Production Figures

Here are the production figures for the US built Aeros. This research is based on what Bill Tilden (ex-KFOCI Historian) and I discovered in 1984 when reviewing Willys-Overland and Kaiser-Willys papers. Combining this with data from the Aero registry, I find these figures to be correct and supercede figures published elsewhere.

An interesting problem has cropped up: the cars converted from 1953 to 1954 (those with the serial numbers in the 5000 ranges, apparently assembled at the Maywood, CA plant). Are those numbers to be subtracted from their 1953 counterparts? I have found no documentation stating that the old VIN tag was removed and replaced by a new VIN tag. I have made the judgement call NOT to subtract the 1954 figures from the 1953 totals until I can prove otherwise.

Also included are listings from Kaiser-Willys employee, Norton Young, who was asked by management to compile production figures from 1945 onwards. His work was done between 1959 and 1961. There are some disparities due to the fact that “he had difficulty getting ‘timely’ reports from the production people, and often had to go through the unit sheets himself and try to piece the info together. He admitted that there may be some errors.” His numbers are listed under the “NY” column. These numbers and the preceding quote were found on the website (no longer exists):

www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/history/serial.html.

Mr. Young’s numbers pose some questions:

Why the differences for the Eagles of 1952 and 1953 but the numbers are the same for all the other models of those years? And the difference between the 1953 Eagles is 17, the same amount of Scouts built that year.
Why the different counts for some of the 1954 Larks?
Why are the “s” and “p” 1954’s not in his count? Were those cars originally serialed as 1953’s and counted there and should now be subtracted from the 1953 totals?
Why are the 1955’s omitted altogether?

Some notes:

1953-1955: “Ex-...” export model

1954: “D” = DeLuxe (has “DeLuxe” script on the doors)

“C” = Custom (has “Custom” script on the doors)

“s” = Special, actually a converted 1953 (my designation)

“p” = Prototype. This is an assumption on my part. One Eagle exists. An Ace may also exist.

Engines:

475 = 134 cid 4 cyl F-head 70 horsepower Hurricane 4

675 = 161 cid 6 cyl L-head 75 horsepower Lightning 6

685 = 161 cid 6 cyl F-head 90 horsepower Hurricane 6

226 = 226 cid 6 cyl L-head 115 horsepower Super Hurricane 6

year model body serial number range engine produced NY

1951

1951 JT 451-GD1 10001- 0

1951 JT 2dr sedan 685-LA1 10001-10663 663

1951 JT 2dr sedan 685-MA1 10001-10002 2

At this time it is unknown what JT means but these were passenger cars.

1951 total 665

1952

1952 Lark 2dr sedan 652-KA2 10001-17474 675 7474 7474

1952 Wing 2dr sedan 652-LA1 10001-22819 685 12819 12819

1952 Ace 2dr sedan 652-MA1 10001-18706 685 8706 8706

1952 Eagle 2dr hrdtp 652-MC1 10001-12364 685 2364 1537

1952 total 31363 30536

1953

1953 Ex-Lark 2dr sedan 453-KA1 10001-10047 475 47 47

1953 Ex-Lark 4dr sedan 453-KB1 10001-10461 475 461 461

1953 Export total 508 508

1953 Lark 2dr sedan 653-KA1 10001-18205 675 8205 8205

1953 Lark 4dr sedan 653-KB1 10001-17692 675 7692 7692

1953 Lark total, includes Export 16405 16405

1953 Ace 2dr sedan 653-MA1 10001-14988 685 4988 4988

1953 Ace 4dr sedan 653-MB1 10001-17475 685 7475 7475

1953 Ace total 12463 12463

1953 Eagle 2dr hrdtp 653-MC1 10001-17018 685 7018 7035

1953 Eagle total 7018 7035

1953 Falcon 2dr sedan 653-PA1 10001-13054 675 3054 3054

1953 Falcon 4dr sedan 653-PB1 10001-13117 675 3117 3117

1953 Falcon total 6171 6171

1953 Taxicab 4dr sedan 653-RB1 10001-10187 675 187 187

1953 Taxicab total 187 187

1953 Scout 2dr sedan 653-SC1 10001-10004 685 4

1953 Scout 4dr sedan 653-SB1 10001-10013 685 13

1953 Scout total 17

1953 total 42244 42278

1954

1954 Ex-Lark 4dr sedan 454-KB1 10001-10130 475 130 129

1954 Lark D 2dr sedan 654-KA2 10001-10059 675 59 26

1954 Lark D 4dr sedan 654-KB2 10001-10282 675 282 282

1954 Lark s 2dr sedan 654-KA3 5001-6132 685 1132

1954 Lark s 4dr sedan 654-KB3 5001-5548 685 548

1954 Lark D 2dr sedan 654-KA3 10001-11370 685 1370 1370

1954 Lark D 4dr sedan 654-KB3 10001-11482 685 1482 1482

1954 Lark total, includes Export 5003 3444

1954 Ace p 2dr sedan 654-MA1 5001-5007 226 7

1954 Ace p 4dr sedan 654-MB1 5001-5009 226 9

1954 Ace D 2dr sedan 654-MA1 10001-11194 226 1194 1194

1954 Ace D 4dr sedan 654-MB1 10001-11498 226 1498 1498

1954 Ace s 2dr sedan 654-MA2 5001-5586 685 586

1954 Ace s 4dr sedan 654-MB2 5001-5611 685 611

1954 Ace D 2dr sedan 654-MA2 10001-10002 685 2 2

1954 Ace D 4dr sedan 654-MB2 10001-11380 685 1380 1380

1954 Ace total 5287 4074

1954 Eagle p 2dr hrdtp 654-MC1 5001-5011 226 11

1954 Eagle D 2dr hrdtp 654-MC1 10001-10660 226 660 660

1954 Eagle C 2dr hrdtp 654-MC2 10001-10302 226 302 302

1954 Eagle s 2dr hrdtp 654-MC3 5001-5499 685 499

1954 Eagle D 2dr hrdtp 654-MC3 10001-10084 685 84 84

1954 Eagle total 1556 1046

1954 Taxicab 4dr sedan 654-RB2 10001-10018 675 18 18

1954 Taxicab 4dr sedan 654-RB3 10001-10001 685 1

1954 Taxi total 19 18

1954 total 11865 8582

1955

1955 Ex-Ace 4dr sedan 52327 10001-10004 685 4

1955 Ex-Custom 4dr sedan 52327 10005-10578 685 574

1955 Export total 578

1955 Ace 4dr sedan 52367 10001-10659 226 659

1955 Custom 4dr sedan 52367 10660-12822 226 2163

1955 Custom 2dr sedan 52427 10001-10002 685 2

1955 Custom 2dr sedan 52467 10001-10288 226 288

1955 Ace/Custom total, excludes Export 3112

1955 Ace/Custom total, includes Export 3690

1955 Bermuda 2dr hrdtp 52527 10001-10059 685 59

1955 Bermuda 2dr hrdtp 52567 10001-12156 226 2156

1955 Bermuda total 2215

1955 total 5905

total Toledo built 91377 82061

assume 1955 totals are the same for NY, then: 87966