Number Matching - Verification

Verification

The numbers or casting dates on the major components of a car would be present and fall in a particular order. For example, an engine’s assembly date would be before the build date of the car, and the casting dates would be before the assembly date of the engine because an engine assembly date (the date the engine was assembled, usually at a different location) could not be after the assembly date of the whole car. Engines are assembled prior to being installed in the car at the factory. Therefore, the assembly date of the car would have to be after the assembly date of the engine. Casting dates (the dates formed in the metal of a component at the foundry) could not be after the assembly date of the engine. And casting dates would be well in advance of the assembly date of the engine. Numbers and dates track an accurate history of how a car was built and when and where the car and the parts used to create the car were made.

If a car has number matching major components it helps define how collectible a car is. Number matching cars typically will have a much greater value than non-number matching cars, because they are much rarer than non-number matching cars, and are seen as a more accurate description of how the car was built.