Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I have just purchased a 1939 Packard 2 door Touring Sedan that is missing the original VIN tag. All the previous owner had was a title from 1951 with a car serial number of 13388567. Is this number usefull or am I basically out of luck on original details on the car.

There were no 13th series packards but the 1940 packards used a body number of 13##.

Titling to the body number happens every once in a while but but there is no body number 1338.

Maybe it was supposed to be 1398, for a 2 door business coupe? Please post a picture and we can help you out better.

and

I wont be back to my shop until this weekend. The car is a 2 door that looks like this one. It doesnt have any lights, interior or drivetrain and its not sitting on the original frame.

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Along with a front end photo, any of the other numbers shown on this diagram that you might find could also help. As to the body number you have, a 39 would be 12xx-xxxx while 40s would be 13xx-xxxx.

An unlikely occurrence but others have found discrepancies with their cars paperwork that would indicate sometimes DMVs made mistakes in the year listed on registrations. For example, if the car was actually a new 40 model sold right after the Sept or October introduction but in the 39 calendar year some DMV person could have improperly or even purposely registered it as a 39. If the motor is gone that is too bad because if original it would also indicate a year.

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