Vintage Cars: vin numbers for 1940 vehicle, serial number plate, ford trucks

Question
I have read that vin numbers were not in use until 1953 and the first vehicle was a corvette. The problem I am having is that I need to register my 1940 ford truck in Nevada (previously in Utah) and they want to verify a vin number before they will register the car. I am not sure what I can do to get this registered....has anyone else had this problem with their classic cars?

Answer
My sympathies - another case of state government making rules about things they know nothing about. Such is our society today!

This is a fairly common problem. Most manufacturers didn't use a VIN number, but they did use a serial number or a "car number" which was affixed to the car's body somewhere. Most of the time, this plate (showing the manufacturer's name and address) was riveted to the firewall, but in the case of my Hupmobile Skylark (and most Graham-Paige manufactured vehicles), this plate was riveted to the rear passenger side footwell, under the carpet. This lead to a great many of these vehicles being registered under the engine number, which was readily visible, and which causes collectors much consternation with DMV people.

Do you have a title? If so, your task is much easier. This will list the vehicle's ID number, and usually all the DMV folks want to do is to match what's on the title with a number on the car. If you can't find a serial number plate, perhaps someone has reproduced them - buy one, stamp the number from the title on it with a metal stamp, and affix it to the vehicle in the correct location and then go to DMV.

If you don't have a title, then you probably need to get one. There are several title services out there, and you can Google "Collector Car Titles" and you will see them listed. If you can't find the serial number plate for your truck, then you will need to create one as I recommended in the previous step.

I would also contact a club for Ford Trucks, to see if they can guide you as to the correct location for the serial number plate, if anyone has reproduced the plates, or if there are any hidden locations where the serial number is stamped. My Hupmobile has the number stamped onto the frame under the right front fender, and corroborates the serial number plate.

Hope this helps, and good luck with the DMV folks.