VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1955-1957 What does PRIME Mean on Cowl Tag?

Hi everyone, I want to be on record as one who admits he or she does not know everything about all things. I saw a cowl tag where the Paint Code said: "Prime." I assume it means primer and it was a 9 passenger wagon from the St. Louis plant. Do any of you know if this was a fleet vehicle or what? Why would Chevrolet put out a vehicle with PRIME as the paint code?

Thanks for your help on this.

If a wild guess is in order, mine would be that a non-factory paint job would be applied by a 3rd party, maybe for fleet use such as taxis or police cars.

Pat's WAG seems as good as any; likely better than most. I've been curious about this PRIME paint code on cowl tag since Steve posted it last night.

Also curious about 9 passenger wagon.... Does that mean 55?? Frankly, I didn't think there were 9 passenger wagons after 54.

I'll just keep watching and hope I learn some more.

My educated ?? guess would be the body was replaced.A new body could be ordered special during the production year.It came two ways.A bare shell with no doors, interior and in primer.This is what I would suspect this is.
The complete body was also available.It came with doors,glass,seats and interior and painted as requested..Would have been just as a body ready to be dropped at the assembly line.
During the '50's I recall of us recieving some of these special ordered bodies.They came on a flat bed truck directly from the Fisher Body plant.They would be used to repair a car that had extensive body damage.
When I began in the dealership in 1950 one of the salesmen had a friend that had a 1950 Olds 88 2 door that had the body replaced with a complete body.The car had been rolled over.I had the pleasureof driving the car for a week...and my 1941 Chevrolet never felt the same after that...nor did a new 1950 chevrolet.

There were no 9 Pass. wagons in 1955 but they "came back" in 1956.The fuel tank had to be reshaped to fit under the rear floor.Also used different tail pipes.

Hmm... That might be useful information for a show judge to know. A replacement body would probably be a deduction on a vehicle's score sheet for originality. Not to mention a likely indication that something happened along the way that required a new body to fix!

If my theory is correct it would have no trim number stamped by the FACTORY.

Does not having a factory trim code mean it wouldn't get past the entry form?

Apologies again, my only show experience has been a local show-n-shine. No judging involved, just voting on people's choice and exhibitors' or sponsors' favorites.

The VCCa and most area car shows do not use the paint and trim numbers for reference.
The numbers are actually option numbers.They told the workers at the body plant what interior and paint color the car called for.After the "sale" the assisted in ordering interor parts-for color etc. and identified the paint type and color for body shop repairs, etc.
The "bare" v body would have had no trim number as it had no interior and the prime for the paint number would have meant just that.
There were may special colors available-such as for telephone company,yellow cas, and various fleets that had there own colors.Cars apinted with the special colors had "special" in place of the paint number.

Thanks for the clarification Gene. I'll keep this in mind as I browse the rows of chrome come spring that there's more to look at than the shine on the paint. The knowledge I gain here serves to feed my interest as well as pass it along to others.

Also an apology to NovaSScott - I referred to this being good info for a judge to know, referring to this being a rare situation and not meaning to disparage your position of responsibility.

I sometimes forget when I post my often tongue-in-cheek comments here how seriously many members take their hobby, as witnessed in another recent dicussion string. I should be more careful to follow the examples set by those such as Gene, Mack, 42Bill and others. But if I stick to what I know, I won't have much to say...

-Pat.