Classic Car VIN decoder

Count the characters first. A 17-character VIN follows the federal format, and the decoder looks it up in NHTSA's vPIC database for the year, make, model, body, engine and plant. A shorter number almost always means a car from before the 1981 model year. Those numbers followed each manufacturer's own format, so there's no single key to read them, and vPIC can't decode them: NHTSA's own decoder turns away a pre-1981 model year as a "Pre-1981 Year Decode Attempt". If you enter one here, the decoder tells you so instead of guessing.

For a pre-1981 car, start with the number on the title and compare it with the VIN plate and any other numbers stamped on the car. The tables below come from the makers' own books. Use them for a 13-character number from a 1972 to 1980 GM car, a 1966 to 1974 Chrysler, Dodge or Plymouth, or a 1966 or 1973 AMC, and for an 11-character number from a 1965 Ford or Mercury. For other makers and years, use the maker's manual for that year or a club for the make.

Starting with the 1972 models, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac shared one 13-character layout. GM's 1972 Cadillac book says the new number was made "to allow for an engine code", and GM's Chevrolet books put the VIN plate at the top left of the instrument panel.

NHTSA crash tested a 1980 Chevrolet Impala sedan in its test 285, and the test record lists the car's VIN: 1L69KA1149822. Read with GM's 1980 Impala book, it describes the same car as the record: a 1980 four-door Impala with a 3.8-liter V6.

It names the car line and series, and the letters change from year to year, so match them to your car's own year. These are the letters on GM's 1978 VIN card:

• Chevrolet: B Chevette, J Chevette Scooter, K Bel Air (Canada only), L Impala, M Monza or Monza S, N Caprice Classic, Q Camaro, R Monza 2+2 or Monza Sport, S Camaro LT, T Malibu, W Malibu Classic or El Camino Classic, X Nova, Y Nova Custom, Z Corvette or Monte Carlo
• Pontiac: D LeMans, E Sunbird, F Grand LeMans, G Grand Am, H Grand Prix SJ, J Grand Prix, K Grand Prix LJ, L Catalina, M Sunbird Sport, N Bonneville or Grand Safari, Q Bonneville Brougham, S Firebird, T Firebird Esprit, U Firebird Formula, W Firebird Trans Am, Y Phoenix, Z Phoenix LJ
• Oldsmobile: B Omega, D Starfire SX, E Omega Brougham, G Cutlass Salon, H Cutlass Cruiser, J Cutlass Salon Brougham, K Cutlass Calais, L Delta 88, M Cutlass Supreme Brougham, N Delta 88 Royale, Q Custom Cruiser, R Cutlass Supreme, T Starfire, V 98 Luxury, X 98 Regency, Z Toronado Brougham
• Buick: B Skylark, C Skylark Custom, E Century Special, F LeSabre Sport Coupe, G Century Sport Coupe, H Century Custom, J Regal, K Regal Sport Coupe, L Century Limited, M Regal Limited, N LeSabre, P LeSabre Custom, R Estate Wagon, S Skyhawk, T Skyhawk S or Opel, U Electra Park Avenue, V Electra 225, W Skylark S or Opel Sport, X Electra Limited, Y Opel Deluxe, Z Riviera
• Cadillac: B Fleetwood Brougham, D DeVille, F Fleetwood Limousine, L Eldorado, S Seville, Z Commercial Chassis

For another year, look for your model in the GM Heritage Center's vehicle information kits, which include GM's own specifications books.

Position 7 is the plant that built the car. These are the codes on GM's 1978 VIN card, plus 6 from the 1980 Citation book. GM's other 1970s books use the same letters for the plants they list.

Before 1972, GM's numbers had no engine code. On a full-size Chevrolet, the 13 characters are a 5-digit model number, the model year's last digit (8 for 1968 through 1 for 1971), a plant letter and a 6-digit unit number. The model number starts with 1 for Chevrolet, then two digits for the series and two for the body style, so 16469 is an Impala 4-door sedan and 16467 an Impala convertible. Six-cylinder and V8 cars had different model numbers: a Biscayne 4-door sedan is 15369 with a six and 15469 with a V8.

GM's 1968 to 1971 Chevrolet books cover the full-size Biscayne, Bel Air, Impala and Caprice. For a Chevelle, Nova, Camaro or Corvette, or another GM division, check the book for that car and year.

Chrysler Corporation's 1966 and 1968 Plymouth service manuals and its 1973 Dodge service manual say every vehicle number has 13 characters, and its 1974 parts catalog says all assembly plants number cars the same way. From 1975 the letters changed, so read a 1975 to 1980 car with the manual for its own year.

Ford's numbers have 11 characters. Its 1965 Ford and Mercury shop manual and its 1967 Thunderbird shop manual lay them out the same way: the model year, the assembly plant, a two-digit body serial code, an engine code and a six-digit consecutive unit number. The 1965 manual's own example, 5W51C100001, is a 1965 Ford Custom 500 2-door sedan with the 289 cubic inch V8, built at Wayne.

Two 1970s cars in NHTSA's crash test records show the same shape: 3E63H168910 on a 1973 Ford LTD and 9Y82S610559 on a 1979 Lincoln Continental. Body and engine codes changed from year to year, so read a later car with the shop manual for its own year.

