| 40 MH Ford COE | -- 07-03-2013 @ 4:16 PM |
|
I was trying to identify where my truck was originally assembled and then what happened to it after that. The frame number is 99T114-265, it has a Marmon-Herrington HH5 COE mod and a Garwood dump body. I would also like to know how many of these were made and stayed in the U.S. and were not shipped oversees for the WWII military aid program.
|
|
| 40 MH Ford COE | -- 07-03-2013 @ 8:03 PM |
|
I found this digging around: In 1940, while Europe and Asia had gone to war and the United States still struggled with economic depression, the Richmond Branch produced about 100 cars each day. As in previous years, the plant turned out many but not all of the models Ford offered. As mentioned earlier, Richmond was now a Mercury assembly plant, so five models of Mercuries including sedans, coupes, and convertibles comprised about one-quarter of Richmond's output. About half of the Mercuries Richmond produced were Town Sedans. All the Mercuries had 95-hp engines. Richmond produced Fords in seven body types, including sedans, coupes, convertibles, and station wagons. Most were equipped with 85-hp engines, but some had either 60-hp or 95-hp engines. The plant produced no trucks during the first seven months of the year. Then in August, while much of the plant was converting for production of the new 1941 model cars, Richmond produced 200 light trucks of the 1941 model, including pick-ups, panel delivery trucks, and commercial cab-over-engine truck chassis that others bought to finish as dump-trucks and delivery trucks. About half of the trucks had 85-hp engines and the rest had 95-hp engines. In September, the plant turned out 1,130 light trucks as well as nearly 800 1941-model cars. Even with the possibility of war looming for the U.S. and with Ford and other automakers beginning to increase military production. Ford's 1941 models featured a variety of changes. Wheelbases and overall lengths were longer, the cars were wider, and the greater size led to changes in exterior and interior styling. With more of the nation's workers returning to work because of huge increases in production of military ordnance, sales of Ford's 1941 models were among the best ever.' http://www.fordmotorhistory.com/factories/richmond/production_1940s.php so if this is right there were no 1940 coe's out of the plant that supplied the west coast of the US.
|
|
| 40 MH Ford COE | -- 07-03-2013 @ 8:58 PM |
|
Ford West coast assembly plants: Looking for 1940 COE production with Mercury VIN numbers Long Beach, Ca. 1920 – 1958 Ford and Mercury closed and moved to Pico Rivera Pico Rivera (L.A., Ca.) 1957 – 1980 Ford and Mercury Richmond (S.F. bay area, Ca.) 1930 – 1956 Ford and Mercury closed and moved to Milptas Milptas (San Jose, Ca.) 1952 – 1984 Ford and Mercury Portland Or. 1915 – 1939 Ford Seattle, Wa. 1909 – 1932 Ford so I'm going way out on a limb and assuming that this truck came from either the Richmond Plant or the Long Beach plant. From what I know, the truck spent its early original life in the Sierra's in Merced county?
|
|
| 40 MH Ford COE | -- 07-03-2013 @ 9:31 PM |
|
Last post in tonight's research: By 1937, M-H offered conversions of many Ford light trucks and even certain car models, including woody station wagons. The conversion was done at the factory in Indianapolis, ironically the old Duesenburg factory. You ordered a truck from your local Ford dealer and it was shipped to Indy for the conversion. The late 1930s was Marmon- Herrington’s heyday. By 1940, the bigger truck manufacturers, most notably Dodge, had entered the light 4x4 market for the war effort. M-H was simply too small to compete with the bigger dogs and though they carried on with light truck conversions until the early 1960s, they never could compete with “The Big Three” once they got on the band wagon. http://www.therangerstation.com/resources/history_of_4x4.htm
|
|
| 40 MH Ford COE | -- 07-03-2013 @ 9:44 PM |
|
I think I read some place that about 5500 MH COE were made in 1939 and 1940 and about 3800 were sent to Russia, etc., with rocket launchers.
|
|
| TomO | -- 07-04-2013 @ 8:04 AM |
|
The serial number does not give any indication of where the vehicle was assembled. In 1940 the conversions were done at the MH factory in Indianapolis, so the vehicle was probably assembled in the Midwest. Tom
|
|
| EFV-8 Club Forum : | https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum |
| Topic: | https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=17&Topic=6266 |