Re: Utica Engine Number Prefixes

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2013/2/7 14:57:56

I should look this up, but did 55-56 use the I in the 1st position, or what has been the the 1st position number/letter

First, the "I' is just the number 1, albeit in a different style. Body dash numbers began in 1929, perhaps with 000001 or maybe 000011, the lowest we know of it 000051. Then they just progressed in numberical order until they reached 999999 in 1950 or early 1951. Then, rather than add a 7th digit they went to a letter prefix, starting at A00001 thru A99999, then B00001 thru B99999, etc. With the exception of a couple of 55 cars with either no number or a number taken from the 1936 range (22XXXX), all the 55/56 cars began with either a "C" or a "D". The "C" series actually began towards the end of 1954 production.

The cars with a "1" (or "I" if you insist) in the first position would be those made after 099999 and before 200000; this corresponds roughly to 1930 thru 1935.

None of this has anything to do with Utica Engine Numbers, we probably should have split this off a long time ago.