Opps!
It was just pointed out to me that because vin#'s might be close does not mean they were on the assembly line in that order. There are apparently threads on here that talk about that.
I am sorry for any confusion and my stupidity on this subject. I assume then that only the Marti report would be able to show how close two vin#'s are based on when they were "bucked" and when they were actually built.
Thank you Boss 1 Ray for pointing this out to me!
No prob but I'd like to say one more thing - confused OK but never stupidity! You're learning just like I am.
It is amazing to think of all the stuff I THOUGHT I knew about these cars. And then to think what I have learned from members of this site!!!
There are probably some things about your 429 car you know that I don't!
Thanks to all who have ever posted to help others learn about these cars :exclamation:
Ray
I got this related info straight from Marti's website
http://www.martiauto.com/faqfocus.cfm?qid=104
Serial Numbers: Ford serial numbers start with 100001. Lincoln and Mercury serial numbers start with 500001, 600001, or 800001 depending on make and year. For this reason, if you have, for example, a Mustang with serial number 100106, our report will list it as the 106th car scheduled for production.
Order Received (Order Date) This is the date an order was received by the Ford General Office from a dealer (or by a department within Ford if it was a company vehicle).
Car serialized (Serialized Date) This is the date the General Office assigned the plant that would assemble the vehicle and gave a consecutive unit number to the vehicle.
Bucked (Buck Date) This is the date the first piece of sheet metal was welded to another piece of sheet metal to begin forming the buck (if you imagine unbolting everything possible from your vehicle, that which remains is the buck. Generally, on this date, the entire body is produced, appropriate holes are punched, and the body is primed and painted. See
http://www.martiauto.com/faqfocus.cfm?qid=56 for more info.
Scheduled for Build (Scheduled Date) At the time the General Office assigned the plant that would assemble the vehicle, it also projects a best estimate date that the vehicle would be constructed.
Actually Built (Build Date) Due to the fact events generally don’t go as planned, the Scheduled Date was not necessarily the actual date of manufacture. The actual build date is the date the vehicle begins to be assembled on the Trim and Chassis line. Generally, the vehicle is completed on this date.
Released (Release Date) This is the date the assembly plant released the vehicle to either a Convoy (trucking) company or Rail (road) company for delivery to the dealer.
Sold (Sold Date) This is the date the first retail customer purchased the vehicle or the date the vehicle was paid for by one department at Ford to the Marketing Department if it was a car sold within Ford.
About dates: Dates are manually input into the Ford database by Ford employees. We have no control over those dates. Generally, the dates form a logical pattern, but occasionally an obvious discrepancy occurs. For example, a vehicle may show a production date of January 2, 1968, but a release date of December 29, 1967. Logically, the vehicle could not have been released before it was manufactured. In a case like this, it could be simply someone having mistyped one of the dates. Another possibility, especially in the 60s and early 70s, is that someone at Ford wanted to make their month or year end report look better so they entered into the system that the vehicle was released even though it wasn’t. Obviously, we have no way of knowing what the correct date would be.
Some dates may appear to be mistypes. There are certain vehicles that, for example, have a scheduled build date like 65H, corresponding to August 65th. This is not an error. Rather, it was a system employed within Ford to keep track of certain types of vehicles, typically at the beginning of a model year. We have no further information about what the purpose of that tracking was.
On rare occasions, the month of manufacture listed on your report will be either one month earlier or one month later than the month listed on your VCL (vehicle certification label). This actually occurs when the department at Ford that produced the VCLs was either running ahead or behind schedule with the production of the VCLs. Because Ford Motor Company consisted of many large departments, it was not always possible for them to keep those departments in sync. Although technically the month of manufacture listed on the Marti Report is accurate and the label that is actually on your car is off one month and Ford considered the label "close enough" for government certification, we are allowed to reproduce the report and override the month of manufacture on the report to match your vehicle. Just return the report with picture proof of your original VCL. Keep in mind, the date listed for manufacture on the Marti Report is the true date of manufacture and you should use it when making restoration decisions.
Occasionally, one or more of the fields in the "IMPORTANT DATES" box is/are blank. This is because Ford did not record that info and we have no further information.
Order Type Ford Motor Company builds vehicles for different purposes and different customers. In fact, there are over twenty different classifications of order types. Some of the more common are:
Retail – an individual comes to a dealership and orders an as yet unbuilt vehicle
Stock – a dealer orders a vehicle to have available for display at his/her location
Basic – Ford has excess capacity on an assembly line and produces vehicles to keep the plant busy
Fleet – a company that orders five or more vehicles yearly qualifies for price breaks on these vehicles
Special Purpose Vehicle – a vehicle built by Ford for what the name implies
Introductory Show Unit – a vehicle built to demonstrate a new model. Generally this vehicle is shipped to be on display at some large public gathering
A-Plan – vehicles built for current Ford employees and sold at a discounted price
Z-Plan – vehicles built for retired Ford employees and sold at a discounted price
Lease – vehicles leased by Ford to an individual or a company
Ray