.....Just wondering......

[00mustng]

.....as the owner of A22Y103439, anyone here own one from the A22 batch...be curious to find out 3438 or 3440 for instance....see what colours...whether there were more Canadian Spec. cars...where they are....this would be from November 2001.....(no more warranty)...Maybe you could help Quickdraw.......Thanks! Martin.

[00mustng]

Re: .....Just wondering......

.....so....from the A22 batch....#3246 is a Whisper White Red Accent Premium..to Washington..#3344 colour unknown....to Quebec..#3375 ...Whisper White Red Accent Premium...to..Ontario....#3490 ...colour unknown....to Kansas...#3604 ..Evening Black...to Kansas...#3697...Torch Red red Accent Premium.....to New York.......

[Quickdraw]

Re: .....Just wondering......

.....as the owner of A22Y103439, anyone here own one from the A22 batch...be curious to find out 3438 or 3440 for instance....see what colours...whether there were more Canadian Spec. cars...where they are....this would be from November 2001.....(no more warranty)...Maybe you could help Quickdraw.......Thanks! Martin.

The "A22" isn't a batch designation. All new Birds have the A... the first 2 is a variable and the second 2 is the year. Check the VIN code meanings here:
http://portholeauthority.com/thenewtbird/facts/vincodes.html Being familair with assembly plants but not Wixom specifically I would say they are not made in "batches" at all but that approximately every 9th vehicle is a Thunderbird. Yours and the two VIN codes on either side of yours are here:

1FAHP60A02Y103438
Date Ordered: 4/10/2001
Date Built: 10/19/2001
At Dealer: 11/6/2001
Sold Date: 11/29/2001

1FAHP60A22Y103439 (yours)
Date Ordered: 2/14/2001
Date Built: 10/19/2001
At Dealer: 11/6/2001
Sold Date: 11/8/2001

1FAHP60A92Y103440
Date Ordered: 3/14/2001
Date Built: 10/19/2001
At Dealer: 10/30/2001
Sold Date: 11/15/2001

Although all three were built the same day this doesn't mean they were built in this order. A four digit "rotation number" determines the exact sequence they are built. This four digit number should be above the VIN on the VIN sticker on the left front fender flange under the hood. Mine was too faint to read however. I don't have any way to determine what colors the ones on either side of yours were.

[5bird7]

Re: .....Just wondering......

when Martin's was made, they were all on one dedicated Thunderbird line and the sequence number went right along with them. rtbird kept a log of the sequence #s of members and others that were sent to him in 2001/2002. The logs are still on the newtbirddata site. I don't think we had ever enough members to ever get two built the same day let alone with sequence numbers even close. The sequence numbers did however correlate fairly close to the vin #s which is why we know they were dedicated to the Thunderbird line.
We had a Wixom painter member who told us that the colors were done in small batches of about 10. Some of the photos I've seen of the assembly line verify that colors did go together down the line. Maybe some of those that were able to take the tours back then would verify that.

[00mustng]

Re: .....Just wondering......

....thanks for this.....I used batch for lack of a better word......I was under the impression that the cars built around mine would have A22 in their VINs.....Thanks Quickdraw for showing me that it's not the case.....now I understand.......I think!....I will wonder what colour the cars either side of mine were........I wonder how many 'Birds have A22 in their VINs.....sorry....this stuff just fascinates me......

[NC2k2TBird]

Re: .....Just wondering......

00mustgn - you a bean counter?

[5bird7]

Re: .....Just wondering......

Martin, like quickdraw said, the first 2 of the A22 is a variable - assigned randomly - nothing to do with color and is called a "check" digit.
The only way to see if there are any before and after your car of your color would be to find sequence numbers in a row.


There used to be a formula on the net for calculating the check digit (I had it on my site but the link was no longer valid and the site it went to doesn't seem to have a replacement page for it.) It was not a particularly easy formula to follow but some were able to make it thru all the steps and verify that it worked with the known check digits amongst us.

[00mustng]

Re: .....Just wondering......

......No....just need to get a life, I guess...he...he....actually Math was my weakest subject....I just find owning a relatively low production vehicle....the details are fascinating.......I was just as crazy for detail, when I owned my Jensens.......

[00mustng]

Re: .....Just wondering......

.....ok ok ok....I promise I'll let this go....but on the only registry I know there are 365 'Birds from A22Y100007 to A22Y131466........not consecutive of course....Cheers!

[5bird7]

Re: .....Just wondering......

Ah HA! - now I know why your question. That particular registry alphabetizes their complete VIN and the check digit is the first one it encounters that will change for the normal run of Thunderbirds (special editions are sorted out earlier because their body codes are different and it comes earlier in the vin#).
That registry is no where complete so right now would be way too early to try to explain only 365 with a #2 check digit - that number will change as more add to the registry.

[00mustng]

Re: .....Just wondering......

.......so now you see, Dot, how I got all tangled up in this......but I'm allright now!...Cheers!......

[Quickdraw]

Re: .....Just wondering......

.....ok ok ok....I promise I'll let this go....but on the only registry I know there are 365 'Birds from A22Y100007 to A22Y131466........not consecutive of course....Cheers!

As stated before, that first 2 in A22 is a check digit... the first digit after the 2 can be a 0-9 or "X" so assuming a fairly even distribution of the possible check digits we could expect about 2,800 Thunderbirds to have the "A22"

[5bird7]

Re: .....Just wondering......

and Martin, I'm glad to see that you got whatever fixed so you can post here again --- or are you still visiting in England?

[PA 02 Bird]

Re: .....Just wondering......

Check Digit Calculations Attached....

[TBird02]

Re: .....Just wondering......

Whew! Too much information...