Australian Car Number

[Tony Press]

Just checked the two original Car Number plates with a new bright torch - and the letters/numbers do look etched - never checked that closely before ! Very steady hand to get them in such a nice line.

I am curious as to why the Car Numbers were etched in Australia on build- when I checked the surviving 1930 Longbridge  ledgers, I was advised the build date and the Car Number for each car.

The early Holden bodies ofen carried the ID plate-


  1928 Holden badge.jpg (Size: 86.6 KB / Downloads: 357)

sometimes mounted on the door pillar.

Later-


  1929 Holden Badge.jpg (Size: 19.45 KB / Downloads: 355)

sometimes mounted under the passenger's door on Fabric Saloons.

Under the back seat in my Fabric Saloon there is an aluminium Holden Job Number plate-

   

I have a picture of a similar plate from another car.

Tony.

[Mark McKibbin]

Tony, it looks like they got the "N" around the wrong way...definitely need an Up on the N stamp!

Another oddity with my car is a steel skuttle, I am assuming someone has made a replacement and it was a raffle prize 25-30 years ago.

[Tony Press]

Strangely it seems to be back to front (and not a Z as I first thought)  !

From memory Bill has noted some Australian bodies had a locally made steel scuttle.

[Steve Bryant]

This was the body builders plate I found on my car
:
  BODY PLATE FOUND WITH MY A7.jpg (Size: 47.06 KB / Downloads: 266)

From what I understand Properts made bodies based on Holden steel pressings for the chummy.
Stephen

[Tony Press]

An interesting company- Propert from Sydney NSW originally made kitchen utensils - scales, whisks, beaters etcetera and after a brief foray into car bodies (from pictures we were given the whole range of Austin 7 bodies)  went on to make caravans in the 30's. 

The name still exists selling scales but now they are made in China.

[Mark McKibbin]

Strangely it seems to be back to front (and not a Z as I first thought)  !

From memory Bill has noted some Australian bodies had a locally made steel scuttle.

Yes I was not thinking, an N should be right either way, so a faulty stamp? I wonder how many cars got that one?  I will ask Bill about the steel scuttle maybe it's not a Holden after all.

[Tony Press]

At least one other !

[David Cochrane]

I made a list of all the CHA1 numbers that I could find in the Chassis Register together with their Chassis numbers:
15013  CHA1-847
19834  CHA1-830
27751  CHA1-1758
29386  CHA1-2491
34326  CHA1-2970
44403  CHA1-4189
51146  CHA1-4729
45568  CHA1-4832
48088  CHA1-5936
49918  CHA1-6664
            CHA1-6692
            CHA1-8191
53723  CHA1-8531
55342  CHA1-9273

Mark, it seems odd that your car doesn't seem to fit into this list in the 'right' place. Chassis no.48088 is also an Australian Chummy.

David

[JonE]

My car was an Australian car and the car number also appears to be engraved not stamped.

As far as i know the plates are original.
Stephen

Steve - is 1624, presumably the body number, stamped on your transmission tunnel and possibly hinges?

[Hedd_Jones]

One of the things which seem to confuse many, particularly newer owners, is that a car number and a chassis number are not the same thing. For example Chummy car number; AD 4*** will not be chassis number 4***, the exception being mid to late 30's cars when Longbridge changed the numbering system bringing the two line. It stands to reason that the works would enter a number into the ledger for a chassis supplied bare with the prefix CHAI, if so then Mark may have the 4,729th bare chassis supplied, I wonder how many chassis had been exported by 1927?

Ian, re the  AD 4xxx number. Surely that's the body number ?  The car number would be Anumber-more numbers.