Classic cars are our specialty, but we decode any VIN, 1946 to today.
Where to find it, by year
- 1950 to early 1951: small patent plate on the firewall under the hood with the serial number only; from mid-1951 it added body type, paint, trim and a production code with a scheduled date [OCW]
- 1952 only: plate relocated to the right front door hinge pillar [OCW]
- 1953: plate on the driver's door hinge pillar; 1955-1956: driver's door dogleg assembly with unchanged data [OCW]
- 1957: early plates same data with updated patent numbers; a smaller plate introduced in spring 1957 added transmission and rear axle ratio codes and replaced the production code with a date code [OCW] [CTCI]
- 1962: serial number moved to the middle of the plate, data across the top line, DSO space added [OCW]
- 1963-1965: plate renamed Warranty Plate, serial number called Vehicle Warranty Number, not for title or registration [OCW]
- 1966: larger warranty plate, same data; a blank color code with a long DSO code indicates special-order paint [OCW]
- 1969: last year Ford used a data plate on US passenger cars (per OCW) [OCW]
Overview only. Where the OCW article and other pages differ on location (for example 1963-1965 warranty plate on the lock face of the left front door per Mercury Stuff) the Mercury Stuff plate entries are the more specific.
CTCI says the Thunderbird patent plate sat on the engine compartment firewall near the heater duct; the large plate was used on all 1955-56 models and 1957 until mid-April, the small plate from the week of April 15-19, 1957 to the end of 1957 production (December 13, 1957), and small plates did not show the destination code or scheduled item number.
Warranty plate (data plate), 1964
Where: Rear (lock) face of the left front door [MS64]
| Body style | 62A [MS64] |
| Exterior paint (two letters = two-tone, lower body color first) | DM [MS64] |
| Interior trim | 17 [MS64] |
| Date: day of month then month letter | 26H [MS64] |
| District | 33 [MS64] |
| Rear axle ratio (digit = conventional, letter = Equa-Lock) | 1 [MS64] |
| Transmission | 6 [MS64] |
The page's worked example: 62A DM 17 26H 33 1 6 = Galaxie 500 2-door sedan, Dynasty Green over Wimbledon White, trim 17, August 26, Detroit district, 3.00:1 conventional axle, C-4 automatic. If special paint was used the paint space is blank.
Ford 1965: Warranty plate (Ford and Mercury)
Where: Left front door lock face; the VIN is on a tab at the top right of the dash panel in the engine compartment (per source) [MS65]
| Body style (two digits plus letter), e.g. 54A | [MS65] |
| Exterior paint (two letters = two-tone, lower first) | [MS65] |
| Interior trim (two digits, or a letter and a digit) | [MS65] |
| Date code: day number then month letter | [MS65] |
| District (two digits); the full DSO order number appears here on special orders | [MS65] |
| Axle ratio (number conventional, letter Equa-Lock) | [MS65] |
| Transmission (one digit) | [MS65] |
| Line 2, vehicle warranty number: year digit (5 = 1965), assembly plant letter, body serial (2 digits), engine code letter, consecutive unit number (starts 100001 Ford, 500001 Mercury per plant and year) | [MS65] |
The page says the warranty number must not be used for title or registration. No worked example was captured for 1965.
Ford 1968: Warranty plate (Ford and Mercury)
Where: Riveted to the left front door lock face; VIN on an aluminum tab on the instrument panel at the windshield, passenger side [MS68]
| Line 1 warranty number: model year digit, plant letter, body serial, engine code, six-digit consecutive unit number | [MS68] |
| Body type code | [MS68] |
| Color code | [MS68] |
| Trim code | [MS68] |
| Date code (day number, month letter) | [MS68] |
| District, or district and special-equipment (DSO) code | [MS68] |
| Rear axle code | [MS68] |
| Transmission code | [MS68] |
Field order as listed on the page. Lincoln-Mercury units use suffix A in place of B in the district code (per page).
