New member with research questions

Hey! I've got a question about how to go about researching the origins of my wagon, and seek help.
I'm not certain I'm in the correct forum, but it looks as though someone has done their homework before with former government vehicles, such as the JFK ambulance (wow! enough said! :)), and may be able to lead me in the right direction.

This is what I've got:
I've recently bought a 1961 Plymouth 2-door Suburban (wagon) and legend has it she originally came from Minot AFB, North Dakota, and was one of 13 ordered by the Air Force as a single-bench seat, 3 passenger, used to haul camera equipment. There is a government plate on the inner fender, and the original color of the wagon was dark green (Trim code on the Chrysler data plate is 999, which means special order).

Here is the ID plate:
Oct182010f.jpg


Does anyone here have any advise on where to begin looking to try to verify these claims? Any advise would be most appreciative! I know my humble wagon is not truly a professional car, but I would think the research for any government vehicle would be similar.

Thank you in advance for any assistance, and I do enjoy looking through the forum here. There are many interesting vehicles represented here, I especially enjoy the old photographs of these wonderful cars in their original environments.
Pete from Georgia
 
With this plate and the Chrysler (Plymouth) serial plate and numbers you should be able to get a build sheet from the Chrysler Historical Collection in Detroit. I believe that it's housed at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They may charge for the print out - if they have records for this year and model (I know they are missing some) - but, at least you'd have a true record of the vehicle's history.
 
Pete, unfortunately, it's not really the same trying to find out the history of vehicles (or military vehicles) in general. With professional cars (ambulances and hearses and such), we are coming into this already knowing something about our already-unusual cars. Your car is a little more general, as built from stock by a major manufacturer (Chrysler).

Most of the research regarding the JFK ambulance was based on the ambulance part of the story, not so much on the military vehicle part of the story. The ambulances are so unique/rare that we sometimes recognize a vehicle by sight.

Two other folks to contact for research on your car might be the Chrysler club, and the Military Vehicles club. They may have more information. You can Google either of those to find them. Good luck!
 
how the vehicle was ordered would be in the contract specks as you have the contract number you may be able to get a copy of the contract. but that will only tell you how the vehicle was when delivered. not were it served or what the base used it for. there was normally a wagon in the motor pool. usually a striped down plain Jane type car with a standard transmission. some of them were used as transport ambulances and if so would have a split seat in the rear and show evidence of a cot bar. tracing one would be a task threw the military papers. there would be the military id number assigned to the car. i don't see that on the tag but you may find it on the radiator support if it has been removed from the doors. but most of the Hx of the car you have to take on blind faith. whomever told you about it did so because that's what they believed of knew. it up to you to decide that.
 
Looking at the picture of the plate you provided, I would say that this vehicle was part of a GSA order rather than an order by the USAF. As John points out, it is missing the USAF registration number which would typically be stamped on the plate in an area specified for this purpose. Addidtionally, even though it has "US Property" on the tag, generally it should also have "US Air Force" (or what ever branch of service it was ordered by) on the tag. GSA vehicles usually did not have a registration number stamped on the tag and were only marked "US Property".

Look on the underside of the hood and around the radiator and firewall for a USAF registration number. It should be two digits (which would be the last two numbers of the year of the contract) followed by a letter, followed by four digits.
 
Thank you for all the suggestions. I plan to contact Chrysler Historical as soon as I register the car, so perhaps that will shed more light.

I have taken the front clip off, and will search for any numbers.

Thank you for all the comments and advise, and I welcome anymore!
:thankyou2:
Pete
 
If you remove the front seat, you might find the original build sheet between the springs and the lower cushion. You need to take the seat out to remove it without damaging it too much. It will be an old brittle piece of paper.
 
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