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Buick production by plant


sean1997

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In a previous thread I posted some information about Buick production by plant for 1956. My friend Jim (1957buickjim) asked if I had any information about other years. Well, this thread is for you Jim.

Ward's Automotive Yearbook was first published in 1938, covering the 1937 calendar and model years. Starting in 1958, Ward's published data showing model year production by city and state, which is essentially production by plant. Also, starting in 1957, Ward's published data showing the percent of various factory installed equipment and options. I went to several local public and University libraries to get copies of these pages, which I have scanned to PDFs. There are too many files and they are too big to post here, but if you send me a private message with your email address, I will send you a link to my SkyDrive so you can download the files. I have also included some scans of the pages from the Buick manuals I reference.

I put the data into an Excel spreadsheet, which is also on my SkyDrive. I've attached a PDF version of the summary worksheet at the end of this thread. When looking at my spreadsheet, any text in black is either a fixed value or a calculated value, text in red is a changeable value, and cells highlighted in yellow contain values that are questionable, need verification, or are missing, etc. References are listed at the bottom of each worksheet in the Excel file. It should be noted that most references contain errors. Also, if you see any errors or mistakes that I’ve made or have any corrections, please let me know so I can update the files. I'm missing plant production data for 1937-1953. If you have data for these years and you send it to me I will add it to the files.

You will also notice in the detail worksheets, that for some years I have used the reported serial number ranges to calculate the plant production. There is a relationship between serial number and production, but it is not as intuitive as it seams. If we assume that a car/engine serial number/VIN (or at least a portion of it) is sequential, i.e., you add one to the previous number for each unit built, then the relationship between production and serial number for any arbitrary starting and ending sequential number is:

(1) P = E - S + 1

where:

P = production

E = ending sequential number

S = starting sequential number

Let's give an example that is easy to visualize. Let's say we build 5 cars (fingers) and number them 1 through 5. If we subtract 1 from 5 we get 4, which is the difference between the starting and ending numbers. But we want the total production (count), so we use equation (1) to get P = 5-1+1 = 5. Now let's say we build the same five cars, but this time number them 2 through 6. The difference is still 4 (6-2=4) and the total is still 5 (6-2+1=5).

Now if we are clever (and of course Buick engineers are) and choose an appropriate starting number we can simplify equation (1). Over the years Buick used several starting numbers, these included: 1, 1001, 100001, 400001, 501001, 600001, 700001, and 900001. Let's look at one of these in detail and then I will list the equations for the rest. For the starting number of 100001, equation (1) is:

P = E - 100001 + 1

and this reduces to:

P = E - 100000

So for some common starting numbers, equation (1) becomes:

(2a) P = E, for S = 1

(2b) P = E - 1000, for S = 1001

(2c) P = E - 100000, for S = 100001

(2d) P = E - 400000, for S = 400001

(2e) P = E - 501000, for S = 501001

(2f) P = E - 600000, for S = 600001

(2g) P = E - 700000, for S = 700001

(2h) P = E - 900000, for S = 900001

Equation (1) is very useful for calculating plant production for 1954 and later because the serial number format changed in 1954 to a format that has separate starting (S) and ending (E) sequential numbers for each plant. Since equation (1) has three variables (P, E, and S), if you know any two you can calculate the third, thus given S and E we can calculate P. But the calculated results might not match the reported values. There are several reasons for this, and they may include: the reported starting and ending sequential numbers are not correct, the reported production is not correct, or the assumption that the serial number is sequential is not correct, which is the case for the plant serial number ranges for 1937-1953.

For 1937-1953, the serial numbers used at each plant were assigned in blocks and the blocks assigned to each plant were not contiguous. Thus using the starting and ending number for each plant will over estimate the production. However, if you take the lowest starting number and the highest ending number, equation (1) still holds. Lets look at two examples for the years 1935 (production at one plant) and 1953 (production at multiple plants).

For 1935 (production at Flint, MI only):

S = 2777650

E = 2830898

P = 2830898 - 2777650 + 1 = 53,249

Thus the calculated production of 53,249 matches the value reported in places such as "The Buick - A Complete History".

For 1953 (production at seven different plants):

S = 6740001 (lowest starting sequential number was for Flint, MI)

E = 7228805 (highest ending sequential number was for Framingham, MA)

P = 7228805 - 6740001 +1 = 488,805

Again, the calculated production of 488,805 matches the reported value. For some years, some plants used multiple serial number ranges, so you would have to apply equation (1) to each range and then take the sum of the results to find the total plant production.

