Mark II serial numbers

[Alan Terek]

I just found your site and hope you can provide some information. I'm an appraiser working on an estate. No body has any knowledge of the vehicles but I'm sure your group can help me with this one. It's a Mark II, serial number C56D2874. I've determined from previous posts that this is a 1957 Mark, from the "D" in the number and was the 1873rd Mark built. Does this look correct? The car has a little over 49,000 miles. The car is painted white with a black and white interior. Any information anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[jdsnoddy]

Welcome. 2874 is a 1956 model. This car was originally sold in New Jersey March 1956. It was originally dark green with green leather interior and did NOT have factory A/C. It also came with front bumper guards. You can find the complete history by putting the VIN
In the forum search box on the upper right hand side. Here is the link:
https://www.markiiforum.com/showthread.php?2635-2874-No-History-Found-After-Original-New-Jersey-Dealer&highlight=2874

Invoice Date: 3/1/56
Date Shipped: 3/9/56
Alexander Motors, Inc.
940 Prospect
Trenton, New Jersey

SPEC: 05-1C2D
Original Invoice Specifications - 05 1C2D
Continental Color: Deep Green
Trim: Light Green Leather Seat Biscuits, Medium Green Leather Seat Bolsters w/ Light Green Welts
Tinted Glass
Front Bumper With Lic. Plate

Since the VIN is 2874 and the standard difference is around 982 (but could have a difference of up to 989) we would expect your original engine number around the range of (1892-1885.)

And this is a repeat posting of Joseph Stebbins from this thread: https://www.markiiforum.com/showthread.php?7854

First all factory engines have a SN stamped (Not cast) into the top of the block by the Distributor. AC blocks are marked at the front by the Oil filler.
The numbers are approximate but close - please see this thread -

https://www.markiiforum.com/showthread.php?5329-Engine-Number

We love pics; please post. Also please send any ownership or other info you may have. Clues to ownership could be: name on the "Continental" carpet plate; old registrations; old insurance policies; bills of sale etc. Again welcome. John

[Graham Rollo]

Have just brought C56D2663, but when enter in top right search comes up blank, have traced under data base to Arnold O Beckman as first buyer, looking for more data, regards Graham Rollo, New Zealand

[Nick DeSpirito]

Google Continental Mark II Registry. Info on your car is there. Here is what is posted on the site. Page # 85


Serial Number
C56D2663
Color
14
Interior
2A1A
Comments
AC, BG
Original Owner
Beckman, A. 0.
Selling Dealer
City Lincoln-Mercury Co.
Dealer City
Pasadena
Dealer State
CA
Ownership Info
FS Malibu Carz, CA
Known To Be
CA
Verified/Condition
2010

[Graham Rollo]

Thank you regards Graham Rollo

[John Boija]

Greetings, I just inspected a 1956 Continental Mark II yesterday and would like to understand what can be read from the codes below the serial number:

Serial No: C56D2798
Body Specification: 14-1B6M-221-6
Style: II-60A

Color Code: 14

Interior Code:
1 = biscuit and bolster combination (1 = leather)
B = biscuit color (B = ?)
6 = bolster color (6 = ?)
M = leather welting color (M = ?)

Any help would be appreciated! /John Boija

[Barry Wolk]

Greetings, I just inspected a 1956 Continental Mark II yesterday and would like to understand what can be read from the codes below the serial number:

Serial No: C56D2798
Body Specification: 14-1B6M-221-6
Style: II-60A

Color Code: 14

Interior Code:
1 = biscuit and bolster combination (1 = leather)
B = biscuit color (B = ?)
6 = bolster color (6 = ?)
M = leather welting color (M = ?)

Any help would be appreciated! /John Boija

It was made in February of 1956.

The car was originally white. Leather interior had blue biscuits, white bolsters, and deep red welting.

Photos?

[Milsteads Garage]

If you are a sponsoring member, you get to see everything we have on your car and more. With as vile as Facebook has gotten, many of us came back to this forum to talk about these cars without the targeted ads, data selling and bad attitudes. It’s a buck a month, learn everything about your car.

[John Boija]

Barry,

many thanks for your swift and kind response! Attaching a picture from the interior. It confirms everything you say, except the blue biscuits. The interior looks pretty authentic to me but who knows what can have changed in the last 65 years...

23684

The car was featured in The Barn Find Hunter series in 2016. If you go about 12 minutes into the show you'll get right to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iniaL2PxOQI

All the best! /John

[John Boija]

Morgan,

appreciate your advice.

I did actually become a sponsoring member first thing but apparently it takes a day or so before it kicks in and I'll have to learn to navigate the forum first anyway.

All the best! /John

[Milsteads Garage]

We have breakdowns on the interior codes which is your 1B6M code. It is a little hard to find on here but 221-6 means the following: February 21st production date: 6 one off the line that day. From what I remember, car 3418 (we categorize and identify them by the last 4 of the vin) was the first 1957. So while yours is technically a 56, many states categorized the year of the car as the first year it was registered, not manufactured. There have been a few cases of owners reporting this over the years.

[Barry Wolk]

Pat, since we know 1248 is missing. Are there others? Do the invoices all exist? Can we conclude that the missing Invoices all have Introductory Unit designations. Can you provide me with a list of numbers to present?

[Pat Marshall]

Please see my 9/19 post in the INTRODUCTORY UNITS -

In it I reported the invoices missing from my invoice set:

Prototypes (3)
9500, 9501, 9502F
Two Car Pre-Pre-Production Special Run (1000 & 999) (1)
999
Pre-Production Cars (10)
975,976, 978-985
Regular Production Cars (206)
1001, 1003-1014, 1016-1272, 1274, 1280, 1297-1309
1331-1335, 1339-1341, 1347-1348, 1354, 1390, 1400,
1402, 1405, 1406, 1436, 1497, 1716, 1769, 1998.

Whether the missing invoices from my set are all IU's or just missing invoices, I can't 100% say. However, until proven otherwise, for purposes of writing car histories, I assume they are IU's.

Please clarify your request for "a list of numbers to present?"

I also came across this email from Axel Holm that I received years ago - “I discovered the Mark II invoices in 1967 when visiting in Dearborn, Michigan. They were on the floor in a box in an engineering office at the Lincoln assembly plant in Wixom, MI. I arranged to get copies, and then recorded the information.”

I don’t know if the missing ones were destroyed in the 1962 Ford Rotunda fire (some of the Ford Archives were lost) or what happened to them.