Help Deciphering the Commission #

[STL_Joe]

Have a 1965? Spitfire 4. the attached photo of the commission plate seems confusing. Is the # FC33750 L or is it FC3375 O L, or maybe, as I look closer, Q? And what does the "L" stand for anyway? Is there any way to determine which year and better yet what month the vehicle was produced?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DNK]

Some help HELP

Here too?

#=L for LHS.

 

[STL_Joe]

I was woncering if the spacing looked correct. Is it normal to have
large gaps between the characters?

 

[Andrew Mace]

Is it normal to have large gaps between the characters?

Yes, it's perfectly normal, especially on that vintage of commission number plate. I've heard the story that the plates tended to be stamped in groups of ten, so all the stamping tools for the the characters preceding that final digit were somehow clamped together, then that final digit was stamped separately, which would explain the usual gap and slight misalignment compared to the preceding numbers. Presumably, suffix letters such as "L" (left-hand drive) and "O" (overdrive) were also stamped separately.

 

[TonyPanchot]

Joe,

Told ya the L was for LHD and the O = overdrive

HA !!

 

[Andrew Mace]

Just so we're clear, the "O" for overdrive would be the very last suffix character. If the above Spitfire were factory equipped with overdrive, the commission number would be FC3375LO (or maybe FC33750LO, but you get the idea).