Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Late V8 (1954+)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-09-2020, 11:25 PM   #1
delco1946
Senior Member
 
delco1946's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Gladstone, OR
Posts: 170
Default Finding original options / paperwork

I bought my car 3 years ago with very little In the way of history, stories or paperwork unfortunately. I’d like to know more about it. It’s loaded with options and I’d love to know what actually was on my car from the factory. I don’t think things like power windows, power seats, power brakes, power steering, spotlights, Etc. show up on the vin. Has anyone found a way to get the original paperwork from the Ford motor company or something along those lines?
delco1946 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2020, 12:10 AM   #2
packrat5
BANNED
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 301
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Pay the fee, and try to get a Marti report.
packrat5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 07-10-2020, 08:40 AM   #3
bobss396
Senior Member
 
bobss396's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 721
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

How far back does a Marti report go?
bobss396 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2020, 09:03 AM   #4
5851a
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: NE Iowa
Posts: 1,661
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

1967 I believe. Something about a fire destroyed earlier if I'm thinking right. I also believe there are some of the baby bird records.
5851a is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2020, 09:09 AM   #5
delco1946
Senior Member
 
delco1946's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Gladstone, OR
Posts: 170
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

My car is a 55 crown victoria so it sounds like that’s not an option then? I’ve never heard of a Marti report, I’ll google it for fun regardless.
delco1946 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2020, 09:11 AM   #6
delco1946
Senior Member
 
delco1946's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Gladstone, OR
Posts: 170
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Yea it’s only 67 and newer with some 62 to 66 thunderbirds. Any other options?
delco1946 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2020, 10:38 AM   #7
dmsfrr
Senior Member
 
dmsfrr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Abq, NM
Posts: 3,598
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Quote:
Originally Posted by 5851a View Post
1967 I believe. Something about a fire destroyed earlier if I'm thinking right. I also believe there are some of the baby bird records.
CTCI has the surviving Baby Bird invoices...
https://www.ctci.org/invoice-sales/

Quote:
Originally Posted by delco1946 View Post
My car is a 55 crown victoria so it sounds like that’s not an option then? I’ve never heard of a Marti report, I’ll google it for fun regardless.
...
Yea it’s only 67 and newer with some 62 to 66 thunderbirds. Any other options?
There is a Crown Victoria Association that could be helpful, at this link...
https://www.thecvaonline.com/

CVA data plate info, a pdf document...
https://thecvaonline.com/howtos/Data...IYsdK0Qw0Ej9fc
dmsfrr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2020, 12:45 PM   #8
dmsfrr
Senior Member
 
dmsfrr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Abq, NM
Posts: 3,598
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

In addition to a fire,
Ford wasn't in the habit of keeping warehouses full of old paperwork, it was routinely tossed after 10 years.
Saving gate releases / invoices for research & documenting purposes by car enthusiasts didn't become a thing until the mid to late 60's

http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird...57eminger.html


.

Last edited by dmsfrr; 07-10-2020 at 12:59 PM.
dmsfrr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2020, 10:44 AM   #9
Ole Don
Senior Member
 
Ole Don's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: St. Michael, Minnesota
Posts: 1,713
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

In those days, each subassembly, (body, chassis, engine), came down the line with a teletype page stuck on with masking tape. The teletype had boxes filled in with options. If you can find the broadcast sheet under a seat, or anywhere else on or in the vehicle, save it. That may be the only documentation available. Today this is done on hanging TV screens.
Ole Don is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2020, 09:26 PM   #10
dmsfrr
Senior Member
 
dmsfrr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Abq, NM
Posts: 3,598
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ole Don View Post
... If you can find the broadcast sheet under a seat, or anywhere else on or in the vehicle, save it. That may be the only documentation available. ...
They can sometimes be found inside the seats or seat cushions. Maybe under the back seat or carpet???
dmsfrr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2020, 11:37 AM   #11
Herman Munster
Senior Member
 
Herman Munster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SW WA state.
Posts: 564
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

