Independent · Source-led · American performance history Issue 01 · 1951–2023
American Muscle Car Facts

Showroom arguments.
Race-bred answers.

Scheme guide · 1958–1959

Edsel 10-character serial number, 1958–1959 (model year only)

What each character of a 1958–1959 Edsel VIN means, with the factory or regulatory source for every code.

2 sources · 2 sourced codes · decode a VIN

Pink 1958 Edsel Citation four-door hardtop with a white roof in front three-quarter view, showing the vertical horse-collar grille and Citation script on the front fender
1958 Edsel Citation four-door hardtop in pink with a white roof Photo: Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Blue 1959 Edsel Corsair convertible with the top down and white interior, in front three-quarter view at a car show, showing the 1959 split grille around the smaller vertical center
1959 Edsel Corsair convertible in blue with the top down Photo: Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Character by character

PositionsFieldHow it is read
1 Engine See the code table below
2 Model year See the code table below
3 Assembly plant See the code table below
4 Body series See the code table below
5–10 Consecutive unit number Production sequence number

Engine codes

CodeMeaningApplies toSource

Model year codes

CodeMeaningApplies toSource
8 1958 all Edsel.com Data Plate Registry entry forms — 1958 Senior Series, 1958 Junior Series, 1959, 1958 Senior Series and 1958 Junior Series forms, First Line, 'Model Year' list (8)
9 1959 all Edsel.com Data Plate Registry entry forms — 1958 Senior Series, 1958 Junior Series, 1959, 1959 form, First Line, 'Model Year' list (9); The Hepcat's Secret Edsel Decoder for 1958 (with 1959 decoder), 1959 Decoder, W9UW708176 ('9 = Model Year (1959)')

Assembly plant codes

CodeMeaningApplies toSource

Body series codes

CodeMeaningApplies toSource

Cautions for this scheme

  • This is the serial number from the Edsel data plate. Only the model year is decoded: no factory table giving the meaning of the Edsel engine, plant or body letters was found, so those show as unknown codes.
  • The same number is also offered to the Ford Division 1955–1959 pack, because an Edsel serial and a 1958–1959 Ford serial have the same layout. The Ford reading of the letters does not apply to an Edsel; which car it is must be read from the plate (the Edsel name, or MEL on 1959 plates).
  • Club and registry pages are secondary sources; see data/decoder/rule-packs/lincoln-mercury-edsel-1955-1959-not-decodable.md for what the serial can and cannot show.
  • A decode does not prove the car is what its serial says, and does not prove the engine now in the car is original.