"MARY LOU IS A WHAT?"

I've joined a few different Facebook groups for 1955/1956 Dodges.  I learned about the possibility of getting a "build card".  A build card provides the specs on the car as it came down the assembly line...what engine it had and what accessories, etc.  There was no cost to order but I had to provide a copy of the title to the car and the Serial Number (no VIN numbers back then).

OUR BUILD CARD

The Serial Number alone would not have told us what we have (see below).

The Serial Number can be found on our car when you open the driver’s side door (ours is 34922295). From this number, we can determine our car was built in Detroit and the 31,047^th car built that year. 

We learned we do NOT have a Dodge ROYAL Lancer but rather a CORONET Lancer.  The number 216 circled on the build card indicates a Coronet Lancer with a V-8 engine (see charts below). 

Royal below with number 226

Here are model numbers for all 1955 Dodges

Lancer was the designation for hardtop or convertible (although I've seen it used describing 4-door cars as well).  The bodies were the same for Coronet, Royal and Custom Royal.  Some of the differences were the trim and the Custom Royal got bolted on chrome fins.  There were 26,727 Coronet Lancers built that year (about 24% of total Coronet production and about 8.5% of total Dodge production that year).  A new 1955 Dodge Coronet Lancer would have cost $2260.  The average car that year cost $1900.

SO...we will need to change our car show sign and our license plates but who would have known with all of the badging and some of the chrome removed?  We are glad to know more about her.

FUN FACT!  Mary Lou was "born" (assembled) on May 20, 1955.  May 20 is our wedding anniversary 😊💕

Below is the email I received with the build card.  We can see that the car was delivered to a now-defunct dealer in Burlington, IA.

Hello Alan,

Thank you for your patience while we work through our orders. Attached please find the copy of the build card for your vehicle. The selling dealer was Sheagren-Hunt Company, located in Burlington, IA.

Please note, we cannot reprint build cards any differently.  The build cards were put on microfilm many years before they arrived to the archives.  Everything possible has been done to provide you with the best copy from our files.  We cannot make the build cards any larger or clearer, than what has been provided to you. 

We are also unable to provide the decoding of the build records due to a high volume of requests and limited staffing.  I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

We hope you find this information useful.

Danielle Szostak-Viers

Stellantis Historical Services

12501 Chrysler Freeway

CIMS 410-11-21

Detroit, MI 48288