American Motors numbers have 13 characters and start with A, for American Motors Corporation. AMC's 1966 parts catalog and its 1973 Technical Service Manual show that the positions moved between those years, so check the year before you read one, and read any other year with the book for that year.

NHTSA crash tested a 1984 Pontiac Fiero coupe in its test 667, and the test record lists the car's VIN: 1G2AM37RXEP211451. Even without GM's key, the federal rules let you check most of it:

The model year code in position 10 repeats every 30 years, so E can mean 1984 or 2014 and X can mean 1999 or 2029. On passenger cars, and on multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) and trucks rated at 10,000 lb or less, position 7 settles it: a number means the 1980 to 2009 cycle, and a letter means 2010 to 2039 (49 CFR 565.15, note to Table VII).

That works because of how these VINs were built. The rules for model year 2009 and earlier vehicles call for letters in positions 4 and 5 and numbers in positions 6 and 7 on cars, MPVs and light trucks (49 CFR 565.25(b)). From 2010 on, position 7 has to be a letter (49 CFR 565.15(b)). Heavier trucks, buses, trailers and motorcycles aren't covered by the position 7 rule, so check their year against the title. Three VINs from the turn of the century, as NHTSA's vPIC decodes them:

Under the rules for model year 2009 and earlier vehicles, two VINs only had to differ within a 30-year period (49 CFR 565.23(d)). Today's rules say no two vehicles built within the 60 years that start with the 1980 model year may share a VIN (49 CFR 565.13(d)). On cars and light trucks, position 7 is what tells the two 30-year cycles apart, so read it together with position 10 before you trust a year.

A company that builds only a few cars doesn't get a three-character maker code of its own. Under the rules for model year 2009 and earlier, a maker of fewer than 500 vehicles of a type a year was identified by positions 1 to 3 together with positions 12 to 14, which left positions 15 to 17 for the serial number (49 CFR 565.25(a)). Today's rules raise that cutoff to 1,000 vehicles and require a 9 in position 3 whenever the maker code takes six characters (49 CFR 565.15(a)). So on a low-volume car, read positions 12 to 14 as part of the builder's code, not the serial.

Newly built replicas of older cars get modern 17-character VINs. The VIN must encode the make, model and model year of the original car being copied, plus the usual details for the replica's own vehicle type (49 CFR 565.15, Table I). The replica's own model year is the calendar year it was built (49 CFR 565.12).

Every replica also carries a riveted or permanent label next to the driver's seat: on the door hinge pillar, the latch post or the door edge, or if none of those works, on the left side of the instrument panel or the inside of the driver's door (49 CFR 567.8). It names the builder and gives the month and year of manufacture and the VIN, with the statement "This vehicle is a replica motor vehicle that replicates a" followed by the original make, model and model year. It also lists the federal safety, theft prevention and bumper standards the replica is exempt from, or says where a second label lists them. A car sold as an original that carries this label is a replica.

A car built for another market may carry a number that doesn't meet U.S. VIN rules. When a Registered Importer certifies one for U.S. use, federal rules describe two labels that point to the original manufacturer's number instead:

• Windshield plate: "SUBSTITUTE FOR U.S. VIN" with that number filled in, inside the car, readable through the windshield from outside by the left pillar, and placed so it doesn't cover the original number (49 CFR 565.14(b) and 565.24(b)). Cars that meet Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 115 are exempt.
• Door label: "ORIGINAL MANUFACTURER'S IDENTIFICATION NUMBER SUBSTITUTING FOR U.S. VIN IS LOCATED" followed by where that number is, in one of the spots by the driver's door where certification labels go (49 CFR 567.4(l)).

If you find either one, compare the number with the original plate. A number that isn't 17 characters won't decode in vPIC, so you'll need the original maker's records.

On a car, MPV or light truck built to the 17-character rules, the VIN sits inside the passenger compartment, readable through the windshield from outside next to the left pillar, in characters at least 4 mm tall (49 CFR 565.23(f) for model year 2009 and earlier). Before 1981, the location depended on the maker. GM's Chevrolet books from 1968 to 1980 put the VIN plate at the top left of the instrument panel. Chrysler's manuals put it on the left front door hinge pillar in 1966, and on the left side of the instrument panel, readable through the windshield, in 1968 and 1973; the 1974 parts catalog also shows it on the certification label on the left front door frame. Chrysler's 1973 manual says the number is stamped on the engine and transmission too, and in 1974 a short form of it is: the model year, plant and sequence number, like 4A100001.

Ford's 1965 shop manual puts the official VIN on a tab at the top right of the dash panel in the engine compartment and says not to use the warranty plate number on the door for title or registration, and its 1967 Thunderbird manual puts it on a tab on the cowl top panel, right of center in the engine compartment. AMC mounted the VIN on the right front wheelhouse panel in 1966, and by 1973 on a plate at the top left corner of the instrument panel, with a copy on a label by the left front door latch. For any other car, start with the title and compare it with every plate and stamping you can find.

For brands that are gone but still common at car shows, see the Pontiac VIN decoder, the Oldsmobile VIN decoder and the Saab VIN decoder.