[TR] Narrowing in on a lost commission number

John Macartney standardtriumph at btinternet.com
Thu Mar 6 15:57:36 MST 2008


Raymond Hatfield wrote:

> Out of curiosity, what is the significance of the "body-in-white" number?  And
> why is it called that?
> Inquiring minds want to know :)

As this relates to Standard-Triumph (though its the same for many other mftrs) after the body was 
made, dipped for rustproofing :) and passed off for manufacturing of the rest of the car, it was 
sprayed an 'off-white' colour. This was mainly to protect it from the elements as it was transported 
from the body plant to the main assembly plant. For Herald / Spitfire / GT6 this was about 2 miles, 
for TR about 130 miles and for all other saloons made by Pressed Steel, about 70 miles. At that 
point, the only identifier for the car was the body number and this was only superceded when the 
commission plate was fixed to the body. Thus the term 'body in white' describes a car that is just a 
painted shell, full of sharp jagged edges and the doors held shut with bits of twisted wire.

Jonmac


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