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Introduction to Mopar Documentation Part I | Part II | Part III
Fender Tags: 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967-1968
Fender Tags: 1969 and later
999 Paint codes
Fender Tags: Works in Progress

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Mopar Fender Tags: 1969 and later

1969 and later tags are basically identical and uniform in layout across plants. There are some slight differences and nuances that are addressed below. There are tons of online decoders and decode guides, the best of which are listed at the bottom of this page.

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Table of Contents:
Basic Layout
1969 vs. 1970+ Tags
Minimal Tags
Special VONs
Trim Details
Examples of color combinations and trim codes
Exterior Colors
Lynch Road Tags
The Codes
Additional Reading: These sites are a must

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Basic Layout

The basic layout for all 1969 and later fender tags follows the format above. The obvious exception being the Lynch Road Tags. Other some some Lynch Road variants, the above example tag describes the basic design. The next section, "Minimal Tags", begins to describe the simple layout of fender tag of the 1960-1980 era.

Minimal Tags

Here is a minimal tag to describe the layout of 1969 and later tags. The bottom line (line#1) begins with the engine ("E11") and transmission codes ("D11") and ends with the VIN broken into three parts ("VL41 A9B 360103").

The next line up from the bottom (line#2) covers the body and roof colors ("F5 F5"), the interior trim codes ("L2X X9"), and the scheduled production date ("423"), which in this case is 4/23, or April 23, 1969, and ends with the VON ("064779").

After these codes begin the option code section, in this case, the only code listed is "R11". Options are ended with the word "END", "EN1", or "EN2", which means "end of codes". "EN1" and "EN2" were used to notate the production line (1 or 2) at the Hamtramck plant where two lines were used. Some tags carried a "CTD" which meant the codes would be continued on to a second tag. Some tags didn't carry any kind of "END" code. Options are listed in alphabetical order, so if a code is difficult to read, kept the order of the codes in mind to narrow down the potential codes.

The above 1969 Valiant tag is an good example of a minimal fender tag. The only option listed in a R11 radio code. The absence of heater code doesn't mean heater delete! Federal law mandated that all passenger cars have defrosters with heater air, so this 1969 Valiant, in absence of a H51 Air Conditioning code, was an H11 heater with defroster.

1969 vs. 1970+ Tags

Comparing the two tags below shows the difference between 1969 (left) and 1970 (right) and later tags.

The 1969 tag lists the color of the body and the roof on the same line (second line) side my side ("F5 F5"), and the body colors are two character. The 1969 trim codes are three character, "L2X", and two character, "X9". For the 1970 and later tags, in the case of the example, the "EL5" body color code is the first code on the second line (from the bottom) and the "EL5" roof color code is first code on the third line. The trim codes are four character "H2X9", and three character "TX9".

Also detailed with this 1971 tag is the use of the " U " code to denote the destination of a USA market. Export cars carry a " I " code. The " U " also demarks the beginning of the options section of the tag.

Special VONs

The Vehicle Order Number (VON) was a number used internally by the assembly plant and Chrysler. It is not tied to the VIN, or any option codes or vehicle build details. If the first character is a character rather than a digit, it may reflect a special order characteristic of the car. For example, cars destined for Canada might have started with a "C", cars destined for export started with an "E", special order cars sometimes started with a "K", "J" can be found on some Police cars, show cars started with an "M" as did 1970 AAR 'Cudas ("M0"), Sunroof cars started with an "M9", corporate lease program cars "T", and public relations cars started with a "Q". VON's are also known as the Sales Order Number.

This Example Tag of a special VON is for a 1976 Lynch Road Police car. The VON begins with a "K".

Trim Details

Trim codes are on the second line. In the 1969 tag example below, they are "L2X" and "X9". For 1970 and later tags, these are four and three digit codes. In the 1971 example below, they are "H2X9" and "TX9".

The steering wheel and column, dash, and headliner are usually color keyed to the main interior seat color (examples: "X" from "L2X" and "X9" from "H2X9").

When two tone interiors are coded, seats are the primary color and the dash, steering wheel and column, and carpet are given the secondary color. Headliners may be one color or the other. An example of a two tone interior would be "C5XA" from a 1970 Charger with charcoal & black cloth buckets. The "C5" indicates the Charger bucket seat layout, and the "XA" are the colors of the material. "C5XW" would be black ("X") and white ("W").

Examples of color combinations and trim codes

Below are examples of actual interior trim codes from real tags. "Learn by example" is nice addage that applies to fender tags. The column labled code#2 is the secondary interior trim code that is the color of the upper door frame paint. Cars with door panels that conceal the the entire door frame got a "000" secondary interior trim.

1969 examples of interior trim code examples.

code	vin	code#2	comments
L2X	VL41A9	X9	Low trim Valiant bench seat, X=Black.
C6T	XS29L9	T3	Charger seat trim (buckets), T=Tan.

1970 and later interior trim code examples.

code	vin/car	body color	code#2	comments
C2Y4	RH23G3	JY3	JY5
F3B5	LH23C2	GB5	GB5
DRXW	SS22K5	LT4	000
H2Y3	LH23G1	GY8	GY4
E2L3	LM23C4	KT5	000
F4Y3	RL41G7	KY4	000
K2Y3	RK41K6	EW1	000
V3B5	WP29G3	GB5	GB5
D2Y3	VL29C2	GY9	GY4
L1B6	LL41A6	KB7	TX9
D4X9	PH41K2	GY8	TX9
J7B3	1977 Chrysler
PLR4	1977 St. Regis
M4K4	1970 Fury			burnt orange

Black TX9 as an upper door frame paint code is sometimes also referred to as "5X8".

Exterior Colors

1970 and later paint codes are three characters. The first character indicates the first year the color was offered, the second two characters indicate the color, and the hue. All 1969 cars will have only a two character paint code. For example, 1969 Hemi Orange cars will be listed as V2 on the fender tag of a 1969 car. The same color on a 1970 car will be listed as EV2. The "E" denotes that it is a 1969 color. This year notation goes like this: E=1969, F=1970, G=1971, H=1972, J=1973, K=1974, L=1975, etc.

Lynch Road Tags

The above 1976 tag is an example of a later Lynch Road tag. The codes at the top of the tag are "10118 193605 857 439406". The information for these tags varied through the 1970s. In this case, "857" matches the "E57" engine code, the "193605" happens to be close to the VON but it is the internal plant code for the unibody unit called the "base sequence number". "10118" is the "gate sequence number", see Fender Tag Standards for details on these codes. For 1969 and 1970 exmaples of Lynch Road tags, see Additional Reading for two sites that cover these tagss very well.

The "28" indicates a 28" radiator yoke, a "26" on a 1970-1972 B-body would indicate a 26" radiator yoke. Otherwise, standard smaller radiator supports are used.

The Codes

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•  Sales Codes A thru C 
•  Sales Codes D thru H 
•  Sales Codes J thru P 
•  Sales Codes R thru Z 
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Additional Reading: These sites are a must

 
www.maxwedge.com: Documenting A Mopar. This page does an excellent job covering 1969 and later fender tags.

aerowarriors.com: SuperBird Fender Tag Decoding. While working specifically on 1970 Superbirds, it does provide an excellent reference for all 1969-1980 Chrysler Products.

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Introduction to Mopar Documentation Part I | Part II | Part III
Fender Tags: 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967-1968
Fender Tags: 1969 and later
999 Paint codes
Fender Tags: Works in Progress

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