Data plate number decoding.A mystery to be solved..

Thanks Jim, that '3' indicating s/c is a new one on me. I wonder if there were other codes. Maybe s/c with inside exhaust, or export car,
I was once told by the 'elders' that the central body tag had coded information as to spare tire location, trunk, or maybe other accessories that the car rolled off the line with.
Do you know if the factory installed radios and heaters or were they dealer installed?

Hi Curt,

I'll try and asnswer some of your questions.

With the frame number as 4714 you are right the serial number shoulb be 5714 as your numbers are. The reason is they started the frames numbers at 1 and since no one wants to buy the first car off the line, they started they added 1000 to the frame number to get the serial number. The 3 in front of the seial number indicated the engine was supercharged. The H after the number is for a phaeton (convertable sedan)

I'm going to take a guess at the body tag based on the central body tags on the Cords (I'm sure all you Auburn guys will correct me if I'm wrong) and without looking back into my Auburn notes. The L84 would be the Central body code for the phaeton (convertable sedan). The 1255 would be the unit number forhte body (the 1,255th body of that style they built).

Jim

I have recently purchased an 852 Auburn convertible sedan. The central body tag reads L84 1255 Can any tell me what this means? Who has the data to decode these tags?

The frame number is 4714. The dataplate number is 35714 H. It is my understanding that the factory increased the number on the data plate by 1,000 to make it appear that they sold more cars. This has been the case with other 34 - 36 Auburns I have owned. It seems unlikely they built 30,000 cars. I know the H designates convertible sedan.