[DeTomaso] VIN Plates and BSNs

Thu Oct 8 00:25:38 EDT 2009

Barry (and others),

Perhaps my work on the Registry can be of assistance on this topic...

I can confirm that the Pre-L (from the factory) did come with what I call 
the Foot box plate.  We are talking about the one with the window so one
can see the full VIN stamp below that was stamped into the foot box at Vignale.
This window or foot box plate is also stamped with the motor number.

The earliest Pantera that the Registry has proof (a photo) of with this 
plate is car 1014, or the 14th car built (barring any pre-production weirdness).

http://www.provamo.com/Members/Registry/RegistryImages/RTHPNLK01014/RTHPNLK01014.asp

I see this plate on many/most of the cars throughout the 1971 and 1972 production dates.
I hope this clarifies the presence of the Window Plate on the foot box as it relates to
the earlier production cars.

Then... as to the Body Service Number (BSN)...the plate that started with 50001
that Ford initiated is the one that is (generally) riveted on the foot box 
between the brake booster and the "window" VIN plate... started in July 1972
(exact date unknown), probably close to car 4005 or so.  Which is slightly before the 
L model officially began (also in July) with car 4269.

The Registry has documented the sequentially assigned BSN of 50006, on car 4028,
as seen here:

http://www.provamo.com/Members/Registry/RegistryImages/RTHPNMD04028/RTHPNMD04028.asp

Note the BSN was actually placed on the inner fender above the front left tire.
I do not know exactly when (which car) it was moved to the top of the foot box
as the future common location, but I suspect quickly.

Note that car with VIN 4010 actually has the BSN 50016, see:
http://www.provamo.com/Members/Registry/RegistryImages/RTHPNMD04010/RTHPNMD04010.asp

So there is some out of order VINs at this time (late July 1972). 

Car VIN 4033 (Garth Roderick's Banzai Runner car):
http://www.provamo.com/Members/Registry/RegistryImages/RTHPNMD04033/RTHPNMD04033.asp

Wears the factory-original BSN of 50041.  

Most of these listed cars I have seen in person.
The Registry search page has a specific search function with the results in BSN order.

Also note that there were (gross approximation) 300 cars produced in July, so at least
50-100 cars were in inventory (work-in-progress, and completed units) in July 1972.

I can say that I have found quite a few very late cars (8/74) that do not wear or have
the foot box / window plate.  I suspect that the last USA import cars may not have
received this plate.  For example, the time-machine Last USA Pantera, 7380, does not have
this window plate.  

Documenting these production details is why the Registry needs photos of the VIN plates
for cars submitted, even though a few people suggest collecting all the plates
is a bit "excessive" or "anal-retentive" - grin.

I hope this documentation clarifies the BSN.

Barry,

Is your car in the Registry?

Chuck Melton
(The Registry Guy)

I am quite certain that your 1972 Pantera never had the plate that surrounds
the VIN on the top of the footbox. Mine didn't either
Pre-L Panteras did not have a "Body Service Number" on a plate in the engine
bay or the metal tag that normally surrounds the VIN. I have been studying
photos of 71-72 pre-L cars for originality for 8 years and I have not seen
one with the "Body Service Number" or the plate that surrounds the VIN on
the top of the footbox. I'm not sure at what point in the "L" production the
change to add these items happened, but perhaps sometime later in 1973? I'm
pretty sure that all the Ford program Panteras had felt in the front trunk
and not carpet.
Barry

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

http://www.teampanteraracing.com/index.php?option=com_g2bridge&view=gallery&
Itemid=57&g2_itemId=335

Um yea... I guess a link would help.

Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired

& Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA

1971 Mach I Mustang  [ASA JAY]
1973 Pantera L 5533  [ASASCAT]

******************************
http://www.asajay.com
http://www.teampanteraracing.com

Asa Jay Laughton wrote:
> Here is an example of the VIN stamped in the metal of top of the pedal
> box.  In -this- case, the metal tag that normally surrounds the VIN is
> gone.  I don't know it was every there.  This is a photo of -my- car, a
> 1973 L, I purchased it from the original owner and have all
> documentation to say it's original.  It doesn't have the plate, I don't
> know why.
>
> But I -do- know the plates exist on other cars and there is a cutout
> that would normally expose the VIN like in my photo.
>
> Asa Jay
>
> Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
>
> & Shelley Marie
> Spokane, WA
>
> 1971 Mach I Mustang  [ASA JAY]
> 1973 Pantera L 5533  [ASASCAT]
>
> ******************************
> http://www.asajay.com
> http://www.teampanteraracing.com
>
>
>
>
> MikeLDrew at aol.com wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 10/7/09 16 50 36, boyd411 at gmail.com writes:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I checked all the Vin numbers on my car , and the body tags and no where
>>> did
>>> I find a  surround with the place for the Vin # cut out. . My car is a
>>> 1973
>>> L and may be different from the model you cited . It has the Vin on the
>>> dash
>>> in the corner of the windshield, a partial Vin on a Detomaso tag near
the
>>> master cylinder and the full Vin on a plastic tag with additional info
ion
>>> the drivers side door jamb. None of them had a cut out section with a
>>> plate
>>> over the Vin #.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>> Your cutout plate, like mine, has probably been removed when somebody
>>>>>
>>>>>
>> reupholstered the front trunk.   There is only one real, official VIN on
the
>> car, and the others are just copies for convenience.   The official VIN
is
>> stamped on the top of the box that supports the brake vacuum booster, the
>> carpet had a rectangular cutout there, and the the plate with the cutout
section
>> goes on top of that.   Do you have carpet on top of your brake booster
box,
>> with nothing else?   If so, peel it back and you'll find your car's
actual
>> VIN underneath--hopefully it matches the others!
>>
>> And your friendly Pantera vendors will gladly sell you a reproduction
>> cutout plate, so that you can trim your carpet, and then you can affix it
in the
>> appropriate spot to return your car to its original appearance. :>)
>>
>> The 'partial VIN' on a tag next to the booster is almost assuredly your
>> Body Service Number--a five-digit number, beginning with a "5", and
having no
>> relationship to the VIN whatsoever.   It's sort of a secondary VIN, a
number
>> used internally by Ford to identify the cars sequentially, because
although
>> the bodies were numbered sequentially at the Vignale factory in Turin, by
>> the time they were trucked to Modena, and shuffled in and out of storage
lots
>> etc. before they ran down the final assembly line, the cars were no
longer
>> in numerical order.   The BSN allowed Ford to document changes, with 'all
>> cars after BSN such-and-such now have this feature', something that was
>> somewhat impossible to do with the VIN, unless the change was one that
took place
>> in Turin, and not Modena.
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Mike
>> _______________________________________________

>>
>>
> _______________________________________________

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