Country and dealer codes

[lreppond]

According to my data card my country and dealer code is 07048035.
From what Ive been able to ascertain, the first “0” refers to 1970 (mine was built in Nov 1970)
The next three digits “704” refers to the car being delivered to the USA. 
The next four digits “8035” refers to the US dealer code but no where on the net can I find a reference to this dealer.  I think it was purchased at Smothers European in Santa Rosa, CA (renamed MB of Santa Rosa).  Does anyone have this dealer code info?   

[707dieseldean]

I do not have the dealer code info, but i do know the history of the MB dealer in Santa Rosa Ca. My car was ordering in 68 through Torvick Imports and was delivered as a 69 280SL in 1969. Torvick imports as they were at the time turned into Torvick Datsun. I would have to look a delivery data plate to see if there is a dealer code on it.

[lreppond]

You are spot-on.  Torvick was the MB dealer in Santa Rosa.  (I don’t know how I came up with Smothers???)
The dealer code should be on the top line of your data card.  On mine, it’s the fifth box from the left.   If I’m correct and it was delivered to Torvick both your car and mine should have the same number, except yours should start with an eight if built in 1968.
Please share whatever you find. 

[WRe]

Hi, - my wild guess -
attached you find the actual MB dealer codes. If you look at the numeration - I assume they never changed it - your car was delivered to Colorado.
...WRe

[Leester]

Interesting, the data card for my car, a 1970, shows 07037660. Following the logic of WRe's attachment, presumably a dealership in Michigan? Thanks to all for this interesting piece of Pagoda detail.

[lreppond]

I’m afraid WRe’s dealer list doesn’t reflect the codes used for them in the 1960’s.  Most of those dealerships are long gone and replaced by multi dealership corporations.  I know with certainty that my father purchased the car locally (CA) though the possibility exists that it may have initially been delivered to an out of state dealer and transferred to CA. 

[49er]

I’m afraid WRe’s dealer list doesn’t reflect the codes used for them in the 1960’s.  Most of those dealerships are long gone and replaced by multi dealership corporations.   

This is true. Both Dealers from whom I bought my two SL's from (Hollywood MB and Carwell Corp.) are long gone. If anyone has a dealer code of 5771, your car came from Carwell Corp. which was located in Hermosa Beach CA. Unfortunately the 250's data card containing the dealer code for Hollywood MB remained with the car when I traded it for the 280.

John

[neelyrc]

According to my data card my country and dealer code is 07048035..........

Irepond, I never payed much attention to the Aufstrag-Nr. on my data card but I thought I would look at it after reading this thread.  My number is 87074276. 

It is interesting to note that this number is assigned to the car from the order date and carries through to the data card .  I have attached below my acknowledgment copy of the order dated in December of 1968 and the matching dealers confirmation copy.  Both show the Aufstrag-Nr. as issued on the data card months later in February of 1969. 

As the number indicates the car was ordered in 1968 (first digit -8) and was for European delivery (next three digits 707) the dealers number code, 4276, completes the number.   This dealership no longer exists. 

I expect that the numbers in WRe's list are from some later period.  In his list 4000 series numbers are in Arkansas and not Aabama. Please excuse the poor copies.  These are scans of old documents in my computer with me here in Italy.  The original documents are back in Alabama.



     

[707dieseldean]

The mystery continues.... Dug out my data card and it states : 87059250.    Ordered in 68 (first digit)  705 (USA) country code  9250 Dealer code  (Torvick in Santa Rosa Ca.)

[lreppond]

Thanks Dean.  I guess I was wrong!   My dad lived in Rutherford, CA  from 1968–> and I would have figured Santa Rosa would have been the dealer closest to him.  Who knows maybe he did buy it there but the car was transferred from another dealer.  I’m hellbent on figuring this out and with the help of other members, maybe I will!   

[Desertpagoda]

Anyone know the dealer code/codes for Phoenix Az in 1966? Thx!

[wayne R]

Hi Desertpagoda, i can tell you this,as 15 July 1965 for Phoenix,
the dealer was,---Phoenix Motor Company,inc,
225W, Indian School Road, phone 602-264-4791.
Then in Dec 1966,in Tucson, was,
Bill Edel Motors,inc,
2019 N Stone ave, phone 602-623-7549.
I have an original authorized Mercedes- Benz dealer list map   1966
and directory Mercedes-Benz dealers USA 1965.

[Rahul]

Bit late to the party but assuming my car was delivered straight to Hollywood MB, and not transferred, the dealer code should be 6931

[Iconic]

Mine is a USA car (704).
Does anyone know dealer 3456 in the US?
I'm guessing Chicago area since the second owner bought it in Chicago.
Thanks,
Mark

[JN]

I am trying to figure out my dealer code
77131145

7- 1967
713- Manual says this code was only used for a short time, ?
1145- cannot find this anywhere?

If someone has more knowledge of this I would appreciate some input

Thanks JN

[rbouch8828]

Does anyone know of a way to find out what the names and locations of the dealers were based on the dealer code numbers on the data cards?