I found a partial sheet that looks like it was glued on the inside of my spare tire rim. The wheel and tire are still original and has not seen much use.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_0492a.jpg (28.0 KB, 50 views)
__________________
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 292 V8 with Ford-o-Matic
Herman Munster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2020, 07:37 PM   #12
alt63bird
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: outside Omaha, NE
Posts: 276
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Quote:
Originally Posted by Herman Munster View Post
I found a partial sheet that looks like it was glued on the inside of my spare tire rim. The wheel and tire are still original and has not seen much use.
Wow - that's the first one I've seen from a full size 56. And I've been collecting broadcast/ROT sheets from 57-up Tbirds for almost 40 years.
__________________
Alan H. Tast AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Technical Director/Past President-Editor-Publications Director, Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l. (VTCI)
http://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
35+ year member, Crown Victoria Ass'n.
alt63bird is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2020, 12:00 PM   #13
Herman Munster
Senior Member
 
Herman Munster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SW WA state.
Posts: 564
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

I wish there was more of the sheet left. My car is mostly original and unmolested with less than 31K miles.
__________________
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 292 V8 with Ford-o-Matic
Herman Munster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2020, 02:35 PM   #14
Old Redneck
Senior Member
 
Old Redneck's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Waynesburg,Pa.
Posts: 1,907
Send a message via AIM to Old Redneck Send a message via Yahoo to Old Redneck
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

My 56 T-Bird was a so called Fram-off but by amateurs I have found. Before I got it .It sat in a garage for 27 years covered up, tires flat, power steering dry. I got a pile of bills that was spent on the T-Bird. Now I an piling up a pile of bills on the T-Bird also. I hope by next summer I will have a nice T-Bird. The motor seams very strong and does not smoke. Carb needs rebuilt will do later this fall. My car was sold new in Richmond, Va. March car, Detroit Factory.No power steering, 292 engine That all I have found so far. The person My Brother-in Law got the T-Bird from ended up in prison for cheating people. He was a Ford Dealer not to far from me in West Virginia.
Old Redneck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2020, 01:03 PM   #15
1942deluxe
Senior Member
 
1942deluxe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Albion, PA
Posts: 705
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Last name Dills? If so that was the end of a longtime family dealership.
1942deluxe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2021, 06:18 AM   #16
pabob2021
Junior Member
 
pabob2021's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Eyers Grove PA
Posts: 15
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Found build sheet under drivers seat and tags behind headlight
Attached Images
File Type: jpg P3210074 (3).JPG (37.0 KB, 20 views)
File Type: jpg P3210075 (3).JPG (37.0 KB, 21 views)
__________________
Bob Keefer
Eyers Grove
PA

Last edited by pabob2021; 03-21-2021 at 06:30 AM.
pabob2021 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2021, 05:13 PM   #17
5851a
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: NE Iowa
Posts: 1,661
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Nice find, have found several taped on back side of drivers door panel and most under seat in cushion above springs. Have heard on top of gas tank also. I'm talking about 60's and 70's. Anything from 50's would be fantastic.
5851a is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-23-2021, 01:36 AM   #18
Lamar Wadsworth
Senior Member
 
Lamar Wadsworth's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 312
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork

Another thing to consider is that not all optional equipment was installed at the factory. Basically the older the model, the more likely that any options were dealer-installed. Any dealer-installed options would not be noted on factory paperwork. By the mid-50s most options were factory installed. Something like backup lights on a mid-'50s Ford, or a radio in a truck, outside mirrors, etc. was often dealer installed. Prior to WWII, most options were dealer installed.
Lamar Wadsworth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-23-2021, 10:09 PM   #19
mercman from oz
Senior Member
 
mercman from oz's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 10,289
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork


If you can locate a copy of this 1955 Ford Accessory Brochure, it will tell you what Options were available for your 1955 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria, however, it will not tell you what Accessories came with your car from the Factory.
mercman from oz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-23-2021, 10:13 PM   #20
mercman from oz
Senior Member
 
mercman from oz's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 10,289
Default Re: Finding original options / paperwork


The page from the original Sales Brochure showing the 1955 Ford Crown Victoria. These are great looking old Fords.
mercman from oz is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:56 PM.