Assembly Date 14J

JimNolan · 2013-02-20 08:30

Guys,
Has anyone seen a 57 that was assembled before this date. Being it is the 9th car off the assembly line I would think it would probably be made on the 1st day they assembled 57 Fords.

RICH MUISE · 2013-02-20 09:00

That tag is off the unser car..the article said it was one of the first prototypes for the '57 Fairlane. Probably was put together before they even started the production runs, maybe even assembled by hand. If I'm remembering correctly, the normal september introduction of the new cars included only the Custom wheelbase platformed cars, and the Fairlanes came out later.

JimNolan · 2013-02-20 09:28

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2013-02-20 09:00
That tag is off the unser car..the article said it was one of the first prototypes for the '57 Fairlane. Probably was put together before they even started the production runs, maybe even assembled by hand. If I'm remembering correctly, the normal september introduction of the new cars included only the Custom wheelbase platformed cars, and the Fairlanes came out later.

Rich,
Here's my Vin plate. It was assembled in San Jose and was built the same month.

wildhog · 2013-02-20 10:28

Jim, If I am reading the plate right the car was built in Dearborn on the 14th of Sept. The endurance run was started of the 9th of sept. Why is it called the Unser car? There were 12 drivers sharing 2 cars to set this record. The really neat thing about the I.D. tag is the m engine code? Also the SS code for color and int.
My E code Ranchero has a SS color , but it was orderd painted a color not offered on 57 cars.

RICH MUISE · 2013-02-20 11:11

Tom..I think Jim was correct with the San Jose plant..it's the "R" code in the serial number...same as mine.
I can't make sense of the production code though. Mine ends with the letter "D", the unser car ends with "A", jim's doesn't have a letter at the end. From what I read at 1957ford.com, there is some unclarified info on production codes...apparently they meant different things at different plants.

JimNolan · 2013-02-20 12:00

Tom & Rich,
The "M" is a challenge in the Vin Number. But, The letter "M" stood for a 292 4barrel engine in 1956. And, anyone that has a early 57 will tell you alot of the parts used on it were 1956 vintage. Steering, rear view mirror, ash tray. The dash and side trim package is different from anything I've seen before too. I'd say they manufactured the car with a blank dash. The only thing different about the speedometer is the letters 130, the hash marks are the same.
If the speed trials started on Sept 9th that means the assembly date can't be correct. The holes for the dash had to be cut and guages installed. I'd say that's what they were doing between Sept 9th and Sept 29th. I wouldn't doubt that as someone said it was more or less hand built and they just grabbed a bunch of data plates from the Dearborn assembly plant to make it a legit production car to advertise the results with. It very well could have been a 1956 292 engine they started with. It would be interesting to know when the first E code engine was put in a assembly line 1957 vehicle. I bet if they pulled the oil pan on that car they'd get a big surprise.

Lou · 2013-02-20 12:08

If a Ford dealer you got a discount on shipping if you ordered a full truck load of cars, 4 cars being a truck load at that time. The letter at the end of the production code was the number of that car in that order. (P was the exception) So if yyou were ou have a D then your car was the 4th car in that dealer order. The first car had an A or no letter.
If your car has a P at the end of the production code it meant that the car was shipped out of the assembly plant's sales district. The P is common on Thunderbirds as they were only built at Dearborn.
Regarding the 14J production code, I have several 14Js on my list of 1957 Ford data plate information, remember the date code was a scheduled production day, usually not the day the car was built.
At the biginning of a production run 10 of each model were built, the assembly line was run very slow and stopped and restarted if a Major problem was found. This usually took place the last week of August and the first week of September.