I am trying to find out who the original dealer was for my car. I understand that Mercedes used Studebaker dealers at the time these cars were introduced.

I would also like to find a way to go back past the earliest title date I have.

Best,

RB

[Pawel66]

Did you have a chance to look there: https://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/DealerandCountryCodes

You will also see a lot of results when you do search for "dealer codes" on the Forum.

[rbouch8828]

Yes. It did not appear to have the actual dealer listings. Rereading it, perhaps it is saying that MBNA has or had a file listing the dealers. However, I had asked Tom Hansen at Mercedes Classic Center and he told me that there was no listing that he had.

[Pawel66]

That is why i also referred you to related posts. There were discussions about it that may state the code you have - even by accident.

[rbouch8828]

I don't know if anyone is still paying attention to this thread, but I am trying to find out what the dealer name and location was for my 280SL that was manufactured in August of 1969. The DataCard shows the number 9704 so, manufactured '69, sold in USA and the Dealer Code follows, 1836.

I was led to believe that the original dealer was in Texas, by one of the people on the Title. Unfortunately the title does not go all the way back to the original buyer. So, I am trying to piece things together from the Dealer onwards, if I can.

Best,
RB

[Shvegel]

Here is an interesting connection.  After reading this post I decided to see if I could figure out my car's delivering dealer.  I found a 1969 Mercedes dealer directory on eBay and bought it.  When I got it, I looked up Cleveland dealers and there were 2 in the area.  One of the dealers was Car Cleveland Inc at 10299 Shaker Blvd.  I looked up the location and realized I spent 4 years working in the very building when it was a Saab dealer.  For 4 years my car rolled in and out of quite possibly the same lot where it most likely delivered new.

[rbouch8828]

How did you know that your car came from that dealer?

I have the US Mercedes Dealer book from 1969, but it doesn’t list by dealer Code number, so I can’t crosse reference from my data card to the dealer list.

RB

[Shvegel]

I am not sure.  There were 2 dealers in the area.  I have traced my car back to 1975 and it appears to be a local sale.

[John Betsch - "SADIE"]

So many of us have tried (unsuccessfully) to trace our cars lineage. 

Some searches with the help of previous owners, some not.  I was lucky to have the help of the Germany owner (not the original purchaser) try to assist going to  the "DMV" (or whatever it's called in Germany) without success. 

What we need is an "Ancestry.Com" for Pagodas!

jb

[rbouch8828]

We now have the vehicle “Title” which passes from owner to owner and goes through the DMV at each passing. Unfortunately, that didn’t exist when our cars were new, so we miss the origin history and first few years.

Those dealer codes could help if there were a guide that decoded them so you could discover which dealer and location your car originated at.

Best,
RB

[mdsalemi]

Somewhere buried in my papers, I know the following about my car.

1. Delivered new in April 1969 to a dealer in Manhasset (Long Island) New York.
2. In the autumn of 1969, it ended up on the used car lot at Drexel Motors, a Simca dealer in Drexel Hill, PA. There are still two companies in the Commonwealth of PA database with that name, listed as active, with creation dates of 1957 and 1959. Don't know but guessing one might be the former Simca dealer.
3. My uncle bought the car in fall 1969 for $4995 from the Simca dealer, transacted by snail mail, and flew down to Philadelphia and my aunt and uncle drove it home.

I don't know what information the "interim owner" from April through November of 1969 would be able to offer, even if he/she were alive...

Curiously the car spent the years in my uncle's stewardship close to the original dealer, but far from the selling used car lot.

[rbouch8828]

Hello Michael,

According to my Mercedes Dealer Book of January 15, 1968 the were dealers in the following Long Island towns:
Bayside, Brooklyn, Glenn Cove, Southampton.

It occurs to me that if enough members know the original dealer or city of purchase for their cars, we might be able to reconstruct the Rosetta Stone for the DataCard Dealer Numbers by making a spreadsheet where we put the known Dealer info and Data Card numbers together, gradually filling in the missing info as we get it.

I have all of the Dealers as of January 15th 1969, so those could be entered too.

Best,
RB

[mclewis]

My Auftrags-Nr. is 77144494.  The dealer was Auto Engineering, Inc., 436 Marrett Road, Lexington, Massachusetts.

I don’t know how to decipher the Auftrags-Nr., other than (I think) the first 7 means the cars was ordered in 1967 and the next 3 numbers, 714, means sent to the US.  The car was purchased on May 4, 1968.  The original owner traded in a 1965 Chevrolet Covair for a $900 credit!

[rbouch8828]

That is all great info. My book also shows Auto Engineering, Inc. on 436 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA 01273. So, I guess the dealer number for Auto Engineering was 4494.

Best,
RB

[rbouch8828]

Manhasset is halfway between Bayside and Glencove. Both those towns have dealers as of my 1968 Dealer Guide.

Best,
RB

[MikeSimon]

So many of us have tried (unsuccessfully) to trace our cars lineage. 

