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Should We Continue (or Stop) Looking for Serial Numbers and Letters?

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Should We Continue (or Stop) Looking for Serial Numbers and Letters?

  • Yes (continue)

    Votes: 40 88.9%
  • No (stop)

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • Not Sure

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I'd like to keep an open mind

    Votes: 2 4.4%
  • No comment (too controversial)

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • Other (please state)

    Votes: 1 2.2%

  • Total voters
    45

Archie Sturmer

Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Some suggest that serial numbers are not important to the hobby or that we should stop looking for letter prefixes;
yet there are a few collaborative threads dedicated to this exact purpose.
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/shelby-badged-serial-numbers-prewar.145931/

A "Yes" vote means in favor of reading serial numbers and sharing on this site.
A "No" vote means opposed to reading serial numbers and sharing such information.
 
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Some suggest that serial numbers are not important to the hobby or that we should stop looking for letter prefixes;
yet there are a few collaborative threads dedicated to this exact purpose.
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/shelby-badged-serial-numbers-prewar.145931/

A "Yes" vote means in favor of reading serial numbers and sharing on this site.
A "No" vote means opposed to reading serial numbers and sharing such information.
Wow. NOBODY said anything about NOT looking at serial numbers. This was NOT SAID. Certainly not by me. This is an incredibly absurd and twisted claim. I shouldn't waste the time to comment at all, but I see there is a political effort afoot to pervert what I said into what you WANT me to have said.

You guys are really persistent in endless arguing. Made it into an art. Which I guess is all one has if one doesn't know any better. For some, the hobby is not vintage bicycles... it is endless arguing and internet trolling. But if you put this much energy into listening and learning instead of arguing and rectal retorts, there would not be such persistent mysteries in these matters. So yet another silly argument seems to be valid. Well? Mass hysteria will not overrule facts– at least not on a rational planet. Nor will rampant boosterism. Nor will mob rule. Might (as in convincing people to cast votes based on tainted, skewed or biased claims) may seem right. And coloring what I said to make it appear "ridiculous" to those who prefer the "guess-at-it-and-conclude" method is merely twisting what I said to make your own absurd point. And to get people riled up. Good job.

What I said– ONE LAST TIME AND NO FURTHER COMMENT FROM ME AFTER THIS because this is just one more endless political and biased argument– is this: letter prefixes in and of themselves do NOT determine the year of a Shelby-Made Bicycle (SMB). And if you are looking only for a prefix in order to determine a year, you are wasting your time and spinning your wheels. PERIOD. WHY? Because not all Shelby-Made Bicycles had a letter prefix. PERIOD. Furthermore, SOME YEARS had SOME MODELS/BRANDS with no prefix at all. WHILE during the SAME YEAR other models/brands did indeed have a letter prefix. So the prefix is not the be-all and end-all determining factor.

Therefore... any SMB serial number analysis based soley on some letter prefix will– by fact– be a blind alley and a waste of your time.

Of course, it is YOUR time, so feel free to waste it. And feel free to post silly "vote-on-it" notions based on false premises. And wild goose chases. The old saying that one can lead a horse to water, but one cannot force that horse to drink applies here.

By all means... get out there are keep collecting those serial numbers. Get busy! And keep looking for the letter prefixes that reveal deep secrets. And keep marveling with the wild claims as to why ...OMG! There's no letter prefix! This must be one of those mysterious prototype models assembled in a snowstorm on July 4th ... done by candlelight in the basement during an eclipse! By golly, let's vote on looking for more of these!!!!! Drink that Kool-Aid!!!!!

Seriously? No more comments (or input of facts from actual records) from me. Have fun.
 
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Wow. NOBODY said anything about NOT looking at serial numbers. This was NOT SAID. Certainly not by me. This is an incredibly absurd and twisted claim. I shouldn't waste the time to comment at all, but I see there is a political effort afoot to pervert what I said into what you WANT me to have said.

You guys are really persistent in endless arguing. Made it into an art. Which I guess is all one has if one doesn't know any better. For some, the hobby is not vintage bicycles... it is endless arguing and internet trolling. But if you put this much energy into listening and learning instead of arguing and rectal retorts, there would not be such persistent mysteries in these matters. So yet another silly argument seems to be valid. Well? Mass hysteria will not overrule facts– at least not on a rational planet. Nor will rampant boosterism. Nor will mob rule. Might (as in convincing people to cast votes based on tainted, skewed or biased claims) may seem right. And coloring what I said to make it appear "ridiculous" to those who prefer the "guess-at-it-and-conclude" method is merely twisting what I said to make your own absurd point. And to get people riled up. Good job.

