Post by Brian M on Oct 27, 2008 21:55:10 GMT
From: Brian (Original Message) Sent: 13/06/2006 22:27
On another thread, it has become apparent that the two digits for the year followed by three digits for the build number was not as constant as I had previously thought.
On my database I have only two 1950's numbers - 58436 and 581173 and the next is 64404 then in the last week we have found 669 and 6610.
So the anomaly is 581173 - did the Company really produce over 1000 Safaris in 1958?
The next highest for an individual year is my own 78340, with 312 in 1973 and 280 in 1979.
You should note that these cannot be taken as the total production for the years - they are just the highest number recorded for each year so far.
In a private email Colin has raised the question of chassis serial numbers. From the mid 1950's Safaris bought chassis from B&B who also supplied other manufacturers. It seems these carried a separate serial number but I don't have enough information to try to come up with any sort of dating method from the chassis numbers.
So we do seem to have a fairly straightfoward system for serial numbers, Colin also suggested that I look at the numbering system for Carlight Caravans on their own website.
WHEN WAS MY CARLIGHT CARAVAN BUILT?
serial number and their allocation
You can determine the age of the caravan from the serial numbers, as we have used various methods of allocating serial numbers to the caravans over the years, this section gives details of these and explains how the build number and approximate date of manufacture can be derived from a serial number.
from 1932 to 1959 inclusive
A 2 to 6 digit serial number was allocated to each caravan. The first 1 or 2 digits being the build number, these ran from 1 up to 99 before starting again at 1.
The build numbers originally ran through one model i.e. Continentals ran through from 1 - 99 and Coronets the same, so it was possible to have two different models but both with the same serial number in the factory at the same time i.e. Coronet number 3 and Continental number 3. So this system was changed in the 1960 and build numbers ran from 1 - 99 irrespective of model type.
Build numbers are not related to any particular time period i.e. caravan number 1 is not necessarily the first caravan built in a particular year. The build numbers are simply to help distinguish each caravan whilst it is being built. For the first few years of production this build number was the only form of identification.
However, for the late 1940’s another 2-4 digits were added, of these extra digits, the second 1 and 2 digits provide the month of manufacture and the last 2 digits provide the year of manufacture.
So, for instance caravan number 1249 would be van number 1, built in February 1949, and number 721158 would be van number 72 built in November 1958. To save confusion, from the late 1950’s the months upto and including September were prefixed with a "0" and the build numbers from 1 - 9 were prefixed with a "0" i.e. 020959 would be van number 2 built in September 1959.
from 1960 to 1991 inclusive
In 1960 the numbering system changed slightly to give a coded year of manufacture.
For caravans built from 1960 - 1991 inclusive, the build number is shown as the last two digits and the month of manufacture is given by the centre two digits. The year of manufacture is coded, but can be quickly worked out by deducting the last digit of the serial number from the number which is made up of the first two digits at the front of the serial number.
Take for instance number 860979. This would be build number 79 (last two digits) built in September (middle two digits) 1977 (first two digits 86 minus the last digit 9 = 77).
It is important to stress this gives the approximate date of manufacture and not necessarily the model year.
Thanks for that Colin - makes me glad I bought a Safari!
So if you haven't yet provided your serial number, please email me, and if you know your chassis number let me have the details.
Brian Miller
On another thread, it has become apparent that the two digits for the year followed by three digits for the build number was not as constant as I had previously thought.
On my database I have only two 1950's numbers - 58436 and 581173 and the next is 64404 then in the last week we have found 669 and 6610.
So the anomaly is 581173 - did the Company really produce over 1000 Safaris in 1958?
The next highest for an individual year is my own 78340, with 312 in 1973 and 280 in 1979.
You should note that these cannot be taken as the total production for the years - they are just the highest number recorded for each year so far.
In a private email Colin has raised the question of chassis serial numbers. From the mid 1950's Safaris bought chassis from B&B who also supplied other manufacturers. It seems these carried a separate serial number but I don't have enough information to try to come up with any sort of dating method from the chassis numbers.
So we do seem to have a fairly straightfoward system for serial numbers, Colin also suggested that I look at the numbering system for Carlight Caravans on their own website.
WHEN WAS MY CARLIGHT CARAVAN BUILT?
serial number and their allocation
You can determine the age of the caravan from the serial numbers, as we have used various methods of allocating serial numbers to the caravans over the years, this section gives details of these and explains how the build number and approximate date of manufacture can be derived from a serial number.
from 1932 to 1959 inclusive
A 2 to 6 digit serial number was allocated to each caravan. The first 1 or 2 digits being the build number, these ran from 1 up to 99 before starting again at 1.
The build numbers originally ran through one model i.e. Continentals ran through from 1 - 99 and Coronets the same, so it was possible to have two different models but both with the same serial number in the factory at the same time i.e. Coronet number 3 and Continental number 3. So this system was changed in the 1960 and build numbers ran from 1 - 99 irrespective of model type.
Build numbers are not related to any particular time period i.e. caravan number 1 is not necessarily the first caravan built in a particular year. The build numbers are simply to help distinguish each caravan whilst it is being built. For the first few years of production this build number was the only form of identification.
However, for the late 1940’s another 2-4 digits were added, of these extra digits, the second 1 and 2 digits provide the month of manufacture and the last 2 digits provide the year of manufacture.
So, for instance caravan number 1249 would be van number 1, built in February 1949, and number 721158 would be van number 72 built in November 1958. To save confusion, from the late 1950’s the months upto and including September were prefixed with a "0" and the build numbers from 1 - 9 were prefixed with a "0" i.e. 020959 would be van number 2 built in September 1959.
from 1960 to 1991 inclusive
In 1960 the numbering system changed slightly to give a coded year of manufacture.
For caravans built from 1960 - 1991 inclusive, the build number is shown as the last two digits and the month of manufacture is given by the centre two digits. The year of manufacture is coded, but can be quickly worked out by deducting the last digit of the serial number from the number which is made up of the first two digits at the front of the serial number.
Take for instance number 860979. This would be build number 79 (last two digits) built in September (middle two digits) 1977 (first two digits 86 minus the last digit 9 = 77).
It is important to stress this gives the approximate date of manufacture and not necessarily the model year.
Thanks for that Colin - makes me glad I bought a Safari!
So if you haven't yet provided your serial number, please email me, and if you know your chassis number let me have the details.
Brian Miller
