African Muscle Cars - Forum

Hello there,
Can anyone please explain the Ford Motor Co. South Africa nameplate/tag in the engine bay at the front. I can hardly read any of the descriptions and codes.

JohnR141 wrote: ↑

Sun 15 Jan 2023, 13:03

Hello there,
Can anyone please explain the Ford Motor Co. South Africa nameplate/tag in the engine bay at the front. I can hardly read any of the descriptions and codes.Ranchero 4 Name plate IMG_20230114_125455_resized_20230114_052038931.jpg

Welcome John!

Share some photos of the bakkie please?

Ters.

Some pics of the Ranchero

Cleaned up Name plate shows MS = built 1972 November. Don't know what SIDO means, nor do I the HO colour code, axle 3 and a 1? Ranchero, auto 3 speed, 1973?

I haven't seen the decode info for the Ranchero's.
It is so sad, I know somebody out there has the old parts fiches for these cars, and I wish they would share it with fellow enthusiasts.
But I'll shed a bit of light, based on known decode info of other SA-assembled Fords of the period.

1.) S&A (Source & Assembly)
M = Australia
S = South Africa

2.) Body (Body Type)
40 = Ranchero? not sure, probably

3.) Year and month of manufacture
N = 1973
M = March

4.) Serial (Serial Number)
41015

5.) Sido (Single Item Dealer Order)
340395 = This is the number of the order form to which the vehicle was built
Supposedly the first 3 numbers(340) would correspond to the specific dealer who ordered the vehicle

6.) Eng (Engine)
Q = Don't have this info, but it would state with what 6-Cylinder or V8 it was built.

7.) Tran (Transmission)
D = Don't have this info, but it would state with what gearbox and method of shifting(floor or column) it was built.

8.) R.Axle (Rear Axle)
3 = Don't have this info, but it would state the gear ratio of the diff

9.) Trim
1 = Don't have this info, but it would state the colour of the interior trim

10.) Paint
0 = digit “0” in this position, means it was painted in Monotone (as opposed to tutone)
H = Don't have this info, but it would state the colour of the bodywork, being a letter and not a number, also usually means it was a non-metallic paint. By 1977, H decodes to the colour "Avocado", but not sure if it will be correct for 1973.

The forum members with the most knowledge of decoding Aussie sourced Fords are "Boxy MS33" and "zahistorics"
The forum isn't as active as it used to be, but you could try PM'ing them.

Cleaned up Name plate shows MS = built 1972 November. Don't know what SIDO means, nor do I the HO colour code, axle 3 and a 1? Ranchero, auto 3 speed, 1973? Indiana Jones - thanks for the interesting information and suggestions
Helps me to understand what I have!
Much appreciated
Regards, John

Welcome to the forum!