The information you received was incorrect. The first year for numbers matching in Buick was 1957 (car and engine serial number). For 1956 and earlier Buick's the car serial number and the engine serial number will not match. The transmission wasn't stamped with the car serial number until the mid-1960's and the rear end wasn't stamped with the car serial numbers until the mid-1970's.
The definition of numbers matching is that the car serial number (AKA frame serial number) is also the serial number of the major components, which usually means the engine and at later dates the transmission and rear end. This is used to prove that these were the original components that came with the car from the factory. Buick used different car and engine serial number schemes for 1956 and earlier, thus the car and engine serial numbers don't match for these years. However, since the car serial number is also the frame serial number, this number will be stamped on the frame. When a car was titled, either the car serial number or the engine serial number could be used as the legal identification number (called the VIN today) depending on the state.
The engine serial number can be used to tell the year of the engine and what car series it was used in, here is where to find that:
http://www.teambuick.com/forums/view...t_engine_where
http://www.teambuick.com/forums/view...t_engine_53-58
Automatic transmissions (Dynaflow) will have a code that identifies the year and car series as well, see this:
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/193693-...tters-1953-59/
Here is some info on finding the serial number on the chassis:
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/198813-...omment-1231543
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/235103-...-century-help/
Here is more information on the car serial number:
https://www.teambuick.com/reference/years/55/55_vin.php
and 1955 info here:
https://www.teambuick.com/reference/years/55.php
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