id numbers

I am confused about the different numbers on my car
the serial number is THPNNE06984

TH: De Tomaso Modena
PN: Pantera
N: 1973 (L = 1971, M = 1972, P = 1974)

>There was a plastic plate with the notation "Body Service Number" 52578 attached above the master cylinder.

>>>Panteras bodies were initially built by Vignale in Turin (later Ghia), and then trucked down to Modena where they went on a second assembly line for completion, a distance of about 250 miles I believe.

While the bodies were stamped with sequential serial numbers when they were initially built, there was no attempt to keep the cars in sequential order as they made the journey to Modena. Thus the serial numbers of the cars as they actually left the production line was haphazard, to say the least.

With all the running changes Ford implemented on seemingly a daily basis, they needed a method to document that "after car number X, the fuse panel has moved from here to there", etc. So they basically came up with their own, internal, second serial number, the BSN or Body Service Number. This was a number which was affixed to the car at the END of the production line, and thus these were in sequential order.

This came into being just after the L-model debuted, in late 1972 (or perhaps early 1973?)

As an aside, all USA cars had a five-digit number beginning with a "5". However, USA GTS Panteras all had a BSN that began with a "3". So that's another way to determine a REAL American GTS Pantera, besides the "GT" in the serial number.

>In the engine compartment there was a plastic plate with very barely legible words "serial" "mechanical" "874" and the number stamped in it 06083

>>>That is the motor number. De Tomaso stamped their own serial numbers onto the back of the 351C as it was installed--the number appears on the back side of the block on the left side, just below the cylinder head, and is normally a five-digit number with a leading "0"

>The actual motor number stamped in the block is illegible due to having been painted over.

>>>If there is ANY number there, it's almost assuredly the original block, as Ford didn't stamp any numbers there for the rest of their vehicles....

Mike

Sorry, it's 1:30 a.m., I forgot to complete my answer to your query. :>)

THPNNE06984

TH: De Tomaso Modena
PN: Pantera
N: 1973
E: December

(Note: the sixth character was a letter which delineated the month that construction on the chassis was initiated. There was no pattern as to how letters were assigned to specific months; for example, the letter "E" meant April in 1971, August in 1972, December in 1973 and December in 1974. No rhyme or reason whatesoever.)

06984: Sequential build number.

Note: Both the De Tomaso and Ford parts books contain a gross error in their description of this number. They claim that 6984 would mean the 6984th car built. This is totally untrue, since the first car built was (depending on who you talk to) either 1000 or 1001 (I believe the latter.)

Thus, doing the math, 6984 is the 5983rd chassis built.

Mike

Thanks, Mike very informative and helpful!


Gary