Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

I received all of the original documents with '51 club coupe when I go it thirty years ago. While looking at the owners manual, I found a note on the back page that says "got car July 2, 1951". This corresponds with the invoice I have for the car. This is obviously a late production car. The serial number ends in 137471. Does anybody have a higher number? Does anybody know when Ford usually shut down the production lines for the annual model year change? Another odd thing. When I got the car 30 years ago, it just needed a good cleanup. When I had the rear end apart to change the wheel bearings, I swear I counted teeth and the rear-end ratio was 3.55. When I look at the specs, it says 3.73 for standard transmission cars, 4.11 for overdrive cars, and 3.31 for Fordomatics. Am I delusional or was a 3.55 rear end available?

Attachment 333812

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

There are questions: How long did it sit at the assembly plant before it was shipped? Was it ordered by the dealer with the options he wanted and then sat on his lot until sold, or did the customer fill out the order, specifying what color and what options he wanted and then waited for it to be built? That took some time, maybe a month or two. If the car was an unpopular color or such, it may have sat awhile. I don't know if was a buyer's market or seller's market in mid-'51 but that would affect how long it sat on the dealer's lot, too. So your car could have been built earlier in the year.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

When I saw the car was delivered on July 2, 1951, I decided to try to find out how late it was. The way Ford assigned the sequential numbers (by plant) makes it almost impossible to find out when it was built. Ford started assigning sequential numbers at 100001 in each plant. This one being 137471 means that t was the 37471st Ford assembled at the Twin Cities (St. Paul) plant. Nowhere have I been able to find out how may 1951 model cars were assembled at the Twin City plant. I could probably pursue this further, but it started out as a casual inquiry and will probably end that way.

That being said, this car was ordered by the buyer from the local Ford Dealer in April 1951, so I don't think it sat and languished anywhere.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

i have always understood that only 3.73 and 4.11 axle ratios were available until ford-o-matics came out and the 52 & 53 has 3.54 had that for automatic equipped cars. no idea what the automatic was in 51... never heard of a 3.31 ratio...

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

When did Ford start putting build dates (or estimated build dates) on the data/VIN plate?

Does your data/VIN plate have a production code?

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

A guy on the H.A.M.B. posted this. Since it's drawing, it could be anything, but it does say 3.31 for Fordomatics. Kinda hard to see, though.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

On the trucks, they stamped the cowl with assembly line data, including date, color, plant, and some other data. Different plants were less than rigorous about it, tho, and it seems like they all outright quit in '51.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

My '51 convertible is B1EG168259 which is the 68,259 build at Edgewater, New Jersey.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

Does your car have a cowl code as the '50s do? This should verify when the car was made.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

Rear end could have been changed. I took apart a 50 overdrive car which should have had 4.11 gears but it had 3.78. May have been changed or could have come that way.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

Well, I can forget about this. I talked to a friend who started working at the Twin City plant in 1961 and said when he started there, the model year changeover occurred in September, so I miss by at least two months.

Re: Who's got the newest "shoebox" Ford?
 

The '51 convertible built in Edgewater, NJ does not have any cowl codes, but does have a production code in the data plate of 13 M, which is December 13th, and was the 226th vehicle built that day.