Hello

I bought a headliner for 5 bow but a friend recently pointed out my car had 6 bows at one point in its life and it’s missing or did the factory use the same panels and some had 5 and others had 6 or do I need to get a different headliner and another bow

 

I believe the panels are the same. My car has a 5 bow headliner, the panels have an extra set of holes for a 6 bow.
The extra set (6 holes, 3 on each side) is the second set back from the windshield.

 

Mine is missing the second bow back from windshield but does have a plastic slot to hold a bow in center

 

I don't know what determines the bow count.