1951 FORD CONSUL

[1951-FordConsul]

Hi Folks,

Does anyone know anyone who owns a 1951 Ford Consul?

Al

[zephyrgary]

Had a flat dash myself some years back, but not anymore.
Gary

[IFHP]

Pretty scarce. Does it have to be a 1951, or will any Mk I do?

Michael

[1951-FordConsul]

Hi Folks,
I would like to see, and maybe even drive, a Green Mk I, as similar as possible to my parents' EOTA 44864, which was bought in 1952. Does the motor number give any clues to its type or date of manufacture? Also, the serial 'number' was 'S me'. What does that tell us?
This particular car (right-hand drive), was traded-in in Wyoming in November 1954. Could it have been bought by a motor enthusiast?

[zephyrgary]

That serial number puts its date of manufacture at around March 1952, so I doubt it was a 51.
Gary

[1951-FordConsul]

That serial number puts its date of manufacture at around March 1952, so I doubt it was a 51.
Gary

Hi Gary,
Thank you very much for the info. I had presumed, originally, that the date of manufacture was 1951, due to family history circumstances. I have since found an insurance quote which mentions the serial numbers and describes it as a 1952 car. Also, I am certain that the car was manufactured before June 1952, because that is when it was shipped to The USA. I would really like to narrow down the date of manufacture as far as possible, so that I can date a particular photograph taken in England. Which is the key to your estimate for the date of manufacture - 'EOTA 44864' or 'S me'? How does this work exactly? Also, are you able to deduce, from these 'numbers' the earliest possible date of manufacture and the latest possible date of manufacture?
What does EOTA stand for?
What does 'S me' stand for?
Do either of these numbers give a clue as to the colour? All of my photos are in mono-chrome, with the car appearing mid-grey.
The original UK licence plate was NAH 549. Does that provide any clues as to the date of first registration?
Al

[zephyrgary]

Here we go. Serial numbers on Feb 1st in 1952 for Consuls began at 43838. In total they made about 4238 that month or about 211 per day, based on a 20 day work month. That would make your car "born" on the 4th or 5th day of production.
The EOTA stands for
E England
0 for 1950, year of introduction
T 4 cylinder (TT= 6 cylinder)
A passenger car.

I have no idea what the other letters mean. You could contact the owners club in the UK. http://www.fivestars.co.uk/
or you could email Kevin at Zodiac Motor Services in the UK on zms@btinternet.com.

Finally, someone smarter than me could definitelt tell you the approx date of registration from that plate. I can tell you that the AH part means it was registered in the town of Norwich, in the county of Norfolk. The N part would narrow it down to the year/month but I don't know how to myself.
Hope this all helps.
Gary

[1951-FordConsul]

Hi Folks,

Yesterday, amongst some old family documents, I found the original cover-note for my parents' Ford Consul Mark I, EOTA 44864 S me. It was signed at 9:00 am, Friday, 22nd February 1952. The value of the new car was given as £600.

Thank you very much zephyrgary for your information. You state that 4238 Ford Consul Mk I cars were manufactures in February 1952. Assuming that production ceased at weekends, then there would have been twenty working days in this particular month. So, divide 4328 by 20 to estimate daily production rate - i.e. 212 cars per day.

Assuming that EOTA 43838 was made at the start of the shift on Friday, 1st February 1952, then the serial numbers produced at the end of each working day are as follows -

Friday, 1st February 1952 - 44050

Monday, 4th February 1952 - 44262

Tuesday, 5th February 1952 - 44474

Wednesday, 6th February 1952 - 44686

Thursday, 7th February 1952 - 44898

So, EOTA 44864 was probably manufactured on Thursday, 7th February 1952, or possibly, Friday, 8th February 1952.

On Friday, 22nd February, 1952 the car was collected from the local Ford dealers. The car was allocated the registration number NAH 549.
The following day, the Norfolk County Council Licences date stamp, dated 23 February 1952 was applied to the back of the Zurich Insurance cover note, presumably when the documents were shown and the fee paid. Was a tax disk issued in those days? Does anyone have a picture of a 1952 tax disc?

Zephyrgary, could you post all of the monthly production figures, from the first day of production in 1950 or 1951, till the end of 1952? I would like to firm up my previous assumptions.

Also, do you know for a fact that the factory did not work at weekends?

What was the name and address of the factory?

I am wondering now, if my Parents' car was made to order, or if it was bought from stock. Does anyone know how this worked in February 1952? If it was made to order, how long was the normal waiting time from the day of making the order to the day the car was manufactured?

Were the cars delivered to the Ford dealers by car transporter lorries or individually driven by delivery drivers? What was the minimum time lag, from the time that the car came off the production line to the time that the car was delivered? Was post-production testing and adjusting, or anything else done at the factory, in 1952, before the car was delivered?

I am still trying to discover the colour of my Parents' Ford Consul. Does anyone have a 1952 Ford Consul colour chart? All I know is that the colour appeared mid-grey in the monochrome photographs. I originally assumed that the olive green colour, that I had seen in old adverts, must have been the colour, but were other mid-range colours, such as pale blue, beige, cream etc., available in February 1952?

Please, everyone, chip in with any snippets of information, that you have, that might help towards answering these questions. Thank you.

Al

[105epaul]

I'll try and answer a few questions but I may need to be corrected. The car would have had a tax disc issued at the time of purchase, back then you could get quarterly/half-year/full year discs. The dealership would probably have done that for your parents as it would have been illegal for them to let your parents take delivery without one. As for a picture of a 52 disc, I know there is a company here in the UK that does replica discs http://www.poplargreg.com/taxdiscs/discs2.htm, there is a picture of a 1952 disc.
The Consul would have been made at Ford's factory at Dagenham, Essex I think.
As to whether the car was ordered or in stock, it could be either. I'm guessing that there would still have been quite a long waiting list for a specific order so I reckon that your parents bought a car that was in stock. Orders still take quite a time today.
I don't think the cars were ever delivered by road, they would have been transported to the dealers. Ford used to make a sales point on prices by saying that 'delivery was included' as all their rivals used to charge extra. I'm guessing the transporters would have been for four vehicles back then.
I stand to be corrected!

Paul