Shelby AUTOMOTIVE / Ford MFG license Plates

[Richstang]

Yes it did...does. Good Catch.

[Richstang]

Here's a 69 GT500 road test from Sports Car Graphic February 1969
This one has a '17M-216' Plate. Lot of manufacturers in MI...

[68blk500c]

Yes it did...does. Good Catch.

Sorry guys, but THAT photo is NOT the black prototype convertible 9F03Q102336.  During the prototype project research, the team determined that particular photo is the production MAROON car #9F03M480001 which was used for West Coast Marketing & PR purposes while assigned to Ray Geddes.

Don

[Richstang]

Yes it did...does. Good Catch.

Sorry guys, but THAT photo is NOT the black prototype convertible 9F03Q102336.  During the prototype project research, the team determined that particular photo is the production MAROON car #9F03M480001 which was used for West Coast Marketing & PR purposes while assigned to Ray Geddes.

Don

Thanks Don, that's what Bob was saying (it was not the Black prototype convertible).

Thanks for identifying it as the Maroon convertible.
If assigned to Geddes, do you know who registered the car with that MFG license pate?

[98SVT - was 06GT]

If assigned to Geddes, do you know who registered the car with that MFG license pate?

That's a problem with MFG and DLR plates. They are registered to companies not specific vehicles. They can be swapped at will between any car they have. There is no known paperwork trail so pinning down which car is in a photo is a crap shoot.
Here in CA it was common for dealers to have a couple rubber straps attached to the top of their plates. When a salesman wanted to demo a car he grabbed a plate, popped the trunk then slammed it shut catching the straps, presto instant legality for the test drive or lunch.

[Richstang]

If assigned to Geddes, do you know who registered the car with that MFG license pate?

That's a problem with MFG and DLR plates. They are registered to companies not specific vehicles. They can be swapped at will between any car they have. There is no known paperwork trail so pinning down which car is in a photo is a crap shoot.
Here in CA it was common for dealers to have a couple rubber straps attached to the top of their plates. When a salesman wanted to demo a car he grabbed a plate, popped the trunk then slammed it shut catching the straps, presto instant legality for the test drive or lunch.

I was just curious which company the plate was registered to?

Poor Ron mentions numerous MFG plates were issued in Michigan to various auto suppliers and auto manufactures.
I was assuming '14M' was Ford (just like '013' to Shelby American in CA)
If so, then does anyone know who had '10M, 14M or 17M'?
Or was it just the 'M' for manufactures in Michigan with random numbers issued to all the MFG's.

[shelbydoug]

There were some notes from Shelby Automotive that refereed to the engineering cars by license plate number.

Those papers were given to the 68 Registrar. At the time, since there were no references to the cars serial numbers, they really didn't help answer any questions.

[68blk500c]

Yes it did...does. Good Catch.

Sorry guys, but THAT photo is NOT the black prototype convertible 9F03Q102336.  During the prototype project research, the team determined that particular photo is the production MAROON car #9F03M480001 which was used for West Coast Marketing & PR purposes while assigned to Ray Geddes.

Don

Thanks Don, that's what Bob was saying (it was not the Black prototype convertible).

Thanks for identifying it as the Maroon convertible.
If assigned to Geddes, do you know who registered the car with that MFG license pate?

The various dated SA inventory sheets that are in possession of the registrar include (sometimes) the mfg. license plate, along with the car's identity.  They were usually assigned to either Engineering or Marketing, functionally.  They also may list which SA employee had which car assigned to them, at that point in time (Geddes for example).  Assignments did change.  Vehicles moved around the country (and overseas) for marketing/publicity purposes.

It is presumed that this was part of a larger accounting/administrative process to track the actual vehicles for internal use and costing purposes. No, I don't know who, or which department was responsible for assigning or registering steps.  We noticed a few notations/memos that alluded to insurance tracking, also.




 

[shelbydoug]

Yes it did...does. Good Catch.

Sorry guys, but THAT photo is NOT the black prototype convertible 9F03Q102336.  During the prototype project research, the team determined that particular photo is the production MAROON car #9F03M480001 which was used for West Coast Marketing & PR purposes while assigned to Ray Geddes.

Don

Thanks Don, that's what Bob was saying (it was not the Black prototype convertible).

Thanks for identifying it as the Maroon convertible.
If assigned to Geddes, do you know who registered the car with that MFG license pate?

The various dated SA inventory sheets that are in possession of the registrar include (sometimes) the mfg. license plate, along with the car's identity.  They were usually assigned to either Engineering or Marketing, functionally.  They also may list which SA employee had which car assigned to them, at that point in time (Geddes for example).  Assignments did change.  Vehicles moved around the country (and overseas) for marketing/publicity purposes.

It is presumed that this was part of a larger accounting/administrative process to track the actual vehicles for internal use and costing purposes. No, I don't know who, or which department was responsible for assigning or registering steps.  We noticed a few notations/memos that alluded to insurance tracking, also.

I ONLY had sheets pertaining to the 68 models. As I recall, they identified the car ONLY by the license plate number and the person to whom it was assigned.

On those sheets, there was no reference to either the Ford VIN or the Shelby consecutive unit number.

As I was the then 68 Registrar, those sheets were given to me by Kopec having come out of the hoard that was given to him and Howard from the Ford Archives.


The sheets for the 69's may have contained more specific information but I never saw them unless one inadvertently wound up in my pile. If it did, I forwarded it to Vinny.

For '68s, I don't recall any of them for Registry purposes being of any significance. IF at some point a cross reference to a -0xxxx unit number was discovered, it was noted in the footnotes at the time.

Assuming on your part that these sheets were consistent from model year to model year is an incorrect presumption. It does no harm to presume it, but it is just not an accurate statement.


It WAS realized that the numbers being referenced to, as the people they were assigned to, were Manufacturers license plates and the personnel likely SA employees but the significance of that data at the time was not determined at that point.

[68blk500c]

The sheets I've been fortunate to view spanned SA 68 and 69 model year information. You are familiar, so being able to tie plates to specific cars is sporadic. 

[shelbydoug]

The sheets I've been fortunate to view spanned SA 68 and 69 model year information. You are familiar, so being able to tie plates to specific cars is sporadic.

Correct and it is the exception rather then the rule.

We had so much paperwork that some of the significance of it flashed right on by.

We were forbidden to look at other Registrars information and in some cases like with the engineering cars always being six months to a year behind the actual production, we just didn't see the correlation sometimes.

Some information continues to surface like the correlation of the order sheets and DSO/build sheets (some call them delete sheets now) on the '67s.

[67st102]

Check out the Manufacturer Plate that I purchased at an indoor swap meet last weekend in Kalamazoo, MI.

What are the odds of finding this plate?
And then the odds of connecting the dots ......??

Fun stuff - You just never know. 


Lowell

[CSX4781]

WOW, the proverbial needle in a haystack,  great score!

Dave

[Bob Gaines]

I would say go and buy a powerball ticket but then again you probably used up all of your extra luck finding that gem.

[Side-Oilers]

That is so cool!  Car and license plate, back together again.