How to decode your 1949-1954 Pontiac Serial Number
The serial number is composed of:
1st: A letter indicating the factory of origin. (Shown in chart)
2nd: A figure indicating the number of cylinders, six or eight. (6-Six Cylinder;
8-Eight Cylinder)
3rd: Two letters indicating first the year of manufacture and the transmission
used. (Shown in chart)
4th: The sequence in which your car was built starting with 1001
| 1st: The first letter in the serial number indicates the factory of origin. |
| Letter: | Assembly Plant: |
| A | Atlanta |
| C | South Gate |
| L | Linden |
| W | Wilmington |
| K | Kansas City |
| F | Framingham |
| P | Pontiac, Michigan |
| 3rd – The two letters indicating the year of manufacture and the transmission used (S-Manual; H-Hydramatic) between 1949 and 1954 are as follows |
| Year: | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 |
| Manual | RS | TS | US | WS | XS | ZS |
| Automatic | RH | TH | UH | WH | XH | ZH |
Now for a complete example, if your cars serial number
is W8WH14479 the decode would be; W-Wilmington, 8-Straight Eight, W-1952,
H-Hydramatic, 14479-13,478th car built at the Wilmington plant.
March 11th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
My previous reply was deleted for some reason, but my question was in reference to the Body tags (Cowl Plates) that are riveted to the firewall in the motor compartment…. Is there a resource i could use to decode mine? I’d like to know all the original trim, paint, accessories, etc that were on on my car when it rolled off the assembly line but can’t seem to find any sites that decode 52 Pontiac Tags… Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, SHORTDOG
March 11th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
Your comment didn’t get deleted, I just haven’t gotten it approved yet. All of that body tag information is available in the Master Parts Catalog and by using those paint chips posted on the site. I’ll try to link you directly to everything for your car as soon as I get time to find it for you. Thanks,
Dave
March 12th, 2010 at 1:23 am
Thanks Dave, I really appreciate it.