VIN question- how do we know what counts?

[Timebender]

I have a November 1981 DeLorean I'm close to getting, last 4 digits are 7016. Is it really an '82, high number D, or 81 very low number D?

It's a flat hood, black stripe, gray interior, manual trans.

Greg

[yellowmxwheels23]

Late 81,
82 vins start at like 10000 or something.
I believe it should also have a grooved hood.

[krs09]

I'm Oct '81 #04870.

[dmcnorway]

VIN # 07016 is a late '81. Last 81 to be produced was VIN # 07199.
Your hood has been changed. You have an '82 hood. Your hood should be a hood with lines.

Stian Birkeland
Norway



I have a November 1981 DeLorean I'm close to getting, last 4 digits are 7016. Is it really an '82, high number D, or 81 very low number D?

It's a flat hood, black stripe, gray interior, manual trans.

Greg

[Andy]

VIN # 07016 is a late '81. Last 81 to be produced was VIN # 07199.
Your hood has been changed. You have an '82 hood. Your hood should be a hood with lines.

Stian Birkeland
Norway

Is that MY, Stian? 'Cause I have VIN#10998 as december 1981 (last one build, I assume?)... (VIN#11002 would be january 1982)

[Kane]

Is that MY, Stian? 'Cause I have VIN#10998 as december 1981 (last one build, I assume?)... (VIN#11002 would be january 1982)

We're talking when the model year changed, not the calendar year.

[David T]

We're talking when the model year changed, not the calendar year.

The only thing that really matters is what is on the Title. That is what year the car is legally.

[Timebender]

Late 81,
82 vins start at like 10000 or something.
I believe it should also have a grooved hood.

With gas flap? Wonder why the owner would have had that changed as there's no damage to the frame or anywhere in front...

[Timebender]

Just looked at the pics I posted on an older thread- grooved hood no gas flap alright.

[andy blackmon]

My car is 03513 Oct if 81--it has the grooves in the hood. Judging by the numbers the month of Oct of '81 they built lots of cars.
Andy B

[flux3d]

My car, VIN 10719, was built in late December 81, but registered by the first owner right at the start of Jan 82. Not sure if this helps. Certainly the factory earned their Christmas break that year (and only that year).

[Rich]

...Judging by the numbers the month of Oct of '81 they built lots of cars.

Yes, Oct. '81 was a busy month, apparently their most productive one: http://www.citizenkidd.com/DMC/pages/viN.asp

[JRNY13]

I've read that they were up to 80 cars per day in Oct '81. I have an Oct '81. Using this data I wonder if I can extrapolate the exact day the car was built? I'm sure it would be a pretty close estimate.

[dmcnorway]

Factory cut-off for '81 models was VIN # 07199 (last 81 model and the last with a hood with lines)

Yes, the VIN plates of the first VIN # 10000 -> are stamped DEC 81, but they are considered an 82 model year according to factory documents.
You can tell it's an 82 because all 82s got the flat hood.

Stian Birkeland
Norway

[Dangermouse]

Last 81 is 07199 and the first 82 is actually 10001.

Fun fact - both are owned by the same guy. :)

(or at least were)

[kings1527]

I've read that they were up to 80 cars per day in Oct '81. I have an Oct '81. Using this data I wonder if I can extrapolate the exact day the car was built? I'm sure it would be a pretty close estimate.

When I replaced my dash with a DMCH repro dash, the underside of my original dash had 11/11/81 written in marker. I eventually found an original dash in great shape and it had the date for that car written underneath, too. I can only imagine that's the date the car was put together. I'm 2 for 2 finding dates underneath dashes.

[Timebender]

Why did Delorean jump from 7199 at the end of 81 to 10001? Aren't VIN numbers supposed to be somewhat representative of how many cars are built sequentially? Thus it should've been either 7200 or at most rounded up to 8000 (though I think that's cheating).

[Kane]

Why did Delorean jump from 7199 at the end of 81 to 10001? Aren't VIN numbers supposed to be somewhat representative of how many cars are built sequentially? Thus it should've been either 7200 or at most rounded up to 8000 (though I think that's cheating).

Most likely it was just rules with the way VINs are issued (back then). With the change in model year, they may not have been able to keep going sequentially.

[Dangermouse]

Why did Delorean jump from 7199 at the end of 81 to 10001? Aren't VIN numbers supposed to be somewhat representative of how many cars are built sequentially? Thus it should've been either 7200 or at most rounded up to 8000 (though I think that's cheating).

One of those unanswered mysteries.

Wait to you see what they did to the 83s (+500) :wink:

[Timebender]

Wow.

[David T]

Wow.

If you look at how the vin's were created and issued they were done in blocks of numbers skipping many numbers so there are whole blocks of numbers that were never used. There is no good way to try to use the vin numbers to come up with how many cars were built. Unless you can find a master list of production by vin #. Another problem in trying to figure out haw many were made is that the # made per day varied so you cannot just figure out how many days of production and multiply it out. There are other indirect ways someone could arrive at a more accurate #. For instance if ship manifests ever came up you could count up how many cars per ship and how many ships. It would not be dead accurate but it would wind up being very close. In the beginning they used airplanes for a few cars.

[Kane]

In the beginning they used airplanes for a few cars.

I wish my car was an airplane... :)

[Timebender]

I wish my car was an airplane... :)

So is that saying they used reclaimed skins from some airplanes, which happen to be aircraft aluminum.. THUS, that's where the misconception from countless people that the DeLorean has aluminum skins may have started?

