Decoding the Marlin

As the pictures of the Marlin show, the paint is rough. If fact when I first saw the car, I joked it looked like it was on it’s third paint job. Turns out I was right.

This is the fender tag for the Marlin

The build sheet, usually under the rear seats in most older cars was gone (as with most old cars). I was however, able to figure out quite a bit from this tag.

First I found out that there were only 4547 Marlins built for 1966. That’s not a lot. In fact my car was #134 built for the 1966 model year, probably built August or September of 1965

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-S OHV

The trim tag for the car is on the inside of the drivers door

The Model # 6659-7 specifies American Motors 2-door Hardtop Fastback

The interior trim number 699, decodes to Saddle with the first level Q being Mantilla pattern fabric

The paint code 23A is Sonoma Gold and the second color, 72A, is the roof color, Frost White. While there are no compete build records on color, the white roof was rare, as was no second color. Black is considered to be the most common.

So based on all the data I found a couple of pictures of what my car might have looked like.

Close but not quite. The trim color is my base color and the base looks like it might be Light Rose, although I can’t be sure.

This is almost exactly how my interior would have looked new, except I had a column shift and no console. Also no aftermarket tachometer. It sure doesn’t look like that now.