Help in ID my car

[2brite]

I looked up my ID plate,it says my FC 225 is the 665th
in any body style made in Adelaide,i know i have a EK grey in it,thats how i bought it,so my Question is can some one help me in telling me the month of manufacture ,any help appreciated
also it was the 14,846 sedan assembled


Regards 2brite

[2brite]

Ohh and one other thing,my car was painted in mid 1959
and manufactured in 1958,why did it take so long to paint :-/ :-/

[RET]

Ken the Guru can probably give you a more complete answer to your first question than me, but....

The year of manufacture is calculated from the chassis number.  From what you've written, yours must be 8-1665-?  The leading 8 represents 1958.

FCs were painted in three different colour combinations, as you can read about here.  In Adelaide, the first car painted with the last of these (known as Mid-1959 style) was body number FC-225-14197-A, which means your car was one of the earliest in this pattern.  (Front, roof and boot all one colour, second colour only on window-frames and top of rear quarters, separated by an extension of the fin back to the "C" pillar.)

So if I have your numbers right, my gut feeling is that the front subframe on your car isn't original.  I've seen your photos, so I know the car has been repainted.  When you bought it did it still have the original paint?

cheers
RET

[2brite]

hmmm,i think my sub frame looked pretty original,it was really run down and rusted,i done a  6 year full ground up resto and it didnt seem to be in a smash to require another subframe.When i bought the car in 1987 the ext colour was white,the engine bay was black/grey,
yes it's 8-1665-A.
And it did have a hole in the body to take the chrome extension behind the rubber seal in the rear doors.
Im still lost is it a 58 or 59,should i believe the chassis number or ID plate

[RET]

If the car was all white originally, then the trim number would presumably be 173-xxx, since that's the code for India Ivory (single-tone).  Is that what your car has?  For that matter does the body plate have the word "INSERT" on it?  Can you post the trim and paint numbers for me?

Given that the body number says it's mid-59 style, and it had the holes for the fin extensions, I'd be presuming that it is a '59 car, and either May or June 1959. And if that's the case, your chassis number should look like FC-xxxxx-A, not 8-xxxx-A.

I don't think it belongs to your car.

cheers
RET

[2brite]

  Sorry for the confusion but my car wasn't originally white,thats the colour it just happened to be when i bought it,here is whats on my ID and also my chassis number
BODY      FC 225  14846 A
TRIM       274-633
PAINT     256-2100
INSERT   253-5775
TOP        256-2100

CHASSIS   81665 A

[mike]

Hi 2brite,
just looking at your id plate number and comparing it to my march 59 fc, mine is fc 225-12475-a
so i would imagine that yours would have to be a later model also mine has the late 58 paint style and yours sounds like it might have had the mid 59 paint style, so at a guess i would think the subframe may have been changed.

regards mike.

[mcl1959]

2 brite, my records indicate that your chassis has been changed and belongs to a much earlier (1958 model) car.
Your cars ID plate is most likely correct since the subframe was probably changed due to an accident many years ago.
Anyway if we assume the ID plate is correct this would date your car as about 20/7/1959 which would make it a middle model FC but sitting right on the edge of changing to the 3rd model.

Hope this helps

Ken

[2brite]

Thanks alot guy's for all your help :RET,mike ,Ken

Ken, {Guru} given the date 20/7/1959 which way would you lean to in model choice,ie
middle or 3rd model.Was there an accurate change over date?

Regards 2brite

[RET]

2brite,

The mid-59 scheme (the last one, with just the insert in the second colour) was introduced in SA in May 1959.

The details can be found here

Of course, Ken the Guru probably has an exact date of changeover, and a copy of the memo to the factory staff

RET

[peter_crosara]

Hi i own a restored FC panelvan. I inherited the car several years ago from my grandfather who  bought the car  brand new, the problem i have is the first rego date for this car  is the 15th  of december  1957 now we all know that the fc model  was not produced until may of 1958  what i would like to know is how the hell my car was registered before it was built.  My grand father  and everyone else in the family say that the car was bought cheap because it was a demo but still how could this be when the car was not even  built yet. I have heard of pre production models being made , is this true or just rubbish also my grandfather says the car had 20 thousand miles on it when he bought it. The car also has full chrome sriping on the guards [ FC SPECIAL] that all in the family say were always on it could you spread some light on this for me, thanks

[gree]

hi guys,

just to jump on the bandwagon, i also researched my car's details using that great program, and got the following data, but i also don't have a grey motor, so i couldn't get a production date. if you wouldn't mind ken, would it be possible to find out the date of manufacture of my car too? thanks very much appreciate any help.

