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From time to time there are questions about the large embosssed numbers which at various times Packard called Body Serial Numbers, Body Dash Numbers, and Thief-Proof numbers. I've been keeping a small database of these for some years and assuming there is some interest, I'll just give you a bit of what I know and/or have concluded over the years. Just to save excess typing, I'll call them BDN's for Body Dash Numbers.

I believe the practice of using BDNs started with the 6th series. They have always been six digits or an alpha character (A thru D) followed by 5 digits. I'm not really certain if they started at 000001 or 000010 or 000100 but the earliest BDN I'm aware of is 000126. They just continued to number sequentially as the years progressed. For all years except for some of the junior bodies in 1936 and perhaps 1935 the numbers were enclosed by triangles at each end like bookends; lacking that character on the keyboard we usually record them as <123456>. At some point in the 18th series, in the 500,000 range, they were not embossed onto the cowls, though the two triangles were still present. I have no proof of this but have always thought it might have been related to the impending transfer of the dies from Packard to Briggs.

When they reached 999999 they substituted "A" for the first digit, followed by 5 integers. This occurred during the 23rd series (1950 production). By the time production ended in 1956 the prefix was "D" and I believe the change from "C" to "D" may have occurred very late in 1955 production, though some data from you guys that own 1955 models would be helpful for me to fill in that gap. Also the very earliest numbers with the prefix "A' would help me fill that in as well. What I'd like of course is the VN number, the BDN of course, and where it has one, the Briggs body number. But please, not data from cars without their original factory Patent Plate (VN plate).

Another 47 number for your collection. Delivered 6/9/47
SN: 2122-6309 Motor: F516850
BDN: <726588> Briggs (or second body): 2122-5862

55 clipper constellation

it is either a D or a 0, but it is 028525 or D28525, but it is an early 55 car....most of the interior said around Feb. 55

my cars VIN is in my tag at the bottom

Hank

Thanks for the data guys. HH56, I only have 2 1947 seniors in the database and the other has a Briggs # just a single number higher than yours, yet the BDN is 16,000 lower! I've thus far have attributed it to the chaos of restarting production after the war, and of course it's possible that some of the bodies might well be left over from 1946, and remotely possible from 1942. When you get into the 48-50 run, it's a bit unusual to find a Briggs # that matches the VN sequence number, but they rarely differ by more than 20 or so which no doubt is related to how the bodies were shipped in small batches to the assembly line and how they were stored and retrieved for use. But the 1947 and I assume the 1946 numbers are really as random as could be.

Cli55er, please take another VERY close look at that first letter, you BDN puts you square in the last third of 1956 production.

16,000 is a lot of bodies to have stored somewhere, and tin can scrap drives makes me think the govt wouldn't allow many through the war. Looking at the way the 47 body is constructed, it appears the firewall is a mildly bent but otherwise flat piece of metal that is spot welded to the actual body. With the ongoing conversion back to car production, I could easily see stamping several thousand firewalls, stack them up in several piles, change the press to make something else and then start welding things up. If they used the last in, first out storing method, then depending on which pile was delivered to the welding dept, numbers would be all over the place and could account for several thousand off. When things were welded together, that's when the Briggs number assigned. A few hundred stored bodies, I could see.

it is deffinitly either 0 or D and then 28525 i will take a picture and post it for you. the closer i look the more it looks like a 0 more than a D.

the car is a 55 and an early one at that as indicated by the dates on the interior pieces and the VIN code....number 1948 out of 6000 constellations that year.

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I hope I didn't imply they stored 16,000 bodies, of course improbable beyond belief. The discrepancy is just another bit of a mystery among so many others about Packard that we'll probably never know the real answers to. Your assumption that the numbers were stamped as the cowl was stamped before assembly into a body shell is almost a certainty I'd say.

I'm told there are some small fragments of Packards records remaining in private hands that correlate bits and pieces of VN with BPNs; I believe these were called Packard Vehicle Unit Production Records. Hopefully someday these will find their way to one of the Packard museums and some historian can evaluate them. I understand there are some folks within PAC who have been working on this data for some years. Depending on what eras the surviving data might cover, it could prove unpleasant to those who have bought cars like Twelve convertible coupes and victorias only to find our their cars were originally Eights and perhaps Super Eights, and even closed cars. God knows, there are plenty of those bogus cars around which have changed hands for bigtime $. Enough to make you wonder everytime you see a big dollar Packard classic with a repro patent plate.

Hank, your picture isn't as clear as one would hope, but it sure looks like a "D" to me as well. FYI, the lowest BDN I know of for a 1956 car is D11812, a 1956 Patrician #137. The latest I know of is D33933, a 1956 Caribbean convertible, and I have data on perhaps 50 1956 cars all falling in between those.

Guess we'll have to get data for more 1955 cars (yours is the only 1955 data point I have) and see what emerges. Right now it's another little mystery. Ah, the joys of collecting and analyzing data.

do these help?? the more i look, the more it looks closer to a 0

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Looks like a D to me too. Just wonder with the transition to Connor and new bodies, they did the same thing--stamp several thousand for 55, early cars got the later numbers because that batch in front and then finally got their act in order, and started doing things more in sequence as the 55 confusion abated..Like you said, another of life's mysteries. Another of those times it sure would have been nice if someone who was there had shared his memories.