Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: Lori on August 28, 2024, 01:30:57
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The metal data plate is on ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166855931727?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=2em1EJW0SDK&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=xav0ln5wruc&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
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Did you check our registery?
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I did. Wasn't in there
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Where would that plate even be installed on a W113? First off, it's identified as being from Wilmington Delaware and nothing looks like it's an original VIN number. Maybe someone should email Joe Biden and see if he is missing a pagoda. ;D ;D ;D. Seriously, it is homemade so might be on a brag board that would be hanging in a garage.
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That looks to me like the kind of metal plate that used to be included in an owner's package, for use by the service department, etc.
-David
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Yep, I have mine and wih the service policy booklet in the plastic sleeve
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First off, it's identified as being from Wilmington Delaware and nothing looks like it's an original VIN number.
Regarding where the plate came from, that's been answered. (Nice pic Losar. I wish I had the one for my car.)
Regarding the Wilmington, Delaware question, the original owner's name and address has been redacted in the photo.
Regarding the VIN, the model, VIN, and the engine number are on the bottom right corner. What about that doesn't look like a VIN?
Side question - Did dealerships make these for every car purchase, or did the factory make these for owners who ordered a car?
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For those either too young to know, or simply don’t know, that small metal plate that’s on eBay, and the one that Lori has are what’s called Addressograph plates.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addressograph
It was a patented system of storing addresses and data and creating mailings. Though the plates here were sent home in the respective owners manuals, I would bet better than even money that the selling dealer, at least, held a duplicate plate.
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I believe dealers used to swipe them over paperwork to leave an imprint on service records, like how people use to swipe credit cards. Before computers were common
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https://youtu.be/BhDDFxf0Nhc?si=dZn1bpYh57ZD6zPq
So, each dealership had this system? We'll, I guess it makes more sense that dealerships would send customer info to a centralized service and get the plates back. Interesting history.
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You are right about the vin, I failed to remove that part when I modify my post.
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Quite sure it was a U.S. dealer ID plate for service. The Kundendienstheft (Service booklet) was printed at Daimler-Benz AG, and packed with the car information materials, ie. Roadster top booklet, Becker Autoradio instructions and warranty ticket, Bosch service locations, MB products for Maintenance of cars booklet, Directory of MbB service centers throughout the world, Catalog B, and the Betriebsanieitung (Operators manual) among other things. This service booklet also had service stickers for different mileage service, both in Km and miles. The dealer put a clear plastic cover printed by Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc. for service department on the service manual with a slide in sleeve for the service plate. And yes Vanderbilt, you are correct that the dealer would use the metal plate to stamp/imprint the service invoice. I can remember the the very first credit cards were made of the metal plates. My mother had one for a department store she shopped at.
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When I took delivery, the dealer created the plate on site showing my address, vehicle info and the date of delivery. For several years after delivery, it was imprinted on the write up sheet when I brought the car in for service. Eventually that gave way to a fully computerized system.
John
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Yes, folks, "that's the way it was..."
An "address list" wasn't a database file, or spreadsheet file occupying some virtual space on a computer. It was drawers upon drawers of these Addressograph plates, each plate further mounted to a larger plate, and stored in these drawers and cabinets not unlike a library's [old-school] card catalog.
Imprinting didn't take all that massive equipment Rodd pointed out, but something no bigger than a credit card imprinter. It wasn't all that long ago that any credit card transaction was a manual process. First look up the card number in a book published weekly and distributed to all places that took credit cards. Then put the card in the imprinter, pull out a multi-part carbon paper based form, stick it in the imprinter, and manually swipe the roller to imprint the card. One part stayed with the store, one part went to the customer, and one to the bank processing the payments.
At the time dealers were using these plates and imprinters, they also had typewriters, spirit duplicators, mimeograph machines, thermofax thermal copiers, photocopy machines, adding machines, manual calculators, fax machines...some had TWX and Telex machines and a host of other now long obsolete office equipment. When email came, some probably got a dial up internet service with a 33 or 56k modem.
Calling the eBay item "an original data plate" is a stretch. It's probably of no more value than any old license plate. However if you did indeed own that car with that VIN, maybe it would be a curiosity item. Since the seller is in Spain, it's likely the car ended up in Europe as well.