Last Capri chassis number.

Hi Wiggy,
That does look like a very high chassis number. What month does the alloy plate say?

A pic of the plate. So must be close to the last off the production line.

Only that the cars were built in progression and stamped with their chassis number. When sold they were plated and stamped with the month that it was. Alternatively they were finished according to ford ready for sale but stored until sold. Has any one got a higher number than 34053p

Hi Kieth and Terry,
Unfortunately there is not much official documentation regarding the last months of capri production to tell us what actually happened. I always look forward to any snippet of information that comes to light.
It does appear very much that the CK17ME shells that were built in august were enough to see out production through to november. (My car for instance is plated 11/72 and has the ME shell).
 
So in this scenario all the last shells were assembled on the line in august and have the ME code. This would include deluxe and xl shells too. The serial numbers would be allotted in order that they came down the line.
 
Then shells were taken off the line and parked except for those shells that were to be completed in that month.
 
Then in the following three months shells were picked out of the group for completion, but not in order of serial number but random (or maybe by color or specification to fulfill an order).
 
As far as the specials are concerned, now that i can collect the build date data, it shows that these cars also are subject to random shell selection. Also it appears that only the four BSS cars were completed in nov., the other seven capitalised units being built randomly over the preceeding three months.
 
So to answer the question of whether CK17ME34053 is the last capri shell assembled at Homebush, we dont know at this point and may never know. What we can say is that it is the highest number recorded so far. The last completed car though is likely to be from the group with 11/72 plate.
 

Thinking about my own post and belief about car manufacturing. I now have an issue with all I’m told. The final 11 Capri delete specials are some 1000 cars before my chassis number. I know that cars would be kept for some time before sold but thinking about it I can’t understand that 11 cars had no mechanicals because they ran out and yet produced another 1000 knowing that. I also can’t believe they stored that many waiting for something to happen. We now have evidence that the chassis numbers got to 34000 for the cars at production time so how can one delete special have the chassis number 33054 and I have chassis number 34053. Literally 999 cars later and the production line must have run in sequence. As for the fact they were the last cars built it must be false. I do understand that other capris went through like 1600s but a thousand cars difference and I’m led to believe mine was produced before theses eleven specials. Also I can’t imagine that 1000 cars before mine a car was taken out of sequence with no running gear as they ran out when mine went through fine. If the figure was say 30 I would understand but not with such a large number at the end of the run with ford knowing they would stop production.
This car was firebombed and maybe for a reason no one knows about or the number 33054 is mixed up with 34053. Maybe Ron you could post the list without it being blanked out. Just my thoughts but thinking this way the story about the specials isn’t making any sense. IMO

My verification letter from Ford regarding CK18KM from Ford. Just sometimes can’t believe what I am told.

PS. I believe that your CK18KM is definitely a typo, as there is no code number 18 allocated for any Ford vehicle assembled in Australia. What would have happened with your Capri is that the man stamping the number, may have just done an Escort, say a code 48 and just moved the first counter round from the 4 to the 1 and NOT changed the second counter, the 8 to a 7 and viola, you have your incorrectly coded Capri!