Did Ford carry rhe 46 into 1947 ?

[Tim Armstrong]

I have a 46 Ford that is titled as a 47, did Ford continue the 46 into 47 ?

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

I have a 46 Ford that is titled as a 47, did Ford continue the 46 into 47 ?

There were no '46 Fords manufactured in 1947.
If the title matches the frame (in ALL three places), then most likely the car was titled in a state that at that time utilized the date of sale as the "year" on the title. In those days, different states had different protocol.
Typically though, few '46 Fords lasted that long (in to 1947) as the pent up demand during the war years left little to no cars on the "showroom floor".
Only my guess, but I think the most likely explanation is the title is probably not authentic to your vehicle - a very strong possibility.

[1942deluxe]

You may have an "early" 1947. Thru Feb. of 1947 the cars looked identical to a 1946. Then came the bull nose 47(without hood ornament). Then came the 1947 with the indentations on the hood mouldings and finally the "normal" 1947. There was an article in the V8 Times on this some years back. If the VIN starts with 79A and matches it probably is an early 47. I've had at least a dozen 46-48's since 1973 and only had one "bull nose" 47 and I think that was the only one I've seen. Have a friend with a tudor that his grandparents bought new that again looked like a 46 but was titled as a 47. Bob McCoppin's article solved the mystery. If the VIN starts with 69A than you may have a deal where the state assigned the wrong year when it was titled.

[Vic Piano]

I think Kube is correct about the states auto registration process. I have seen a lot of '46 trimmed cars registered as '47's, also a lot of Ford vehicles produced in '45, starting in June, registered as '46's. The early '47 can be identified by the "bull nose" hood, as initially they did not have an approved hood ornament when production of the '47's started.

[D. Jones]

Apparently year of production and model # didn't mean the same in the past. My pickup is a model 59C making it a 1945 1/2 ton. All the marked parts have 21C part numbers meaning they were made for a 1942 1/2 ton. Oregon titled it as a 1946. I can understand why a pickup made in 1945 had 1942 parts but, the 1946 title has always seemed a bit odd.

[waterboychuck]

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I think that Ford had leftover parts from 46 and put them on 47's. I recently pulled some parts of a 47 in a wrecking yard because it had 46 bumpers on it but everything else looked 47. Of course over the past 60+ years when body parts were replaced did the owner or body shop put the correct ones back on or did they pull them off a 47/48 since there are ore of them around.

[Bruce Lancaster]

The prefix (69, 79) and the actual series number determine this, as noted above, on the cars built with '46 trim.
Likewise on the pickup...the way Ford part numbers work, they remain the same as long as they are in use without alteration.
The number is based on the model year and model of the original design...so, since 1942-47 pickups are nearly identical, nearly all the 21C parts were kept throughout that time period. Changes would include stuff like the engine change from 221 to 239 and some minor trim parts like hubcaps.
So, a 46 truck would have mostly 21c parts with 59 parts in engine and a change from 21 to something with 99 on the serial because of the change to 239.
Likewise, it contains many older parts...your wheel bearings were unchanged from '28-48, and now carry a 1932 number, updated from the Model A series.
Model series is part of the part number (like A and C), but MANY parts, especially mechanical, were used on passenger, commercial, heavy truck, and Mercury...like your 1946 engine. Most of it carries '46 Ford passenger numbers, and these are not changed when the engine goes into a dump truck or a Mercury.
Only the serial number, actually the engine number, which roughly dates production matters for the identity of the car.
The '46 style '47's were not really "left-over" '46's--remember, cars were in HIGH demand then and sold as quickly as they could be produced--they were cars built in the time period Ford specified as 1947 Model year and carried engines originally in the 1947 number series with 7 in the prefix.

[George/Maine]

I have a early 47 with top running lights.
The prefix for 47 is pass car serial# starts with 799. 100hp
46 99A That's for 100hp
46 6 cyl 1ga,mercury 100hp 99a
47mercury is799a,ford 6cylinder 71ga

[bobH]

The above posts pretty well cover it. I'd probably take exception to Kubes first sentence, then explained by 42deluxe. Maybe to help confuse, I have one reference that indicates 1946's did NOT have the 69 stamped for a prefix on the VIN, where 47's DO have a prefix stamped (79). The V8 Times article mentioned by 42deluxe is a good read on this subject. It's actually a series of articles, with a 'jillion' running changes in the 46-48 era. It makes it really difficult to say that a 47 (for example) is supposed to have such-and-such feature, because there are so many exceptions.
JMO. Study what 42 deluxe has posted.

[V8 Bob]

According to one of my car books, Ford (Lincoln/Mercury) announced in March '46 that no '47 model year would be offered, but management changed their mind by Feb. '47. Initial '47 cars were basically unchanged, but In April, marketers announced mildly facelifted spring models, and these were the true '47s.

[ford38v8]

Just to demonstrate the above, I once had a Pontiac titled as a 1943. We all know the last cars produced here in the States was Feb of '42. Mine may have been held and registered to a Doctor in '43 as was the practice during the war.

[A bones]

In PA where I used to live the title was merely indicative of when the car was first sold in the state of PA. The title had a code to show if it had been first registered in another state. Once I had a Dodge that had served its first year of life as a dealer-demo (fully loaded). The title and registration claimed it to be a whole year younger than real.

[woodiewagon46]

Tim, I don't know if you are a member of the Early Ford V-8 Club of America but the club sells a great book on 1941 thru 1948 Fords. I think the information you are looking for can be found on page 1-14. I will quote the first line of the paragraph. "It was decreed in mid February, 1947, that the 1946 model passenger cars coming off Ford assembly lines would, be henceforth, be titled as 1947 model Fords. Hope this helps you, nice car by the way!

[Tim Armstrong]

thanks for all the info, I am going to check the vin numbers et. I will just call it a 46, 47 or s it a 47, 46 ? It has all the 46 stuff.
a few more photos002.jpg

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[woodiewagon46]

Tim, I guess you have an early '47. Your car has almost everything '46, marker lights, trim, grill bars, hubcaps, hood ornament etc. If you don't have the V-8 club book on 1941 thru 1948 I would highly recommend purchasing it, it is a wealth of info. Beautiful car!

[George/Maine]

Here's pic of my early 47

[Vic Piano]

Tim & George, both your cars are very sharp!

[ford38v8]

Tim, From looking at your pictures, your car must be a '47 'cause whitewall tires were not available in '46!

[waterboychuck]

Tim, from those photos it screams 46 everywhere.

George, that is the first car that I've seen that has both 46 and 47 hood ornaments.

[George/Maine]

Originally Posted by waterboychuck

Tim, from those photos it screams 46 everywhere.

George, that is the first car that I've seen that has both 46 and 47 hood ornaments.

I never noticed that.
I think there are a few things that are not original bumper, it also had a OHV at one time. I have checked the ID # and its 47
I'm replacing 59ab had a bearing rap ,with a 8rt 1953 pu engine.
Hope to be on road soon.
Lot of history in these old cars.