Old Dealer Codes

[demonhead]

I have a 66 Monaco 500 I have restored and am looking for a dealer code where it was sold. I am told it was in Oklahoma, maybe even Oklahoma City. The code is 55697 as per the glove box writing when they serviced it then. I know these codes are hard to come by but if anyone has the info, it is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[LocuMob]

Email FCA Historical, with a photo of the title in your name, and they will send you a photo of the IBM card that was made for your car. They will tell you the dealership it was sold from.

Nice car btw, wish I had the money to buy it. A real 440 car would be nice to add to the fleet.

 

[marko]

wow ! that's actually readable ! unfortunately the IBM card pics ive received have been very faded and blurred; but thats a result of the way the image was 1st stored, not any fault of the historical services dept.
i met danielle on a tour of the concept car warehouse with the national wpc club in 2019, very nice lady.
she explained they dont have the staff to provide any more info than the copies of the IBM cards

 

[CBODY67]

The IBM card that came with our '66 Newport, which we bought used with 7100 local miles on it when the new '67s first arrived, was not of the best quality back then, much less after the ink on the card had more time to evaporate or dissipate into the card itself. Looked more like the IBM typewriter/printer needed a new ribbon in it?

About 10 years ago, I received a requst for some information from our family Bible. Not wanting to harm it by making copies, I got a 15MP point/shoot camera and carefully took pictures in a well-lighted room. The pencil writings were not very legible, but the resultant images were clear and defined, much more than just to look at them. I was suprised and the requestor was pleased with what I emailed her.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[JC68vert300]

Just some info, FCA historical only has IBM card info up to model year 1967.

 

[hergfest]

Chrysler Historical is still shut down due to COVID, tried getting a build card this week and they said hopefully by the end of the year.
55697 was Beutz Motors Inc Mankato, MN.

 

[LocuMob]

wow ! that's actually readable ! unfortunately the IBM card pics ive received have been very faded and blurred; but thats a result of the way the image was 1st stored, not any fault of the historical services dept.
i met danielle on a tour of the concept car warehouse with the national wpc club in 2019, very nice lady.
she explained they dont have the staff to provide any more info than the copies of the IBM cards

Chrysler Historical is still shut down due to COVID, tried getting a build card this week and they said hopefully by the end of the year.
55697 was Beutz Motors Inc Mankato, MN.

Have a list of dealer numbers? (Or internet?)

 

[demonhead]

I have a 66 Monaco 500 I have restored and am looking for a dealer code where it was sold. I am told it was in Oklahoma, maybe even Oklahoma City. The code is 55697 as per the glove box writing when they serviced it then. I know these codes are hard to come by but if anyone has the info, it is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!View attachment 405213

Email FCA Historical, with a photo of the title in your name, and they will send you a photo of the IBM card that was made for your car. They will tell you the dealership it was sold from.

Nice car btw, wish I had the money to buy it. A real 440 car would be nice to add to the fleet.

View attachment 405214
View attachment 405215

thanks for all the information guys! Very much appreciated for sure. I will contact FCA Historical ASAP and wait for the information. Will be great to have an IBM card!

 

[69CoronetRT]

Have a list of dealer numbers? (Or internet?)

There are some dealer numbers listed here: Dealership Database

 

[LocuMob]

There are some dealer numbers listed here: Dealership Database

I found the dealerships, but no dealer numbers with them. The search continues.

 

[69CoronetRT]

I found the dealerships, but no dealer numbers with them. The search continues.

Hmmm. I thought he used to have dealer numbers listed also as I sent him some.

 

[jollyjoker]

Comprehensive list of dealer codes is like searching for the Dead Sea Scrolls! I have been looking for years. I do have a copy of an official list that I found on the internet a few years ago. Unfortunately it is dated April 86, about 15-20 years newer than what we're generally interested in, but it is better than nothing. I,too, attempted to compile a list - and I do still add dealership codes into it, whenever I come across them, especially the older ones. But, for those of you who have never seen an actual Chrysler list - it is approx 130 pages, with approx 30 entries per page. Do the math, it's a lot! Organized by region, then alphabetical by city, after that. An individual number is not easy to find. All that being said, after 30 years, I still haven't found the codes inside of my glove box door! The search continues . . .

 

[PeugFra]

Burried at the Automotive News site I found a 127-page list of Chrysler dealers, with their codes. The list is fairly recent, but there are old codes as well. For instance, code 61116, seen on a 1978 New Yorker's window sticker, is included. Your dealer code 55697 is not, however.

The list is slightly different from list that @jollyjoker is referring to, because this one is alphabetically ordered by dealer name. As the file is called "Chryslerdealersremain.pdf", maybe it is from May, 2009, as Chrysler announced it would be closing 789 dealerships.

Update: Yes, it is from 2009. You can also download the full list of dealerships, closed and remaining, only take care to save it as an XLS file.

 

[PeugFra]

The name space of these dealership codes is enormous, spanning 5000 - 68999, with the range 10000-24999 possibly not in use for US dealerships in the period we are interested in.