Equation (1) can also be modified slightly to determine the production number of a car:

(3) P# = A - S + 1

where:

P# = production number of a specific car

A = actual car sequential number of a specific car

S = starting sequential number

For example, let's say we have a car with a VIN that ends with 530641 and we know that the plant started numbering at 400001, then:

P# = 530641 - 400001 +1 = 130641

So our car was the 130,641ST car built at the plant.

If you know the ending sequential number, you can also calculate the reverse of equation (3) as:

(4) RP# = E - A + 1

where:

RP# = reverse production number of a specific car

E = ending sequential number

A = actual car sequential number of a specific car

If you made it to the end of this post without falling asleep, congratulations! Sorry for such a long post. You may have noticed I’m missing data from Ward’s for 1939-1946 and 1948-1950. If you happen to live near Stanford University in California, they have the years 1945 to present:

Ward's automotive yearbook. - SearchWorks (SULAIR)

So if you'd like to take a trip to Stanford and get some data to share, look at the files on my SkyDrive to see what data I used. Here is a list of libraries that have the Ward's Automotive Yearbook, maybe there is one near you:

Ward's automotive yearbook. (Journal, magazine, 1938) [WorldCat.org]

Buick Production by Plant.pdf

Edited by sean1997
Updated PDF with new data (see edit history)
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Wow, great work Sean.

Also, starting in 1956 or 1957, Ward's published data showing the percent of various factory installed equipment and options.

I have heard there is data for 54 'somewhere' but have not be able to get my hands on it. Any help on that would be appreciated.

I would appreciate the link to your SkyDrive for downloading the info you found and will PM you.

Thanks for all the hard work in researching and the explanation of the plant production/sequential numbers here, tha's awesome!!!!!!

Here are some numbers Dave Corbin graciously furnished the '54 Buick Highway before he passed.

Flint, MI..................185,698

South Gate, CA........ 35,857

Linden, NJ................ 54,955

Kansas City, KS......... 57,370

Wilmington, DE.......... 37,786

Atlanta, GA.............. 32,160

Framingham, MA........ 25,346

Arlington, TX............ 15,437

Total......................444,609

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Ward's Automotive Yearbook 1957 has data for accessories and factory equipment for 1955 and 1956 model years. So maybe Ward's Automotive Yearbook 1956 has data for 1954 and 1955 model years, but I was not able to get a copy of Ward's 1956. Hopefully someone can get a copy from their local library so we can find out.

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Guest Rob McDonald

SEAN, thanks so much for sharing your interest and resources, regarding Buick production history. I think David Corbin would thank you for taking on his role in the hobby.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I forgot to mention that the spreadsheet file on my SkyDrive contains these sheets:

US Buick Prod by Plant Summary (same as PDF in this thread)

US Buick Production by Plant (includes production, VIN ranges, and plant codes)

Fisher Buick Body Style Numbers (list of model number, style number, description, production, and wheelbase for 1935-1980)

1935-1980 US Prod. by Model (table of production numbers)

Skyhawk Production Info

1949-1950 Buick Special Prod

CDN Buick Production by Plant

Fisher Body Style Numbers - CDN

1935-1980 Can. Prod. by Model

Buick Engine Serial Numbers (1935-1980 US and Canada)

Edited by sean1997 (see edit history)
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  • 8 years later...
  • 3 years later...

TTT once again. I'm seeing @sean1997 hasn't checked in in over a year, sure hope you're OK Sean.

 

This is only one of so many valuable posts in this Buick forum that I would so love to see in perhaps a searchable spreadsheet index someday. Maybe when I get old and have nothing to do maybe I'll create such. Until then I guess google is our friend,

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  • 2 months later...

If the author of this or the famed centurion is about, re my topic earliest build numbers I would love anything you have on 1958 and 1959 .

Does anyone know if gm can do archive info by serial numbers for these cars?

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On 6/27/2024 at 11:51 AM, 58,59,60 said:

If the author of this or the famed centurion is about, re my topic earliest build numbers I would love anything you have on 1958 and 1959 .

Does anyone know if gm can do archive info by serial numbers for these cars?

https://forums.aaca.org/profile/88178-sean1997/

Sean1997 has not visited the forum since Feb 17, 2023.  Has not responded to an email

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