The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1940 with build date in 1941...Is it possible?

I came across a 1940 half ton for sale on FB. Reached out with a few questions. The vehicle serial number he gave seems off a bit but he verified as best he could.

21KC112651

21 = Janesville WI plant
KC = 1/2 ton commercial
1 = 1941 and this should be a zero I thought
1 = January which may make sense if the last of that year (1940) and body style (which changed for 1941) rolled out in January 1941
2651 = sequential build _ this being fairly low makes me think it may be POSSIBLE

I appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

Brendan - The first picture below is taken from this page in the 1929-41 Chevrolet Master Parts Book. Note that the 1940 Commercial 1/2 ton is identified as a "KC" model. The second and third pictures are from the 1940 Chevrolet Truck Data PDF, also confirming the KC Model year and decoding instructions.

The correct decode for your provided serial number is:

21 = Janesville Plant
KC = 1940 Model year Commercial 1/2 ton truck
1 11 = Built in the month of January November 1940
12651 2651 = 11651st 1651st truck off the Janesville line for that year.

I'd say no doubt that the truck should in fact be a 1940 Chevy KC 1/2 ton, presuming the cab still sits on the original chassis, etc. etc...

Edit Note: After looking at later info posted by Brendan, I realized I incorrectly decoded the original info so corrections are noted above.

AAAAAAHHHHH - I was mixed up a bit where the digits start after KC. Thanks a bunch Dan.

Always glad to help.

Dan,
Here is my pickup serial number
21KC037241
With the info above on the FB for sale pickup, what does the zero in my serial stand for? I thought mine was
21 = Janesville
KC = 1/2 ton commercial
0 = 1940 I thought but for the other PU the 1 here is January
3 = March I thought but that would be incorrect as well
7241 = sequential build but this would be off by 30,000 if the above is also incorrect

I appreciate your info.

Brendan - After seeing your reply, I revised my original decoding of the FB offered truck serial number. I should have noted that the month "number" is represented by the first 2 digits following the model designation using the example in the 3rd picture I posted from the 1940 Truck Data PDF.

I've edited that info in the reply above to show the correct decoding.

For your serial number decode, the "03" after "KC" would indicate the build month as March and the unit number 7241 would indicate it was the 6241st truck off the line in Janesville.

Which leads to another inconsistency. How do you have a truck supposedly built in March with a "7241" sequence number and also have a truck built in November at the same plant with a lower "2651" sequence number? I think the FB sellers info may not be accurate, and the only way to resolve this is to get a picture of the FB Truck data plate so we can see exactly what is stamped on it. Then maybe also a picture of your plate for comparison.

Sorry if this is still murky as mud.

Ask the seller to take clear photos of the numbers.

November of 1939 and March of 1940. The 1940 trucks came out in October of 1939

That makes sense. I did get a picture of the plate and the SN he gave is correct, so that PU built was built Nov., 1939 as you state jimgmc and mine was March 1940.

A big "THANKS" to jimgmc for the detailed info on the introduction of 1940 Chevrolet trucks in October 1939. The information clears up the presumption I made when trying to decode the info.

Jim - Can I ask where the info came from? It's probably in an obvious spot that I overlooked , but it would great to know such details, at least for me.

I have a question about the "sequence Number".

I am under the impression that on later models of the trucks, the "sequence number" started at something like 10001 for the year. On my 1940 KC vehicle ID tag it shows a "sequence number" of 5407. Does anyone know if they started the numbering for that year at 0001 or at 1001?

It appears that my ID tag indicates that it too was created in 1939 for the 1940 model year.

Nick - The sequence numbers started at 1001 at each assembly plant.

Your tag with the "12" following the "KC" would indicate, following jimgmc's info, that your truck is a 1940 model and was built in December 1939. It should be noted though that your truck was built at the "Kansas City Missouri" plant as denoted by the "5" at the beginning of your data plate. Seems maybe the Kansas City Plant was cranking them out faster the Janesville Plant.

Thanks Dan!

Dan- Standard Catalog of American Light-Duty Trucks page 46 by John A. Gunnell.

Thanks Jim.

I have one of those and didn’t think to look in there - duh.