That's a great question, and one you may not find an answer for. I've never seen any decoding information for the model boxes at the bottom of the plate. The earlier trucks were simple to decode, actually. If it was a 48-50, it would show the year, engine series and model series codes from the parts catalog. For instance, a 49 F1 with a V8 would say 9RC. Yours being a 51 F1 with the V8, one would think it would read 1RC if it were to follow the traditional designations, but it doesn't. Either something changed in Ford's coding system, or it's a misprint. There's certainly nothing there that you would learn about your truck you don't already know, that much I can assure you.

 

Thanks, 52Merc. I was hoping one was the paint code. I believe mine was Sheridan Blue. However, the cowl stamping isn't very defined, so I cannot tell from looking at that. The cowl and firewall look to be army green. My dad bought it from an old farmer's field about 15 years ago. It has imprint from Braymer, MO FFA on the doors. It'd be interesting to break the code. Wondering if it was old military surplus vehicle that was sold to FFA. Also heard it was an old public works vehicle for a small town.

 

If you can get some good pictures of the cowl stamping and firewall, we can take a look and see what we can decipher for you. The KC in your serial number indicates Kansas City assembly, in case you didn't know that already.

 

Here it is. Thanks for the assist.

 

Kansas City assembly plant
3 is code for Black
12L is Nov 12, '51
1419 is assembly line code for vehicle

I haven't been able to come up with anything on your model designation WBC

 

So, Tim, ponder this with me for a minute, please. I know it's been conventional wisdom that model year follows calendar year for our trucks, but I see an anomaly here I'd like you to consider and give your opinion on.

88chicken's truck has the early glovebox plate that, according to the catalog, was superceded by the new style in September, '51. Going back through the list we have and looking at KC trucks, it appears they built about 18-20,000 a month, give or take a few, throughout 1950, and for the sake of argument, lets assume that continues forward. According to the catalog on the 1951/2 data plate decoder, the consecutive unit numbers started at 10,001. The tag in question here shows a unit number of 18149, which would mean the 8149th truck built at KC, and a date code of 12L (November). The latest date code we have listed for 1950 at KC is 12K (October). All of this leads me to believe that 1951 model year production may have started somewhere near November 1, 1950, at KC, and this truck may one of the earliest '51's built, November 12, 1950? Thoughts? For the newly facelifted trucks for '51 to be in showrooms by the first of the year, it stands to reason they'd get a head start on production.

 

Hi Wayne, I noticed that and you could be correct. But there are some problems with all these explanations, for instance:

In the 49/50 data it's always been a puzzle to me how serial numbers for '49 run from 150,000 to approx 300,000 for a yearly total of 150,000 which is consistent with the 1948 production numbers.
But then 1950 numbers run from 300,000 to just over 500,000 units. A 30% increase in production at the same time they're ramping up for the new model with all new sheetmetal.....That's huge especially if 1951 models came out early.... I'm not sure what to think. (I'm using VERY rough numbers to make the point)

Also what do you make of the low serial number strings for 51/52? I don't think any of these truck have a serial number much over 35000. Did each plant run the same numbers? SP 10-35,000, ATL 10-35,000, KC 10-35,000? Differentiated only by the assembly plant? I haven't studied 51/52 stuff enough to have a handle on it.

Give it a spin and and let me know what you sort out

 

Hi Tim,
To answer your second question first, yes, that's exactly how it was done. The addition of the identification of the assembly plant as part of the serial number allowed use of the same unit numbers for the "vin" with the difference being the assembly plant. That's how it's still done today.

I believe that's how it was done earlier as well, to some extent, with the branch code listed on the firewall tag and production code stamped on the firewall. We see a lot of the same numbers being used across the board from all the plants, it just wasn't identified as such in the serial number itself. I fear much of the true information is lost to time, like why is there such a disparity in '50 numbers compared to other years, and we're left to speculate based on observation and anecdotal research, much as we've been dong for the last 20+ years. Best guesses; numbers were skipped for some reason, other vehicles besides trucks were tucked into the serial strings as consecutive units if cars were built along side trucks at certain plants, government contract units were built that weren't released to the public, adding numbers to the serial strings but not counted as regular production in released production reports, etc. Take your pick.

My experience is much of what you find in books written by "experts" is incorrect. But I would love to find some accurate published works outlining actual production numbers by plant and model/series. It would help a lot to make better sense of what we do know.

 

As Rod Stewart sings it, "every picture tells a story"

My '51 F1 with 226 6 cylinder has matching plates in glove box and firewall, and frame rail # is consistent as F1H110925. I've had no problems licensing.
Here's where you guys come in. My cowl is stamped as follows:
MSP27M 8003 909
Afraid to strip/brass brush much deeper. The first "M" is questionable. The rest, and spacing is pretty legible.
Saint Paul production plant makes sense, as I purchased in Northwest Nebraska. But I'd love to know the production date and original color.
Anyone care to take a stab at it? Many thanks!

 

Sure, Dave. M is the code for Meadow Green. The SP as you surmised is St. Paul assembly. 27M is your assembly date, and with the unit number of 10925, I would say that is a really early 51, born on December 27, 1950. Unit numbers started at 10001, so yours is the 925th 51 Ford truck (inclusive of all series) to be scheduled for assembly at the St. Paul plant. The other thing that says it is an early truck is that in September, '51, Ford stopped using that style glovebox tag and eliminated the firewall stamp and patent plate. The rest is internal coding with no other known association with the truck.