Re: Measuring Up to the Competition
a) I spent decades avoiding being moved to the beltway. At one point I was working on School Street and the joke was that on Fridays I would be home quicker than half the people in the office (some lived in PA). Back then there was a flight from DC to/from Orlando every hour.
b) The first three digits of the VIN are the manufacturer's ID, the country code (first digit) is just of convenience but usually where the headquarters is.
565.15 Content requirements
(a) The first section shall consist of
three characters that occupy positions
one through three (1–3) in the VIN.
This section shall uniquely identify the
manufacturer and type of the motor
vehicle if the manufacturer is a highvolume
manufacturer.
" see the federal reg.
In general US mfrs VINs start with 1, 4, or 5 but is not part of the reg. Any digit can be a letter also. See Hyundai for an extreme example. Note the use of "5" in some.
So when Chrysler lists a VIN as
CROSSFIRE VIN CODE BREAKDOWN
1 Country of Origin 1 = Manufactured By DaimlerChrysler Corporation
2 Make C = Chrysler
3 Vehicle Type 3 = Passenger Car
That was Chrysler's decision and had nothing to do with the beltway bandits.
Note: I suspect the "1C" part was by general agreement among US mfrs a long time ago but did not reseach that far.
ps am somewhat of a fanatic about identification of things automotive by VINs, model numbers and option codes, is really fascinating what you can find about certain combinations. Have been doing this since GM used 80 column cards for orders.
Last edited by Padgett; Jan 4, 2014 at 10:32 AM.