Some examples:
05475 Sternberg Chrysler Center, Inc., Jasper, IN. Incorporated September 19, 1952
25047 Deloach Dodge, Inc., Monroe, LA. Incorporated September 28, 1967
37516 L.P. Steuart Silver Springs, Inc., Silver Springs, MD. Incorporated April 12, 1939
39659 Pepper Auto Sales, Inc., Syracuse, NY. Incorporated July 22, 1958
65833 Huff Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., Boone, NC. Incorporated May 12, 1976
68923 Swaffer's Gateway Chrysler, Inc., Clare, MI. Founded 1971

And from outside the assumed available name space:
12003 Chrysler Corporation Fleet Division Employee Lease, Detroit, MI
13715 Alberic Dodge Chrysler Corp., San Juan, Puerto Rico
69907 Feeny CP/Citicapital Leasing, 2312 Trinity Mills Rd, Carrollton, TX
90041 Chrysler Motors Corporation, Cincinnati, OH

That makes theoretically for 64,000 - 15,000 = 49,000 codes out there. For a comparison with this outcome, it would be nice to know the maximum number of ChryCo dealerships at any single point in time. Still, any heroic attempt at getting the codes together in one place is likely bound to fail.

 

[69CoronetRT]

The name space of these dealership codes is enormous, spanning 5000 - 68999, with the range 10000-24999 possibly not in use for US dealerships in the period we are interested in.

Some examples:
05475 Sternberg Chrysler Center, Inc., Jasper, IN. Incorporated September 19, 1952
25047 Deloach Dodge, Inc., Monroe, LA. Incorporated September 28, 1967
37516 L.P. Steuart Silver Springs, Inc., Silver Springs, MD. Incorporated April 12, 1939
39659 Pepper Auto Sales, Inc., Syracuse, NY. Incorporated July 22, 1958
65833 Huff Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., Boone, NC. Incorporated May 12, 1976
68923 Swaffer's Gateway Chrysler, Inc., Clare, MI. Founded 1971

And from outside the assumed available name space:
12003 Chrysler Corporation Fleet Division Employee Lease, Detroit, MI
13715 Alberic Dodge Chrysler Corp., San Juan, Puerto Rico
69907 Feeny CP/Citicapital Leasing, 2312 Trinity Mills Rd, Carrollton, TX
90041 Chrysler Motors Corporation, Cincinnati, OH

That makes theoretically for 64,000 - 15,000 = 49,000 codes out there. For a comparison with this outcome, it would be nice to know the maximum number of ChryCo dealerships at any single point in time. Still, any heroic attempt at getting the codes together in one place is likely bound to fail.

I've seen one of the listings from 67. It is hundreds of pages. It contains not only the external dealer codes and addresses but many of the internal Chrysler codes and locations.

With the number of dealership openings, closings, consolidating, selling, etc., this list is only as accurate as that quarter. A dealership that existed in the summer of 68 may have changed hands, name and location by the fall of 69.

 

[PeugFra]

With the number of dealership openings, closings, consolidating, selling, etc., this list is only as accurate as that quarter. A dealership that existed in the summer of 68 may have changed hands, name and location by the fall of 69.

All true! Although the corporations I mentioned as examples were all active during (a part of) our period of interest (1965-1978), there is another problem connected with projecting the 2009 data on that period. If a company doesn't have a reference to Chrysler in its name, how can you know when its Chrysler dealership started? And generally speaking, a company may continue to exist after giving up its Chrysler dealership and dormant corporations may not have been delisted.

IK Motors, Inc., in Hilo, HI, was incorporated only April 30, 1965. But as Kamaaina Motors, "one of the oldest Chrysler Dealers in the United States", they had been selling Chrysler products since 1936. L.P. Steuart Silver Springs, Inc., in Silver Springs, MD and Washington, DC, was incorporated April 12, 1939, which practically coincided with the start of their Chrysler dealership. Even if it is not delisted, "with the losses over the past three years" its dealership activities ended by November 1977.

On the bright side, there are some more gaps in the assumed 5000 - 68999 code range for dealerships, bringing down the total number of possible codes to 36,000.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

The dealer my 1967 Barracuda was originally sold was Guy Moothart Chrysler Plymouth in Compton California, moved to Lakewood California about 68 and later to Ceritos California their dealer code was 5101

Alan

 

[PeugFra]

That's the spirit!

The April, 1986 dealer directory @jollyjoker mentioned is viewable at a Facebook page called "Dealerships Of The Past". That document also gives the start of the dealership status. With about 32 entries per page, a total of 132 pages and allowing for some half-empty pages, in April 1986 Chrysler had about 4,200 dealerships. That's far less than the 36,000 available code points.

And no, code 55697 that started off this whole thread is not there. So the dealership connected with it must have folded before 1986.

 

[jollyjoker]

Any chance of getting ahold of that 1967 list???

 

[Fratzog]

Burried at the Automotive News site I found a 127-page list of Chrysler dealers, with their codes. The list is fairly recent, but there are old codes as well. For instance, code 61116, seen on a 1978 New Yorker's window sticker, is included. Your dealer code 55697 is not, however.

The list is slightly different from list that @jollyjoker is referring to, because this one is alphabetically ordered by dealer name. As the file is called "Chryslerdealersremain.pdf", maybe it is from May, 2009, as Chrysler announced it would be closing 789 dealerships.

Update: Yes, it is from 2009. You can also download the full list of dealerships, closed and remaining, only take care to save it as an XLS file.

Thanks for sharing. I was able to find the dealer for my Polara!
BENOY MOTOR SALES INC 1790 SOUTH EASTWOOD DR 57686 DTCJ WOODSTOCK, IL 60098-4657 RAYMOND C BENOY