JimNolan · 2013-02-20 16:42

"The Longest Left Turn In History" (As featured in Life Magazine)

This 1957 Ford, along with 2 others, was built by Ford Motor Company in mid 1956 as preproduction prototypes and sent to De Paolo Engineering in Long Beach California to be prepped for a run of 50,000 miles to establish the endurance of the ?All New 1957 Fords?. This car set the world record of 107 MPH averaged for an incredible 51,403 miles at the Bonneville salt flats! The goal was to slash the 35,000-mile in fifteen day records set by Dodge the year prior and break or establish over 400 World Speed, International Class B (5,000 to 8,000 c.c.) and National Class B (305 to 488 cu. In.) records. This car was built with a 312 V8 2x4 bbl 270 Hp motor and is equipped that way today.

The 2 4-Barrel Carburetor setup was a very rare 312 V8 motor option. The car also came with a 3-speed manual transmission. It was also sponsored by Mobil Oil at the Bonneville run.

This 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 started the record run with the famous racecar driver Jerry Unser Jr. on Sept. 9, 1956 at the Bonneville salt flats. It finished 20 days later with the World speed record for 50,000 miles and several other records as well. This car was part of the Harrah's Automobile Collection (the greatest car collection ever assembled).

wildhog · 2013-02-20 23:15

Jim, Where are you getting that information. I have the original Longest left turn in history brochure , and it doesn't give all of that information. The yellow and black car finished two hours behind the blue and white car. The blue car averaged over 108.16 mph for 50,000 and the black car was over 107 mph. All of the records are credited to the blue and white car. Tom

wildhog · 2013-02-20 23:22

Rich, I should have been more clear,I was trying to read the tag on the black and Yellow car ,not Jim's
Lou, Can you add any more information on the tag of the black and yellow car?
Thanks Tom

Lou · 2013-02-20 23:43

Tom, I can't add much, I have no idea what the 9505 in the production code means. The SS in the paint and trim codes of coarse means special, (I assume) who ever stamped the plate didn't know what the codes where going to be for the 1957 model year. I would guess that the car was built in late August, and the data plates were stamped when the production order was received at the plant. ( you will also note that there is no letter in the serial number for the model)
One of the cars had to have the windshield replaced during the run as one of the crew members Thur a paper cup of water at the car as it came by at 100+ MPH and it broke the glass.
I believe it was HOT ROD magazine, in their 1962 "Ford Performance Book" did a really good write up on the record run.

Ford Blue blood · 2013-02-21 06:59

Quote from: Lou on 2013-02-20 23:43
I believe it was HOT ROD magazine, in their 1962 "Ford Performance Book" did a really good write up on the record run.

Lou you are correct, I'll have to dig and see if I still have it.....thanks for the memory jog!

JimNolan · 2013-02-21 09:38

Tom,
The last piece I put in was just copied off a website I found on the internet while searching for Jerry Unser. I haven't found anything on the blue and white car. Other than him winning Pike's Peak in a 57 Ford. It said he died in 1959 practicing at Indy at the age of 26.
I found a lot more interesting article on a guy that held the Bonnieville Salt Flats Record for about 10 years in a 1956 Ford Fairlane that he drove from Texas to put into the event. His 292 2X4 barrel held the speed record until it was broken in the mid 60's by a Dodge Hemi. ( Ford Success Stories: Karol Miller----Bonneville Salt Flats ) unbelievable reading.
The more I read the more I can't figure out how the 57 Chevy got so popular.

wildhog · 2013-02-21 10:36

Thanks Jim, I am just trying to find out more about this car. Jerry Unser also won pikes peak and the 1957 U.S.A.C. championship in a 57 Ford with Ralph Moody coming in 2nd. Talking of Karol Miller I had the pleasure of meeting him. A few weeks ago I went to Texas to help Ted Eaton with some Y Block Dyno. tests, and Karol stoped in to see how the tests were going.

JimNolan · 2013-02-21 10:50

You lucky. I haven't researched Y-Blocks that much. I just ran across some of the information that you guys probably know by heart. I've looked for the book by Ray Brock 1962 but can't find it. The thing about Karol Miller I like was he set all those records and he didn't trailer the cars he set the records in. Jim

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Assembly Date 14J