1953 m38a1 cdn

[BCA]

All M38CDN and M38A1's were stamped with a "Delivered Date" of the format MM-DD-YY or Month-Day-Year. Be warned that the Ford serial number sequence does not always match the date sequence. For example F-200445, 5-5-53 has delivered date much later than F-200459, 2-12-53. So do not interpolate missing dates by comparison with other documented jeeps.
Bernard: your serial number is stamped much more clearly than most however I can not make out the month of your delivered date. It is most likely a 2 , 3, 4 or 5 (Feb/Mar/Apr/May) but take note of my comments about out-of-sequence dates. Can you examine it closely to help identify the month?
The lower right corner has an inspector's stamp. I think it is the common "IS" over the logo with "E19" below the logo, although I have seen variations. Can you confirm? The inspector's logo is often referred to as the "Canadian Tire" logo due to its shape. Can anyone confirm the meaning of this logo or the use of this type of stamp: unique to the inspector at the Ford plant? Seen on other vehicles or army equipment like firearms etc.
Finally: the lowest CFR number that I have seen on an M38A1CDN is 53-32181. Ignoring the date (52 or 53) and the first "3" which is the 1/4-ton vehicle class this leaves only 4 more digits to identify the jeep series of vehicles. Considering these last 4 digits: I believe they started numbering M38's (roughly 2165 made) at 0001 and continued straight through into the M38A1's (roughly 700 vehicles). The highest M38A1 CFR number I have seen is 53-32908).
I propose that the a block of CFR numbers ending in 33XXX was set aside for US-purchased Willys vehicles, rebuilt vehicles, special equipment vehicles or for re-assigning a new CFR number at a later date. The date pre-fix is largely irrevelent: the army only used the last 5 digits of the CFR for assigning a license plate.
Comments welcome. there is lots to learn.
....Brian