Ford 1971: Vehicle Certification (V.C.) label / warranty plate
Where: Rear face of the driver's door; VIN on a metal tab on the instrument panel near the windshield, driver's side [MS71]
| Consecutive unit number (last six VIN digits) | [MS71] |
| Body serial code (two digits) | [MS71] |
| Model year code (1 = 1971) | [MS71] |
| Assembly plant code (letter) | [MS71] |
| Engine code | [MS71] |
| Trim code | [MS71] |
| Rear axle code | [MS71] |
| Color code | [MS71] |
| Body type code (two digits plus letter) | [MS71] |
| Date code and district / special equipment code | [MS71] |
| Transmission code | [MS71] |
Field order as listed by the page (via a summarizing fetch); the physical row layout is not described.
Ford 1955-1956: Data plate (serial and body/paint/trim/production code plate)
Where: Not stated in the fetched page text [F55]
| Serial: engine letter, year digit, plant letter, body style letter, consecutive unit number (example: engine M = 292 V8, 6 = 1956, F = Dearborn, T = body style letter) | M6FT332131 [F55] |
| Body type (70C = Fairlane Club Sedan 2-door in the example) | 70C [F55] |
| Body color (one letter solid; two letters two-tone, ME = M Goldenglow Yellow lower/roof with E Colonial White upper) | ME [F55] |
| Trim (L = Gray Random Dot Cloth in the example) | L [F55] |
| Production code: day of month, month letter (G = July 1956 in the example), scheduled item number | 13 G 493 [F55] |
Only the worked example on 1955-ford.com is captured. The page text did not include the full body-style, trim or district tables; it links to PDFs (Tech Talk 1955-56 Ford VIN Plate, 1953-55 data plate decode, 5-page color list) that were not retrievable. 1956-ford.com has an expired TLS certificate and could not be fetched.
The page notes the scheduled-item field may carry extra alphanumeric characters whose meaning the editor did not determine.
Axle and transmission are not plate fields in the captured layout. The 1955 text lists 3.78 standard / 3.89 optional rear axle ratios and conventional 3-speed, overdrive and Fordomatic for the Fairlane Club Sedan example, but gives no plate codes.
Mercury 1960: Patent plate
Where: Riveted to the left front body pillar between the front door hinges (per MS60M) [MS60M]
| Serial number: model year digit (0 = 1960), assembly plant letter, body type code, engine letter, consecutive unit number (starts 500001 per plant) | [MS60M] |
| Body style | [MS60M] |
| Body color (lower body color first, upper last) | [MS60M] |
| Trim code (number indicates trim color and material) | [MS60M] |
| Assembly date: day number and month letter | [MS60M] |
| Transmission code | [MS60M] |
| Axle ratio code | [MS60M] |
The page does not list the 1960 Mercury body color or trim letter/number values (it only describes them). Gap.
Worked example: a 1964 Ford Galaxie plate
The worked example on Mercury Stuff's 1964 Ford identification page reads 62A DM 17 26H 33 1 6.
| Code | Line | What it means |
| 62A | Body style | Galaxie 500 2-door sedan [MS64] |
| D | Paint, lower body (two letters = two-tone, lower first) | Dynasty Green (1625, Medium Turquoise Metallic) [MS64] |
| M | Paint, upper body | Wimbledon White (1619, White) [MS64] |
| 17 | Interior trim | Chain weave fabric and crush vinyl: turquoise / light turquoise D/L [MS64] |
| 26 | Build date: day of the month | 26th [MS64] |
| H | Build date: month letter | August (first-year letter) [MS64] |
| 33 | District | Detroit [MS64] |
| 1 | Rear axle ratio (digit = conventional, letter = Equa-Lock) | 3.00:1 conventional [MS64] |
| 6 | Transmission | C-4 automatic, dual range [MS64] |
If the car was painted a special color, the paint space is blank. [MS64]
Type your tag codes into the code lookup
Codes we decode
The tables behind the code lookup for these makes. Each code in the lookup shows its own source.
