The first thing I wanted to do when I got the car home was decode the VIN tag. Decoding a car can be fun. Funny how some of the simplest and basic tasks can be interesting-at least to me.
I know I’m looking right at the car and can tell most of the parts of the car that the codes refer to but still, it’s like following a road map to be sure you are in the right place.
| First digit | A | = Make = American Motors Corporation |
| Second digit | 6 | = Model year = 1966 |
| Third Digit | K | = Plant of Manufacture Kenosha, Wisconsin USA |
| B | = Plant of Manufacture = Brampton, Ontario Canada | |
| Fourth digit | Transmission Type | |
| A | = Automatic Column Shift (3 Speed) | |
| C | Automatic Floor Shift (3 Speed) | |
| F | = Floor Shift Four Speed Manual w/console | |
| M | = Floor Shift Four Speed Manual w/o console | |
| O | = Three Speed Column Shift w/ overdrive | |
| S | = Three Speed Column Shift w/o overdrive | |
| Fifth digit | 9 | = Body Type = 2 Door Hardtop |
| Sixth digit | 7 | = Class of body = Marlin |
| Seventh digit | Series and Engine = 6650 Marlin Engine Codes | |
| S | = 232/2V Six OHV | |
| T | = 287/2V V-8 OHV | |
| U | = 327/4V High Compression V-8 OHV | |
| V | =232/1VSixOHV | |
| W | = 327/2V Low Compression V-8 OHV |
All of the codes seem to match the car. I had kind of hoped that the 327 was the higher performing motor but it was not. It was the 183rd Marlin built in 1966. Or rather, it was likely built in late 1965. My other Marlin’s vin is 134.
The door tag tells us more information.
As best as I can determine, the BODY code R006675 stands for the 6675th car built in the Kenosha Lake Front plant. Apparently, the Lake Front plant had two different lines although my BODY code doesn’t note which line it came from.
The MODEL # 6659-7 specifies 1966 American Motors 2-door Hardtop Fastback. No surprise there. In fact, if it didn’t, it would be the mystery of the year. The 9-7 is the code for Hardtop and Marlin. I can not figure out what the number “5” notes.
The TRIM code the interior colors and style. 697 notes the Aqua colored interior and the Q is the code a Mantilla pattern fabric. That matches the car’s interior, or at least what’s left of it.
The PAINT code is listed as 20A which is Cortez Medium Aqua. The second number is the two tone roof color. 72A is Frost White. That matches the car’s current fading paint scheme.
As of this post, I have not had a chance to crawl into the back of the car and remove the backseat. When I do, I’ll be checking for the build sheet. This holy grail of old cars is a sheet or two of paper that has the complete car order as it went down the factory line often times having check marks and initials of the assemblers.
I’m not holding out too much hope that it is there. On a car of this age and care, mice and other varmints have no doubt tried to take up residence in the car and the seats are an easy place to construct a mouse house. The paper build sheet is the usually the first thing to go towards the nest construction.
One cool thing about this purchase was the title. While it’s not the original title (marked used), it is from 1968. I blanked the name, address, signature, and the SSN to publish here in the blog.
It looks as though they had blank space on the title and photo copied (60’s photo copying technology) the registration right onto the title.
I want to take a moment and tell a story about my local state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). A good story. Yes that’s right. I actually had a good experience at the DMV and I think it’s worth telling.
The Marlin’s title transfer was signed but not dated. I thought that might be a problem. The original owner had signed it but the person I bought it from had not transferred the title. So I was presenting a title that was technically two owners old. And as you can see by the image, the title looked way different from today’s appearance. Illinois has some, to say the least, difficult rules and laws about titles, license plates, and such. I hoped the title transfer would go smooth.
I stepped up to the counter when my number was called and I simply said, “I’ve got a really old title for you today”, and the clerk’s eye’s lit up, she smiled and said , “Oh great, I love these old car titles”.
Not sure of what was happening or if I was in the right universe, I handed her the title. I then said something like “I wish I could keep the old title for my paperwork”. She took a quick look at it and asked me if she could show it to her co-workers. She then preceded to pull the other clerks into a show-and-tell type discussion, then she had a quick consult with her supervisor and returned smiling. As it turns out, there is a way for the old title to be returned along with the new title, all you had to do is ask.
I then discovered that the clerk was a classic-car person as well. She apparently had, and might still have, a 1974 Gran Torino. So there I was, expecting to be grilled about suspicious paperwork and instead was having a discussion about the differences between a Torino and a Gran Torino, including a Clint Eastwood movie reference. This was turning out to be a very pleasant experience.
We finished the paperwork, then she told me how much it would be. The State still had to get it’s pound of flesh. That also confirmed to me I was still in the correct universe. However, it made writing the checks a lot less painful.
Was this a one-off DMV experience? I hoping not.
The car is now stored in a garage at an undisclosed location. I have no immediate plans to start working on the car. I simply don’t have the time. I have ordered a new windshield for the car. Normally, that would be one of the last things to fix but I hate looking a broken windshields. And I got a real good price. That will likely be my next post.
Who knew?? I guess you can learn something everyday.
You never know when this subject might come up during happy hour. It’s always good to be informed!