Here’s three more name plates for the record.
My Sport Fury convertible was built at Evansville April 21, 1959 and has VIN M293 105124 plate on the firewall above the master cylinder. No body plate present. My parts car, an LA built hardtop has the VIN plate on the drivers door jam, brite finish, M294 100043. There is a body plate on the passenger side of firewall, and what I interpret as a schedule (build?) date of 9-18-58, one of the very first days built there. LA pedals have the horizontal pattern, while Evansville has the dots. I’ve seen Evansville upholstery with both horizontal and vertical designs, mine is original with horizontal stripes.
My friend Richie Almquist told me his Sport Fury was built to order, before public introduction, and that number was M296 100370 (or maybe 360 for the last three digits), built in Detroit and delivered to him October 10, '58 just a day or two after public introduction.
Evansville built most of the convertibles no matter where they were shipped. From this board I’ve seen two converts claimed to be built at Newark, Delaware – the 5 plant code. a bit surprising. Perhaps the heavier frames and other convertible components were sourced closer to those plants. I have seen one Sport Fury convertible from Evansville with a serial number starting in the “6000’s” - like M293 106XXX so that may have been a June or even July 1959 build date.
BB