So I came across a post on here about the relationship between thief-proof numbers, engine numbers, Briggs numbers, and patent plate numbers that sparked my interest. I believe someone named Owen was collecting data for a database and it inspired me to take a look at all these numbers on my 41’ Clipper. What I found seemed a little “off” to me in respect to production volume and elapsed time. Hopefully someone here can help me interpret what I’m seeing about my car.
The patent plate is stamped with 1401-18144 and nothing else, it appears to possibly be original or an older repro since it is on steel and some of the silk screening is still visible. The Briggs plate also has this exact number and is original looking. The title to the car is from Pennsylvania and shows this same number as the VIN with an original title date of 6/15/41. The engine number is D416239C and fits nicely with the late build of VIN, so I believe it to be original. What I find to be “off” is that from what I can see 41’ Clipper production or sales began in April of that year and my car was titled in June. So given the time-frame and sequence number means that Packard would have built 269 cars per day, seems like a lot. The thief-proof number on the car is 618286, just incase this helps.