Before you rely on a tag
- From 1963 to 1965 the serial on the plate was called the Vehicle Warranty Number, and Ford said it was not for title or registration. Use the VIN stamped on the car for that. [OCW] [MS65]
- Code tables change by year and sometimes disagree between references (for example the 1968 axle codes and some district lists). Where they do, the code lookup shows each source. [MS68] [CP68]
- The plate records how the car was ordered and built. It cannot confirm that the engine, axle or paint on the car today are original.
Decode the VIN too
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Other tag guides
- How to read a GM Fisher Body trim tag (cowl tag)
- How to read a Chrysler, Dodge or Plymouth fender tag
Sources
- [EDSX] Edsel Owners Club registry, individual car dataplate pages (e.g. w8700169, u8731150) and classiccars.com listing 1192912, as summarised in search results
- [MS65] Mercury Stuff (mercurystuff.com), 1965 Ford and Mercury Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [CP65] Classic Ponycars, 1965 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CI65] Classic Industries, Decoding your 1965 Mustang's data plate
- [CP66] Classic Ponycars, 1966 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CP67] Classic Ponycars, 1967 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CP68] Classic Ponycars, 1968 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CP69] Classic Ponycars, 1969 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CP70] Classic Ponycars, 1970 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CP71] Classic Ponycars, 1971 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CP72] Classic Ponycars, 1972 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [CP73] Classic Ponycars, 1973 Mustang Data Plate Decoder
- [F55] 1955-ford.com, 1955 Ford data plate codes (includes a worked 1956 example)
- [TB57] 57tbird.blogspot.com, 1957 Ford Thunderbird VIN and data plate codes (single enthusiast source)
- [MS63G] Mercury Stuff, 1963 Galaxie Identification, U.S. built (Warranty Plate)
- [MS64] Mercury Stuff (mercurystuff.com), 1964 Ford Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [MS68] Mercury Stuff (mercurystuff.com), 1968 Ford and Mercury Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [MS71] Mercury Stuff (mercurystuff.com), 1971 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [FT1521] Ford-Trucks.com forum thread 1521140, Decoding the Ford 9 axle tag (forum, unverified)
- [GTS] The Ford Torino Page forum, Axle codes thread (forum, unverified)
- [CI66] Classic Industries, 1966 Ford Mustang data plate
- [MS67L] Mercury Stuff, 1967 Lincoln Continental Vehicle Identification (Warranty Label)
- [MS60M] Mercury Stuff, 1960 Mercury Identification (Patent Plate), summarising the 1960 Mercury Maintenance Manual MD-6077-60
- [MS61C] Mercury Stuff, 1961 Mercury Comet Identification (Patent Plate), citing Service Specifications Handbook MD-9937-61 and the 1960-64 Master Parts Catalog
- [MS65C] Mercury Stuff, 1965 Mercury Comet Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [MS60C] Mercury Stuff, 1960 Mercury Comet Identification (Patent Plate)
- [MS62C] Mercury Stuff, 1962 Mercury Comet Identification (Warranty Label)
- [MS63M] Mercury Stuff, 1963 Monterey, S-55, Colony Park Identification, U.S. built (Warranty Plate)
- [MS63E] Mercury Stuff, 1963 Mercury Meteor Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [MS63C] Mercury Stuff, 1963 Mercury Comet Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [MS64M] Mercury Stuff, 1964 Mercury Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [MS66M] Mercury Stuff, 1966 Mercury Identification (Warranty Plate)
- [OCW] Old Cars Weekly, It's all in the numbers: Ford's serial numbers 1950-1980
- [CTCI] Classic Thunderbird Club International, Data Plate Decoder (page text only; code tables are linked images)
These are published secondary references, not factory documents. Where they disagree, we say so.