Posted by Alan Bowes on February 14, 1998 at 15:46:12:
In Reply to: Question on M-37 hood posted by Steve Ostroski on February 13, 1998 at 22:56:18:
My 1966 M37B1 has such a handle. This brings up an interesting point. I believe that it was not uncommon to use earlier factory-surplus chassis and bodies to fill later orders.
What serial number is your vehicle? It may date to some earlier period. It may even be an M37 that was equipped by the factory as an M37B1.
I've run into a few of these serial number anomalies recently, so I don't think it's uncommon. After all, most of the changes between the M37 and M37B1 series involved bolt-on types of hardware. If there were factory surplus parts (including chassis and bodies) lying about, and if those parts did not violate the specifications for a contract, then I suppose they could have been used as substitutes when they ran out of parts on a current production run. There were probably also a number of variances issued against specs from time to time, as non-standard substitutions had to be made in order to meet certain delivery dates.
In fact, I'm currently researching something along this line myself.
Does anyone have any more detailed information on this topic? I have a copy of John Zentmeyer's TM 9-1840C (The Production Story, 1949-1968), which deals with serial numbers and production quantities for the M37 series. However, as Zentmeyer explains, there were a lot of holes in the serial number data for the M37B1 series, so the B1-series serial numbers in the book are partially just interpolated guesses. To complicate things, Chrysler apparently changed the serial numbering scheme several times over the years during the B1 series, so it wouldn't surprise me if there were a lot of inconsistencies.
If anyone has any additional data, or any similar stories regarding serial number and date inconsistencies on the M37 or M37B1 series, could you please post them?
Thanks,
Alan Bowes
(PS: I'm using a different e-mail address than usual, since we're installing a new mail server at the office.)