Classic/Antique Car Repair: Vin Numbers, newer cars, sequential numbers

Question
Dick, do you know where I can decode the Serial number on my '51 Mercury> It is 51SL59927M. Thanks!

Answer
I can tell you a little bit about it: it was built in Saint Louis, about 1/2 of the way through the year's
production run - it was probably built in February or March of 1951.   The sequential numbers ran from 10,001 to 127,830 for Saint Louis.  There isn't any more info in the serial number - no options or body style info is coded into it, the way it is for newer cars.

Dick