Thanks glaser1936 for posting the GM INTERNATIONAL SA ANTWERP Cowl Tag. It appears it reads as:

MAKE CHEVROLET
MODEL CBL
ENGINE N 5148783
CHASSIS N FAP480 3

The Model CBL must stand for "Cabriolet"
I find it is interesting that a stylized 'N'was pre pressed into this tag to serve as a prefix letter to both the engine and chassis serial number. I presume this 'N' must be some sort of plant code except Antwerp code was the letter 'D'?

The Chassis # FAP confirms in this case the 'P' after the FA series and the extra number 3 found stamped to the side being several spaces away. I presume there is no other body nameplate with the name Glaser on it. All very interesting. I sure can picture myself siting in the back seat of this very fine "CBL"
KenK

Hi from downunder

Boy! interesting reading, and great car. This topic has answered a questing that has been bugging me for many years.

I saw a photo of a similar car from New Zealand, but it was a 1935 Master. The most distinctive thing that I remember is the radiator badge (as I collect this sort of thing.) (Ken K has seen my collection)

The radiator badge of this NZ 35 was similar to the 35 std. badge, but had the word "Imperial" as well, all moulded together. From what I remember the car was a sedan, and I think it had 3 doors on each side. I haven't seen the bloke who showed me the photo, for many years, but will try and track him down with a view to posting the photo.

By the way, 35's in Australia have the same badge as the standard on all closed cars, and the open cars (roadsters and tourers) have the same badge as the 1933 models. Is it the same in the US?

Chris

Is there anyone out there who can translate Deutsch to English please? I have some archives from Berlin and I want to find out if they relate to the Glaser-bodied sedans. It is possible that General Motors GmbH imported the cars as sedans and then converted them. gmhistorian@btinternet.com

Hi David,
Have you tried one of the on-line free mechanical translators. I wanted to try and see what that 1936 Imperial Cabriolet advertisement, that you posted a week or so on this string, would translated from Dutch to English?

I found its interesting to translate the illustration showing the cut-a-way valve cover:

ECONOMICAL, Experts say that a over-head-valve motor develops 10% more power and consumes less gas.

CHEVROLET 6 CYLINDER KOPKLEPPENMOTOR = ZUINIGHEID”
Notice the mechanical translation after breaking down the word to Kop-Kleppen-Motor gives the computer generated word saying of "Want
to Clack Motor" Well we know the proper translation is "Over-Head Valve Motor"

CHEVROLET 6-CYLINDER WANT-TO-CLACK MOTOR = ECONOMY

Hi Ken! My problem is that I have several pages of printed type to decipher....I must look up our pal Norm Darwin's book to see if Holden offered an Imperial chassis.

Yes, Glaser 1936 that is quite a car!
As far as I was able to determine in my research the X serial numbers had disappeared from all plants world wide with WWII. From some like the plant in England only a very few examples of the XA code have been found then they went their own way. Others were faithful to the code up to close of production prior to or during the war. Australia never used their pre determined codes. Many are still yet to be found such as Japan, Egypt and Mexico. I still hold out hope that a pre WWII Chevrolet is still in existence in Japan and somewhere in Alexandria there is a guy driving his old Chevrolet bearing the data plate that will provide the answer for Egypt. I only ever found one truck that proved the Indonesian plant code.

There were variations. Sweden did use XS usually followed by two letters like SE for sedan or CO for coach while the more standard form at other plants was to use the year identifier like BA for '32 or CA for '33 Master. So the Imperial Cabriolets built in Stockholm probably used a two letter code for the body style. I tend to think that the Imperial Cabriolet bodies were built in Antwerp being the European plant after Opel with the most resources. If I had to pick another it would be the Opel plant itself as they were credited with some of the engineering.

Re German to English. I have successfully translated a number of articles using a scanner with OCR to create the text in Word and then running it through translation software. I am sure that there is now OCR software available that recognizes the German special letters and umlats. My early version required a fair amount of editing these characters before going to the translation software. Software translation programs have also improved. Once you get it right it is magic. The worst one I ever did part was the translation of the mechanical engineering details of the Glaser convertible cabriolet patents from the Glaser Cabriolet book It required several dictionaries to help unravel all the technical words which were combinations of a number of words, a unique feature of German language.

Thanks Tom. It would appear that the "X" codes went west around 1948. This would appear to be something to do with a new system of CKD ordering and delivery by NY HQ. Interestingly, the dealer-assembler McCairns Motors Limited of Dublin, Ireland that assembled post-war never had an assembly code but they did use their own plate. The GMOO code was "MC".