ID:        FC-225-25855-S
TRIM:    254-629
PAINT:  253-7773
            253-5300
RPO:    
--------------------
Chassis No: 8-17688-S
Engine No: ??

--DETAILS-----------------------------------------

FC-225-25855-S:
 Vehicle is an FC Special Sedan, the 25,855th assembled in Sydney, NSW.

254-629
 The Exterior Trim Code (254) describes this car as Two-Tone: Wangarra Grey over Ascot Grey.
 The Interior Trim Code (629) refers to: Riff Red & Black.

253-7773
 The Primary (bonnet, guards) colour is Ascot Grey (in DUCO Lacquer)

253-5300
 The secondary colour is Wangarra Grey (in DUCO Lacquer)



8-17688-S
 The vehicle was manufactured during 1958, and was the
 16,688th FC (in any bodystyle) manufactured in Sydney, NSW.


bloody excellent little program by the way... hard to imagine my car was ever grey! (and grey on grey at that!)

[RET]

Simon,

Glad you like it.  I'm sure your car prefers being green to grey too!

Peter,

A mystery indeed.  Would you be able to post the details from the ID plate, the chassis number and engine number?  This would help enormously in getting to the bottom of it.

I've heard about Special-stripped vans before, and everyone I've ever seen has turned out to have the chrome from a station wagon fitted to it.  You can tell because of the break in the strips where a back door would be.  (You can't use sedan chrome because of the fuel-filler location).

I'd be very interested in seeing a pic of your car if you could send it to me or post it here.  See the buttons on the left for my email address.

cheers
RET

[peter crosara]

thanks for the reply ,when i said special stripes  i meant on the guards only  not the full ones the id plate reads       FC-2104 - 3461 - A              TRIM - 199653                   PAINT - 256 - 2033                    RPO - 333                      CHASSIS NUMBER - FC23320S             ENGINE - NUMBER - L - 516594      is this some help to you    [ HOPE SO]   is it possible the id tag might have been stamped wrong? thanks for your help.                  

[ACE]

  Hi Peter
    Looking at the engine and chassis number, my guess is that the car was first sold in December 1958.
Maybe the rego papers were typed wrong?
Regards ACE

[RET]

According to the information on this page, that engine was produced in November 1958.  However, your car has a 1959 style chassis number (starts with FC, not 6, 7 or 8).  I'm not exactly sure when that scheme was introduced, perhaps it was in Dec 58.  Ken might know more about it.

However, the numbers suggest very late 58 or very early 59.  Do you have any other papers (like third party insurance, or finance etc) that might have a different year to the registration, along the lines of Ace's theory?  I think it's far more likely that the rego papers were mistyped (and they were done by hand in those days), than any other explanation.

cheers
RET

[peter crosara]

Ace ,i have just got off the phone to my grandfather and he swears that it was registered  in 57.   Do you know of any supposed  pre-production  models being released.  Could you give me more info on the compliance numbers i gave you, i would be interested to know more about the car . my grandfather also said the engine is not the original [ I DID NOT KNOW THIS]he said it came out of a fc sedan.thanks    

[RET]

I've forwarded this thread to the Guru on this subject, Ken.  He has a far greater array of information at his disposal to give you chapter and verse on when this car would have been built.  He has collected a huge number of ID plate details, and can easily tell whether the ID plate and chassis match, and with a fair degree of certainty when a vehicle was made, with or without the original engine number.

I certainly don't wish to argue with your grandfather - he owned the car not me - but I can't see this car not being pre-production with that chassis number and ID plate.

cheers
RET

[peter_crosara]

thanks for all your help guys maybe my grandfathers memory  is not what  it used. Whatever the result i still love the old girl.

[ACE]

Hi Peter
Sounds like an interesting vehicle.
Going by the chassis number my guess is still December 58.
Colour of the car should be cambridge blue.
Interior trim  Peasant blue
RPO 333 Means it had a factory fitted window in the top tailgate.
Hope this helps.
Regards ACE