[Dangermouse]

Eh, no! Don't let's start another piece of misinformation. :)

David means that a few cars were sent over on a plane, rather than on a ship. There is a nice drawing of a 747 loaded up with cars as an exercise in whether it would be feasible to transport that way.

[Timebender]

Ohhh.... Got it. And no, last thing I want to do is create any more misinformation on these (still have people ask me why I'd want to buy one of the heaviest cars ever made...)

[Mark D]

VIN = Vehicle Identification Number

VIN Number (or VIN #) = Vehicle Identification Number Number


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAS_syndrome




Sorry, it just makes me nuts for some reason.

[Dangermouse]

Ironically, in this thread there are 25 posts on VINs, but only one actual "VIN Number" used.

[Mark D]

Ironically, in this thread there are 25 posts on VINs, but only one actual "VIN Number" used.

Names have been removed to protect the innocent:


VIN # 07016 is a late '81. Last 81 to be produced was VIN # 07199.


I have VIN#10998 as december 1981 (last one build, I assume?)... (VIN#11002 would be january 1982)


VIN # 07199 ... VIN # 10000


... Aren't VIN numbers supposed to be somewhat representative....


If you look at how the vin's were created... vin numbers to come up with how many cars were built.... production by vin #.

:frantic:

[Dangermouse]

Oops, forgot about the #

I'll be quiet now.

[Mark D]

Sorry for derailing the thread in the first place, I actually came here to post a link to here

http://www.dmcnews.com/faq/h_vins.htm

There are a vew other VIN related threads on the board but I've always found this page to be short and sweet when it comes to breaking down the info.

[Kane]

Sorry, it just makes me nuts for some reason.

I wondered how long it would take for some pedantic asshole to show up.

[Mark D]

I wondered how long it would take for some pedantic asshole to show up.

yup thats me apparently :wave2:

[TTait]

Names have been removed to protect the innocent:











:frantic:

So the Vin Number # is now up to 9 in this thread? First correct use of Vin ##!

[Jonathan]

Back to the original OP (hehe... just messin' with ya!)...

And David T touched on this a couple pages ago too... Are you asking what "matters" or what "counts?"

What matters to your local DMV is the year, etc. appropriate for that VIN.

Everything else only needs to matter to you. Gas flap or grooved, light or dark rims, antenna placement and all the other chronological goodies.

Nothing about our cars count versus doesn't count. Not the way you hear in sports, like "that touchdown didn't count because he was offside." You will never have someone come up to you at a car show and tell you your DeLorean doesn't really count because you are supposed to have a gas flap hood and you don't. You catch my drift? :)

[David T]

Back to the original OP (hehe... just messin' with ya!)...

And David T touched on this a couple pages ago too... Are you asking what "matters" or what "counts?"

What matters to your local DMV is the year, etc. appropriate for that VIN.

Everything else only needs to matter to you. Gas flap or grooved, light or dark rims, antenna placement and all the other chronological goodies.

Nothing about our cars count versus doesn't count. Not the way you hear in sports, like "that touchdown didn't count because he was offside." You will never have someone come up to you at a car show and tell you your DeLorean doesn't really count because you are supposed to have a gas flap hood and you don't. You catch my drift? :)

Actually the State DMV does not know how to decode a vin. They will rely on the original Bill of Sale or Certificate of Origin and use that for the model year and that is what will appear on the original Title and every other Title issued after that. All the rest of this is what is "correct" according to production records by DMC and the State DMV could not care less. For more information you should look at the Millenium Concours manual as for what is "correct" for your vin. Even that is up for debate as to what the factory or the QAC centers actually did to the cars. Especially near the break points and ALL of the '83's. IMHO the break points were a guide, the factory kept using the older parts till they were used up and then went to the newer stock. It was not a hard and fast rule that they could not use an older part after a certain vin. We had speakers who worked at QAC centers and they had no respect for what part to put on a car as long as it was a good part. The big demand was to get a particular vin car ready to ship to a particular dealer on a specific date and truck. You got what you got and back then few people knew the differences (or cared).

[Timebender]

Back to the original OP (hehe... just messin' with ya!)...


Nothing about our cars count versus doesn't count. Not the way you hear in sports, like "that touchdown didn't count because he was offside." You will never have someone come up to you at a car show and tell you your DeLorean doesn't really count because you are supposed to have a gas flap hood and you don't. You catch my drift? :)

Yep! To me as long as it's close enough. Just wanted to know what to look for on the one I'm picking up at the end of the month.

Like the R2 I built. 99% of the people who see him ask if it's the movie one...

[Jonathan]

Yep! To me as long as it's close enough. Just wanted to know what to look for on the one I'm picking up at the end of the month.

Like the R2 I built. 99% of the people who see him ask if it's the movie one...

Yea, very similar!

Same kind of discussion came when Diamond Select released their Flux Capacitor a few years ago because the lighting went the wrong way (direction that is, in to out vs out to in). Or perhaps that the casing wasn't technically a dark enough shade of gray. Guess what? Never in the history of car shows or people seeing the FC has anyone ever pointed out it's flaws. Like you said, it's close enough!

Once you get your car, you'll come to know every square inch, every slight scratch or ding in the stainless and every little interior or mechanical item that isn't quite perfect. And then you'll realize that when a friend or neighbor sees your car and how amazing it is AS it is, they won't notice the little imperfections at all. You see them, but very few other people do. You might be surprises to see that even a DeLorean in very mediocre shape still looks absolutely awe inspiring to someone that has never seen one. Not to mention you can go a bit crazy and broke trying to make the car perfect :)