While option codes and their location varied year to year and plant to plant prior to 1965, the codes under SO NUMBER BDT TRM PNT were consistent. These were also used in 1965 and 1966.
Under the SO NUMBER are the Scheduled Production Date (or "SP Date") and the Shipping Order Number (or "SO Num"). The SP Date is the date the car was scheduled to be produced. For 1962 to 1965 tags, the SP Date is the first four digits represented as "MMDD" for "Month" and "Day". The Month range is 01-12 for Jan-Dec. For 1966 tags, the SP Date is a three character code "MDD" where Month is [1-9,A,B,C] for [Jan-Sep,Oct,Nov,Dec] ("B01" is "Nov 1"). Model year production generally ran from August 1 to a date around the end of June, or begining of July. This end date varied year to year and plant to plant. Fender tags with a SP Date of August to December were built in the year prior to their model year designation (1964 Darts were built begining in August 1963).
The Shipping Order Number (or "SO Num") does not correspond to VIN. It was a daily sequence number that was incremented for each car built at a particular plant. It appears on the Broadcast Sheet, and it is stamped into the radiator core support, usually on top or facing rear on the driver's side of the core support. This helps tie the fender tag to the car.
trim codes describe the interior trim for a car. It describes the front seat configuration (buckets or bench) as well as the color and trim level (Dart 170, Dart 270, or Dart GT). Below are common interior trim codes for 1964-1968 passenger cars. It is not complete, if your code does not appear here, contact me. The "?" denotes color Q=Turquoise Y=Gold X=Black T=Tan B=Blue W=White R=Red. For example, "P4R" is for "vinyl bucket seats, Red".
| H3? | Leather Bench Seats |
| P4? | Vinyl Bucket Seats |
| P6? | Vinyl Bucket Seats |
| H6? | Vinyl Bench Seat |
| H4? | Vinyl Bench Seat |
| H1? | Cloth and Vinyl Bench Seat |
| M6? | Vinyl Bench Seat |
| M4? | Medium trim vinyl seats |
| L1? | Vinyl Bench Seat |
| L4? | Vinyl Bench Seat |
| S6X | Vinyl Bucket Seat, Black (sport trim) |
This next table is for 1962-1963 passenger cars. It is not complete, if your code does not appear here, contact me. The "?" denotes color 3=Tan 1=Blue 5=Red 4=Gray 6=Black. the color to number tends to vary year ot year and plant to plant, feel free to contact me with specific questions.
| 85? | (85) Polara 500 vinyl buckets |
| 34? | (34) cloth and vinyl bench |
| 64? | (64) vinyl bench |
| 65? | (65) vinyl buckets (Polara 500 only) |
| 60? | (60) vinyl bench |
| 26? | (26) vinyl buckets, Sport Fury |
| 52? | (52) cloth and vinyl buckets, (5) Red or (5) Red and Gray |
For 1962-1965 cars, a three digit identifier was used to determine the body style of a car. The first two digits denote the body and trim level and correspond to the first two digits in the VIN. The third digit was a body configuration specification.
For 1966-1968 cars, a four character identifier was used where the first two letters corresponded to the first two characters in the VIN, and the last two digits corresponded to a body configuration specification.
| 1962-1965 | 1966-1968 | Configuration |
| 1 | 21 | 2 door sedan |
| 2 | 23 | 2 door hardtop |
| 3 | 41 | 4 door sedan |
| 4 | 43 | 4 door hardtop |
| 5 | 27 | convertible |
| 6 | 45 | six passenger wagon |
| 7 | 46 | nine passenger wagon |
| 8 | six passenger wagon, hardtop | |
| 9 | nine passenger wagon, hardtop | |
| 9 | Barracuda fastback (1964-1966 V89) |
For example, a "351" is a V8 Savoy 2 door sedan, a WP27 is a Coronet 500 Convertible, a "V89" is a Plymouth Barracuda (1965), a "C79" is a Chrysler New Yorker Town & Country nine passenger wagon, and a "P13" is a Plymouth Fury I 4 door sedan.
For all 1962-1968 passenger cars, paint codes under "PNT" or "PAINT" are for exterior paint colors and follow of character-character-digit. The first character refers to the roof color, the second character refers to the body color, and the digit refers to a monotone paint scheme (1) or a two-tone paint scheme (2). In some years, this third digit on convertibles was a (7). Color specifications followed this format even for convertibles and vinyl top cars. It is rare to see a two tone 1960's Chrysler built passenger car, but they do exist. Refer to paint chips for the letter of your paint code.
Its common to find a single trailing letter after the three character paint code. This refers to either an upper door frame interior paint color or an accent exterior paint color like one that might be used on a 1964 Dodge Dart GT or a 1963 Dodge Polara 500. For example "WW1 R" on a 1963 Polara 500 would indicate a White paint with Red accents. Unfortunately for the decoder, exterior paint codes for 1964-1965 cars use different letters than the accent paint codes! For 1962-1963 they are the same as the exterior paint codes, and Upper Door Frame paint codes are the same as the exterior paint codes for all 1962-1965 cars. Refer to the paint chips for those colors. Below is a listing of accent paint codes for 1964-1965.
| Color | 1964-65 Accent |
| Gold | Y |
| Black | B |
| Turquoise | Q |
| Red | R |
| Tan | T |
| Copper | U |
| White | W |
If you have questions about any of this, please feel free to contact me.
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