I was lucky to have the help of the Germany owner (not the original purchaser) try to assist going to  the "DMV" (or whatever it's called in Germany) without success. 



jb

Lucky me! I bought my 280 in 1982 from the 2nd owner and the original German title - which I still have - lists ALL the previous owners including the person who bought it new. I am surprised that the "germany owner" you referred to did not have a copy of the title. These documents have six possible entries and stayed with the car, with the current owner being listed in one of the six fields. I think ithe vehicle is being sold again, owner No 7 would get a new title.

[DavidAPease]

According to our Technical Manual, the last four digits of the Auftrags Nr. are "sequential by dealer/region/country and year."  In other words, these do not appear to be a dealer number or identification.  I think that the only information you can get from the Auftrags Nr. is the order year and "the region (if in Germany) or the country from which the order was placed".

           -David

[rbouch8828]

In the example above the Auftrags-Nr. is 77144494. According to the post the 7 meant the car was produced in 1967 and the 714 meant that it was shipped to the US. So the remaining numbers should be the dealer, right? 4494

[alpina]

No. the last four digits are simply a sequential number, changing with each order.
It does not make any sense that these 4 digits would be a dealer number. Think about it, that would mean all the cars
Ordered from a particular dealer in the same year would all have the same order number…

[rbouch8828]

Then I am confused by your first message. It says "According to our Technical Manual, the last four digits of the Auftrags Nr. are "sequential by dealer/region/country and year."". If it is sequential by "dealer" where is the "dealer" in this if as has been pointed out it does call out the country and year?

[DavidAPease]

I interpret that phrase to mean that orders placed by a given dealer/region/country in a given year are assigned a sequential number.  So in your example, your car's order would have been the 4,494th order (from the US?) in 1967.

[MikeSimon]

So, in my data card, in the Auftrags-Nr field it shows 217-  which according to the list in the Tech manual is "Niederlassung Frankfurt". Which is what all the other documents say as the selling dealership. It looks like this only applies to cars sold in Germany?

[49er]

I interpret that phrase to mean that orders placed by a given dealer/region/country in a given year are assigned a sequential number.  So in your example, your car's order would have been the 4,494th order (from the US?) in 1967.

  My car was ordered on May 12, 1968 and delivered September 18, 1968 with a build date sometime in July. My Auftrags-Nr is 87055771. Hard to tell when the car's order was actually entered into the system at the factory and assigned that number. When I placed my order, the original estimated delivery date was July.

John

[MikeSimon]

We have this topic now in different threads. Another one is in "General Discussion". Maybe someone can consolidate the two.

[John Betsch - "SADIE"]

I am extremely interested in any information or member experience in researching the ownership genealogy of their car- specifically euro models/Germany ownership/delivery.

"As Mike Simon wrote: lucky me! I bought my 280 in 1982 from the 2nd owner and the original German title - which I still have - lists ALL the previous owners including the person who bought it new. I am surprised that the "germany owner" you referred to did not have a copy of the title. These documents have six possible entries and stayed with the car, with the current owner being listed in one of the six fields. I think the vehicle is being sold again, owner No 7 would get a new title."

  I would love to hear some experiences that people have in their research- maybe leading to some clues to help other members in their research.

JB

[neelyrc]

According to our Technical Manual, the last four digits of the Auftrags Nr. are "sequential by dealer/region/country and year."  In other words, these do not appear to be a dealer number or identification.  I think that the only information you can get from the Auftrags Nr. is the order year and "the region (if in Germany) or the country from which the order was placed".

           -David

I think you are correct David.  As indicated in my post #7 above, I had assumed these last four digits were the dealer code but this is clearly not the case.  All formal communications concerning my car purchase in 1968 came from MBNA not the dealer.  In this correspondence they refer to my car by the last 5 digits of the Auftrags-Nr.(#7-4276).  See two letters from MNA attached.

I now believe that the last four sequential digits of the Auftrags-Nr. were assigned by MBUSA when they confirmed the order. Presumably for earlier cars in the Studebaker era they were supplied by Studebaker to the dealer.  I first saw the Auftrags-Nr. on my order confirmation from MBNA, not on any dealer paperwork. See attached order confirmation.

The copy is not very good but you can also see in the upper right hand corner a box labelled "Tourist Order No".  The number 31 has been inserted by MBNA.  I may be wrong but I would be very surprised if there were 31 tourist orders in 1968 from my Birmingham dealer.  This may be a regional number or a national number.

According to the list provided by WRE, in Post #3 above the Mercedes Benz of Birmingham dealer number is  01127. The name of the dealer in Birmingham in 1969 was The Star Automobile, Inc.  This company no longer exists. They were superseded by Crown Automobile Co.and later became Mercedes Benz of Birmingham, the dealer now in business here. I believe WRE's list might be much later than the period of our cars.   
       

[bilede]

I am a little late on this thread but for reference I will add to it anyway.  As stated later in this post, the last 4 numbers on the top right of the data card are not the dealer number in my experience and probably just a sequential order number.

As for dealerships in Arizona in the 60's dealer numbers, Bill Edel Motors was dealer number 3704.  The number is stamped on some of the warranty plates I have seen but I have not seen it on the data card.

Thanks, Bill Edel.