What I said– ONE LAST TIME AND NO FURTHER COMMENT FROM ME AFTER THIS because this is just one more endless political and biased argument– is this: letter prefixes in and of themselves do NOT determine the year of a Shelby-Made Bicycle (SMB). And if you are looking only for a prefix in order to determine a year, you are wasting your time and spinning your wheels. PERIOD. WHY? Because not all Shelby-Made Bicycles had a letter prefix. PERIOD. Furthermore, SOME YEARS had SOME MODELS/BRANDS with no prefix at all. WHILE during the SAME YEAR other models/brands did indeed have a letter prefix. So the prefix is not the be-all and end-all determining factor.

Therefore... any SMB serial number analysis based soley on some letter prefix will– by fact– be a blind alley and a waste of your time.

Of course, it is YOUR time, so feel free to waste it. And feel free to post silly "vote-on-it" notions based on false premises. And wild goose chases. The old saying that one can lead a horse to water, but one cannot force that horse to drink applies here.

By all means... get out there are keep collecting those serial numbers. Get busy! And keep looking for the letter prefixes that reveal deep secrets. And keep marveling with the wild claims as to why ...OMG! There's no letter prefix! This must be one of those mysterious prototype models assembled in a snowstorm on July 4th ... done by candlelight in the basement during an eclipse! By golly, let's vote on looking for more of these!!!!! Drink that Kool-Aid!!!!!

Seriously? No more comments (or input of facts from actual records) from me. Have fun.
Leon, I really believe this thread was started by something some other member said, and I don’t believe this thread is referring to anything you said.
 
I vote yes despite what the great Oz says. Collecting information and talking about it is fun, enlightening, and engaging. Even though it’s apparently pointless. I bought my Shelby from the original owners. They said their grandfather received it as a gift in the Xmas of 1936. The serial starts with the letter N. That leads me to believe it’s a pretty good chance that frames produced in 36 were stamped with the letter N. Was N also used in 37 and up, I don’t know. I do know other collectors have known purchase years and their serials start with a different letter. Were letters changed by calendar year, numbers produced, by different models, or something else that’s been lost to time? I don’t know. I do know I don’t like Kool aid. If I was horse I’d drink water. If it snowed on the 4th of July I’d enjoy the heck out of it!

My only real qualm with the serial number collection is when people grind of that original paint to reveal it. Some polishing compound or very lite wet sanding will probably reveal it equally well. Totally naked numbers oh my. What travesty!
 
1st off, I want to step back and apologize for any misunderstanding my comment to you regarding Shelby serial numbers created. I hear you and understand what you meant by the blinders and dead end comments. It just seemed to look the other way is all. While the actual umbers seem to be meaningless to you should they be meaningless to everyone else? I am not sure you can defend that. As AS knows, adding more examples of frames in she SMB thread gives us more statistical information that means something, what that is is still a mystery. Mysteries are cool. The more data, the more we narrow in on the outliers. Do you not want more information? We as bicycle-heads love new information Leon as you know. You more than most have a wealth of information but seem to already have all the answers regarding Shelby frames and when they were made or stamped. Maybe you do! In the mean time, we as a community will add more examples as time goes by. Thanks to all those who contribute. When you begin the identification of these OLD cycles do you not start with the stamping? It also positively identifies the frame for retrieval if stolen. For those collectors who sweat over the right seat, grips, pinstripes, lights, horns, streamers and rivets for "specific years" of Shelbys is not really important to me. It certainly could be for someone buying a "vetted" 36 Banana Tank with a different years frame. Does this matter? Let's all calm down, celebrate this hobby and try to be less critical of others.
 
Do we have a middle finger emoji we can use here? No apologies from me.

You know my vote is for more info shared and more open conversation. People who want to take their football and leave to try to hijack the game should just stay at home. I’d rather play with the wrong ball and have fun. I don’t care how much info they have and won’t share it. It is worthless sitting in a box in the corner of their house, regardless of how important it makes them feel.

People should expect disagreement in an open discussion. That is how a more complete understanding of the topic is developed. In societies where the truth is important it is called peer review. Just because you think you already know the answers doesn’t mean you are always right. Openness to being wrong is part of finding the truth.
 
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