else post pictures of a tudor with brass trim a week or two ago?
Congratulations!
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
Steven, nice car! My '25 coupe has a number stamped in the same location as yours. I don't recall them right now, but they have the letters KC stamped with them, so I presume it was assembled in the Kansas City branch plant. Yours has Des Moines stamped below the numbers, so obviously, it was assembled in that branch plant. Maybe Hap can chime in here with some more information. Dave
When I met the couple from the UK we took pictures in front of this car. That could be were you saw it. Since this car is really not ready to be driven regularly we drove in my 25 touring which I then left at my oldest son's home. That trim is real brass as it does not attract a magnet.
Steven
Regarding the numbers on the body, I have not found any documentation on any of these numbers. From various other research I've done, and from looking at lots of closed car bodies, this is what I think they mean.
Most of the earlier bodies were being produced by outside body suppliers. There may or may not be a number on these bodies. Starting around 1924, Ford began building all of it's bodies in house - except the Coupe. It appears that at first, Ford was not assigning serial numbers to the bodies. Starting sometime in 1925, some (if not all) branch plants began stamping a serial number on the top of the body sill just inside the driver's door. The number usually consists of a series of digits, a dash, then another digit. There is also usually some indication as to the branch plant, either spelled out or just a few letters which can be matched to a branch plant (for instance HP would indicate Highland Park). So obviously, your body was assembled at the Des Moines Iowa plant. I'm not sure exactly what the numbers mean. Most likely the first digits represent the serial number of the body. I'm not sure if they were numbered sequentially among all body styles, or if each body style had it's own sequence of numbers. I don't know what the last digit may indicates, maybe the production line? I thought maybe the sift, but then there should only be a 1, 2 or 3 and it looks like yours is a 4.
Anyone have any guesses??
Dave S.
A 27 with wood wheels? I thought all the 27 Tudors had wire wheels like mine has?
Nope Dennis.......my '27 has wood wheels too.......
Denis,
This car's body is a 25. The running gear is 27.
I was also assured that the sticker is real. It seems that his brother did some illegal taxi driving of troops to and from the train station. One day a real taxi rammed him in the left rear. They found a used rear fender for $5 hanging on a wall at a gas station. There is still some wrinkling on the left rear of the car from that accident. He only sold me the car because the rest of his family has passed and his kids have no interest in this or the 14 speedster he had.
At least that is what the previous owner told me.
Steven
If you look closely at the numbers there appears to be a set of letters below them. I think they read DES MOINES. More than likely assembled at the DES MOINES Plant.
Regards, John
The building that housed the assembly plant in Des Moines, still stands. Used by the local college last I knew. My wife's gradfather used to take the train to Des Moines and drive cars back to Osceola, Iowa as a kid. I can only imagine how much that fun was for a young lad with a brand new car to drive home....
steve, why do u say the running gear is a 27, the front fender brackets wont fit a 25 without work and the rear crossmember wont fit without work,
Body and frame 25. Engine, trans and rear axle 27
gotta cha
'Reading is fundamental'. I just re read the title of the post.
LOL Dennis.......
Hey Steven:
What is he doing with the Speedster?
Dave,
The speedster was sold to someone in Canada.
Steven