Serial No. research

Val
Val Member
edited March 2013 in HUDSON
Hi All
just wondering if anyone can tell me how to decode my serial no.? I know that the first number is the model year and the second number is the series. But not sure what the rest signify if anything. But is was nice to discover the serial number on the engine block matched the one on the car :) Also where may I find the paint code stamped? 1939 series 92

Thanks :)

Comments

  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    I wasn't aware that they stamped paint codes back in the thirties but maybe they'd started by 1939. As to the serial number, why not give us at least the first three digits of yours? I know that in 1937 the first two digits identified the model number and I suspect the same was true in '39.
  • Val
    Val Member
    922
  • Ric West IN
    Ric West IN Senior Contributor
    Nothing to decode other than the first two digits which correspond to the model.
    Went to 3 digits for 47-48-49-50. Then back to 1 digit and letter for model designation.

    Fortys and 50's had stamped paint code,passenger side upper door hinge. 1954
    had ink stamped paint code on the Ser. num. plate.

    Have fun with your 39. :)

    "Ric"
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Okay, that would identify your car as a 1939 Hudson Six, with the 212 cid engine and a 118" wheelbase. That's about all (that I know of) that one can glean from the serial number. As to the original color, you could start sanding the paint in some obscure area, down to the original coat, then you could consult the original paint chips for that in order to find the paint that most closely matched the color you find on the car. One such site is http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/, where you can plug in the car's make and year, to find the list of available original colors.
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    Serial and engine numbers became the same in mid-1938 as follows:
    Models 80, 81, 82, 83 and 88 - 11630, except 12000 to 12319
    Models 84, 85, 86 - 14126
    Model 89 - 28566

    Beginning in 1935 they went to a two digit pre-fix where by the first number denoted the year and the second number the series. 1935 also used letters to denote the series, ie 53 GH Big Six, etc. From 1936 thru 1942 they used just the two digit pre-fix as was pointed out in an earlier post. 1940 was an oddball year using 4 to denote the year - 1941 went to 1x, etc. 1945 was still another odd ball in that they used two prefixes. In designating the year they started with 5, but the serial numbers began with a 3. My theory is that Hudson was among the first to resume auto production after the war in 1945, thus the 5. However, those cars would have been 1943 models had production not ceased due to the war so perhaps that's why they used 3 in the serial numbers. Why they went to 17 in 1947 is a mystery. Should have been just 7 for the year - going by 1948 the 1947 models should have started with 47. Who knows.

    Hudsonly,
    Alex Burr
    Memphis, TN
  • Val
    Val Member
    Thanks guys the color is jewel green poly. And I can only guess that my car is an early 39 or maybe even have been built in late 1938 as the serial number is low. Either way I love it and am always fnding intresting things about it. For example I have the dealer ID rivited to teh door post. C.W. Hammond Alameada CA. That is so cool as the paper work I got with the car confirms that is where it was bought new.
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    Unfortunately production records don't exist back past 1946 - I spent nearly 40 years looking for production records and always came up empty. So figured that was that - they didn't exist. Weeeeellllllll - guess what. Seems that the 1946 up numbers had been published in a long distant WTN. Hey, I can't remember EVERYTHING I read in the WTN. I figure someday production records earlier than 1946 will show up. Hopefully before whomever has those records passes away and the family is Hudson enough to turn the paper work over to somebody besides the local landfill. The landfill people won't save the stuff - they'll shred it or whatever.

    Hudsonly,
    Alex Burr
    Memphis, TN
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