My 55 sunliner is unusual as it has a 56 body and other small parts and has a fourth color in the interior when there should only be three,from what I can tell it looks like they ran out of the color that matches the body ans substituted a light blue to get it out the door. My dad bought this car new and was built and delivered in august and he said in a couple weeks later the 56s were out so I am wondering if it was the last or close to the last 55 built at the Louisville plant,with the color substitution in the interior I would think it was the last mountain green car built.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

Last Louisville car I have data plate infomation on is a 64A #183719 built August 19, 1955. What is your cars unit number and build date.

From what I can figure mine was built on august 9 and its 76B 179357,if there were 10 more days of production then there must be a lot of 55s with 56 parts or could it be that since mine is a convertible that they ran out of parts. I have the paper work and the invoice was typed up on august 17.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

Jeff, what parts are 56 on body? if my memory serves me, 55,s had 1 bolt in center of hinge where bolts to piller and 56 had 2. Often the new release had earlier parts still used. interesing case.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

It has a 56 firewall and quarter panels,the 56 firewall has a recess for the throttle linkage that the 55 does not and where the striker plates attach to the quarter are recessed a little more since the door latches stick out a little farther on a 56 then on the 55s. It also has 56 door seals and padded sun visors,if there were at least 10 more days of production after mine was built were all the 55s built at the Louisville plant built with 56 parts like mine or did they run out of 55 convertible bodies only and why does mine have light blue material in a green and white interior.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

I would not be surprised if '56 parts were used for late '55 models as long as the critical dimensions were the same so that everything still fit together correctly. It would not be the first time a manufacturer did such a thing.
These sorts of things are not usually well documented so the only way to know is to find someone who was there, working at the assembly plant and by now, their memories may be unreliable, if they don't have any hard proof. You could also try to find other owners of late '55s and if the same trend is followed, it is probably correct but that could be time consuming.

As far as the 4 colors, what I see is paint and fabric that is very likely 58 years old. Those fade and by now will not look like they did originally. That could be why it looks like 4 colors. The fabric and paint may not have been an exact match to begin with.


Lawrenceville, GA

Maybe it was built on a Friday? Or on a Monday morning after a long weekend?

Reminds me of a guy at work showing off his new Chevy 4X Truck. Everyone was Ooooin' and Ahhhin' but something didn't look quite right. Then someone noticed it had Chevy badges down one side of the truck and GM badges down the other. True story...

edit: Weird, Never said my post was uploaded then I just got the Dreaded Yellow Error page again??

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

The material in the interior has not faded since where it did not get any sun is the same as what is showing,I have found a replacement for that light blue from LeBaron Bonney so the factory ran out of the correct color. I am going to look at every 55 I see at shows and see if I can find more august built 55s and see if they have any 56 parts like mine.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

I posted on the CVA forum about august built 55s and see if anyone speaks up.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

Jeff, had trouble posting this the other day, i,m not supprised you have next yrs parts in last of model run, makes sense thay dont wait till end of 55 to start making 56 models, best example is my 56 MK II Lincoln, it is in the last batch of 56,s but has 57 body.

yyy

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia