Just purchased a 68 Country Squire wagon- bit of a barn find. Anyone good at decoding vin tag? See pic- is built date Feb 14th? And is it a locking rear diff - X code? Thanks for any help. Also surprised jump seats are light color when the main seats are dark
Seats It didn't look like it, this is one family owned car. Seat belts match the jump seats too. I added jump seats to mine and these look original. Hopefully someone can confirm that.... Thanks
The VIN decodes as follows: 8E76Y165669 8 = model year 1968 E = assembly plant, Mahwah, New Jersey 76 = series = Ford LTD Country Squire 4-door 10-passenger wagon Y = engine = 390-V8, 2-bbl, 265 hp, 9.5:1 compression ratio 165669 = sequential serial number at Mahwah plant
For the information below the VIN: Body code 71A = body style = 4-door, 10 passenger Country Squire Color I = Lime Green Metallic Trim FG = Dark Ivy Gold Vinyl interior Date code 14B = February (B) 14th, presumably February 14, 1968 DSO 16 = District Code = Philadelphia Axle code J = ? (is that for sure a J, can't read it that easily in the photo). A letter (instead of a number) for the axle code does indicate a locking differential, but my decoder doesn't have an X, only A, C, E, or G, representing 2.75, 2.80, 3.00, and 3.25-to-1, respectively. Trans code X = Ford FMX (Cruise-O-Matic) transmission
Vin tag Great - thanks... Do you know about date code 14B. And also trans and axle? Looks like axle is 1, and the trans is an X...so I was probably wrong about the locking rear
Decode Thanks a lot for decoding. I can't tell if axle is a 1, but it looks like it. I'm picking up on Saturday so I'll double check.
I'd recommend ordering a Marti report. It will confirm whether the jump seats are original. Otherwise, I'm not sure why they're a different color.
Just a quick interesting fact about the unit number in the VIN. The first digit of the unit number is the make of the car manufactured at a particular plant. In the case of 165669, it was Ford number 65669 to come from Mahwah during the model year. I know for 1966 in particular Ford cars were assigned 1, 2, 3, or 8 for the first digit (I've never seen an 8, unless it was used for trucks). Mercury was 5, 6, and 7, and Lincoln was 4. And it would have been possible for a Ford 165669 and a Mercury 565669, although not saying that the Mercury units got that high or if they were even manufactured at Mahwah. I'd definitely recommend a Marti report. I really wish I could get one for mine, but Ford apparently pitched everything for 1966 and earlier, so Kevin Marti doesn't have info for them beyond a few odds and ends like special orders and some T-Bird stuff.