Introduction


The Mustang pictured below (bottom) was first purchased by my father-in-law, Buddy, in 1986, in Connecticut. Shortly after, he purchased a second six-cylinder convertible and sold the pictured one to my wife's cousin, Ronnie. Dad died in 1994. When Ronnie decided to sell the car to finance an in-ground swimming pool in 2006, my wife Sharon and I decided to buy it, and brought it home to Tennessee.
The car had undergone a cosmetic restoration before Dad bought it, and apart from some minor detailing since then, was still in the same condition when we bought it.
In June 2010, I found out it was a Sprint 200, Package A, 3-speed manual transmission. And after reading an article in the archives of the Mustang Times by Jim Smart, went looking for the Broadcast (Build) Sheet. I found it wrapped around the wiring harness behind the speedometer. After a brief search to find out what all the codes meant, I realized that surprisingly little is known or published about these documents. So I decided I'd try to attempt to decode it myself. This blog is a journal of that research.
All discussions below currently pertain to only 1966 Mustangs.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

TYPE ORDER


The 4th box from the right on the top line contains the Type Order. 

Ford built vehicles for different purposes and different customers. My first table is patterned after the Order Types found on a 1968 Mustang Order Form (Form FD-1841-M). The codes I found there didn’t have definitions. The definitions came from a study of Marti Reports, and a 1971 Mustang Order Form. 

The codes shaded in blue I have confirmed as being used on 1965-66 build sheets. The 1966 Order Form only had two Type of Orders indicated on the form: Retail and Stock. Despite this, I have found codes other than #1 and #2 on 1966 build sheets - indicating that some other method was used for assigning these codes besides the dealer's order form.

TYPE ORDER (as on 1968 Order Form FD-1841-M)

1
Retail
An individual comes to a dealership and orders an, as yet, unbuilt vehicle. Sold orders have a customer name assigned to them in the system. These also usually have price protection in case of an increase. Stock units don't.
2
Stock
Unsold orders for dealer inventory. A Stock order may be part of a dealer’s basic allocation, or an addition to the basic.
5
Fleet
A company that orders five or more vehicles yearly qualifies for price breaks on these vehicles
3
Basic
Basic (Company) Orders – Back Lot Storage
Ford has excess capacity on an assembly line and produces vehicles to keep the plant busy
C
Basic Off – Standard Equipment
Seems that it was a basic order with one or more options that were not standard ones. Fleet Type.
L
Volume Stock
Fleet Type
4


7
Local Promotion

8
Company Lease Plan  1/12/11
 FALS (Ford Authorized Lease System)                         Vehicles leased by Ford to a company

FIGESO vehicles
(Ford International General Export Sales Office)
Cars that were built for export. Blank code.
A
A Plan
Vehicles built for current Ford employees and certain eligible family members,  and sold at a discounted price
B
Dealer Demo

D
Special Purpose Vehicle
A vehicle built by Ford for what the name implies
G


H

E-Car
J

C-Car
K
Driver Training

M
Marketing Vehicle 1/12/11
N
Summer-Winter Rental
FRCS (Ford Rent-A-Car System) Ford dealers that provide retail rentals and/or service loaners
P

P-Car
R

R-Car
S
Sales Vehicle
Fleet Type
T
Test Vehicle

V
Special Fleet
Fleet Type
X
X Plan
New vehicle purchase program for the employees, retirees and members of selected suppliers, fleet customers and marketing organizations. Also includes certain individuals sponsored by Ford employees and retirees. Partner recognition (Fleet, Supplier, College) and the Friends & Neighbors Program utilize X-Plan.
Y

Y-Car
Z
Ret. Plan (Z Plan)
Vehicles built for retired Ford employees and certain eligible family members and sold at a discounted price

This second table contains codes and info I’ve found from other sources.
 

Civic & Gov. Affairs Vehicle


Lease
FALS (Ford Authorized Leasing System)
Vehicles leased by Ford to an individual
8
Company Lease Plan 1/12/11
Vehicles leased by Ford to a company
E
Dealer Lease

F
Introductory Show Unit
A vehicle built to demonstrate a new model. Generally this vehicle is shipped to be on display at some large public gathering
6


9



D Plan
New vehicle purchase program for selected Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealership employees and certain eligible family members
 Sources: 
Marti Report - position 22 of the Vehicle Order Image shown near the top.
Dealer Order Form FD-1841-M for model years 1966, 1968 and 1971
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