Reply to "Date of manufacture"

@bmoran4 posted:

Lionel, especially in the postwar period, did have markings on their cars such as these:

However, these do not accurately reflect the "date of manufacture" as you put it. There is a strong, but inexact and inconsistent correlation between these dates and the introduction of a mold or design. This carried into the MPC era, but most correlation has weaned since then.

Those dates were to replicate the prototype practice of having the built date among the stenciled data on the side of the car.  It was not intended to tell you what year the model was made.