MTFCA Forum

It is my understanding that up until 1910 or early 1911, Ford would use the engine serial number as the "car number" that was stamped onto the firewall patent plate, and by 1911 or so it got to be too much of a pain to keep that coordinated, so the numbers no longer matched.

Does anyone know whether the "car number" stamped on to the patent plate had any significance to Ford after that since they no longer matched? Also, is it a better approximation of when the car was actually "finished" if the plate was stamped or installed when the body was put on the chassis during final assembly?

For example, our late 1911/early 1912 model year Model T has an engine serial of 83xxx and a car number of 85xxx, so pretty close. Our early model year 1914 Model T has an engine serial of 378xxx and a car number of 448xxx. A lot bigger spread in numbers, but that car was likely assembled at the San Francisco Ford assembly plant that opened in late 1913. I could see that being due to workers pulling bodies and engines from the pool of available assemblies and then assigning the Ford car number when it was assembled as a car.

Any information that people may have that could shed light on this would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Neal

Neal I know the April of 1910 T had matching tag number as the engine. Original 1910 touring & original serial number tag. Hope that helps. Best John

Re your '14, my '14 body plate & engine # are also far off, but it's also my understanding that there was no correlation at that point.

Daisy Mae wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:44 pm

Re your '14, my '14 body plate & engine # are also far off, but it's also my understanding that there was no correlation at that point.

Motor and body numbers stopped matching in early Oct. 1911, so theoretically in the 1912 model year.