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1968 Door tag date code miss stamp?

HCS@CT

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Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
78
Location
Shelton, Ct.
I've got a 68 HCS I'm selling and was asked about discrepancy between the door tag and the Marti report. The Marti report shows a schedule bill date of July 30, 1968 so a code of 30U. The car was Bill 12 days early on July 18, 1968. The door tag shows a build date code of 8K. But that would have been built October 8, 1967. Could it be a Ford goof? Has anyone ever seen this before? I'd love to hear. Rand
 

dalorzo_f

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Jan 7, 2006
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1,886
Location
Brisbane Australia
And as door tags have been available repro, that look pretty much exactly like the originals, would ask if all the other numbers on the tag and all Body VIN's line up with the Marti.
 

CougarCJ

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Jul 17, 2006
Messages
2,186
Double check your door tag, for two reasons:
1. There were zero 1968 Mustangs with a 'K' month build date, due to the UAW strike.
2. All date codes on door tags are 2 numbers and 1 letter. Mine is 05B.
 
OP
OP
H

HCS@CT

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
78
Location
Shelton, Ct.
All other numbers match up but that one date code. I've been checking back thru the past owners of the car to see if there was ever any damage to her. It's been a lot of fun talking with them and hearing what they remember of the little red Stang. Even Mr. Teets has a story of seeing her at a swap meet back in the 90's. He is the nicest person to talk with.
 

CougarCJ

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Jul 17, 2006
Messages
2,186
All? You've checked all 371,422 other ones? :wink:

"should be" 2/1, but as noted, mis-stamps are well known...

Actually the total number of 1968 Mustangs is 371,423.

Really Richard? Do I have to format all of my responses with "99.9% of the time ..., nearly every one ..., Ford was supposed to ... , for all of my responses? :rolleyes:

For the record, I have collected more Dearborn and San Jose door and buck tags than anyone I know.


I have found exactly one door tag that was 1 VIN number off. Both of the cars were identically equipped.
I have found apron mis stamps.

Errors exist, we all know that they exist. But they are probably 1 in 10,000.
 

Ruppstang

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May 22, 2009
Messages
3,032
As a MCA judge given that all of the other information that lines up with the car and the Marti report and that 8K is not even a date code I would considerate it a miss stamp.
The 8K is more like a trim code. As Scott said the date codes are two numbers and one letter. I have seen mistakes in the VIN in the aprons.
Marty
 

robert campbell

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Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,321
All? You've checked all 371,422 other ones? :wink:

"should be" 2/1, but as noted, mis-stamps are well known...

Gee whiz... The comment Scott was saying is that all accurate door stamps should be 2 numbers and 1 letter for the build date. I am sure there are anomalies, but for heavens sake.

Of note I have found proof that dealer codes on the Marti report may be wrong. I talked with the general manager of sales for Smith Gandy Ford in 1968 and told him the dealer code for my GNS that says it was sold at Smith Gandy Ford in Seattle from my Marti. He says it is incorrect and he wrote this code down a 100 times a week. He is still alive and I think he remembers his dealer code well. He named the dealer codes off from other local Seattle Ford dealerships.

So as evidence goes and documents and tags are stamped or typed errors can occur. I trust the Marti report as a source, but not the end all.

Also of note the title for Val's 1967 Fastback has a "5" in the fifth character vice the "S" that it should be and is in the fender panel. It was miss-typed in 1967 and we have never corrected it.

I think we can all agree as Scott said that at least the proper amount and content of characters and numbers must occur.

Rob
 

dalorzo_f

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Jan 7, 2006
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Location
Brisbane Australia
It not dismissive, I just find the "one size fits all" answers to be a bit broad and often not quite the case.

Sorry for pointing out errors may exist, and that the implication that it never happened could be incorrectly taken as gospel by some.

I would think that
I have found exactly one door tag that was 1 VIN number off.
proved the point, mis-stamps happened, but maybe not... :wink: Did not say it was common, or likely, just a possibility. But I guess not.

(and nice comment about the issue on the other forum, but as with this the replies go off tangent and don't stick to the point, and drift into off topic commentary)
 

robert campbell

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Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,321
It not dismissive, I just find the "one size fits all" answers to be a bit broad and often not quite the case.

Sorry for pointing out errors may exist, and that the implication that it never happened could be incorrectly taken as gospel by some.

I would think that proved the point, mis-stamps happened, but maybe not... :wink: Did not say it was common, or likely, just a possibility. But I guess not.

(and nice comment about the issue on the other forum, but as with this the replies go off tangent and don't stick to the point, and drift into off topic commentary)

I could not agree more about your one size fits all comment. The Marti has become the "gospel" for a lot of people. I treat it as the best source we have, but it is not infallible. It is indicative of how the car was "ordered", but no one knows what happened on the line. So anomalies occur. We have to remember that people built these cars and not robots.

And to clear it up, I am not saying that the Mart report is valuable and the best we have, but things may not always line up. In the case of my GNS, the dealer code may be correct as to where it was supposed to be sold, but a trade may have occurred between two dealers at the last minute? Heck who knows.

Rob
 

J_Speegle

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Joined
Jun 19, 2006
Messages
488
.............In the case of my GNS, the dealer code may be correct as to where it was supposed to be sold, but a trade may have occurred between two dealers at the last minute? Heck who knows.

Rob

Believe you'll find that the DSO was the ordering point (origin of the order) not delivery - in some odd & rare examples the two didn't match

That can often explain some of these oddities if you can collect all the documents and facts
 
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