Question New member with an odd question about a vin on a 65 Vette

[wildmandon]

I have owned my 65 Corvette convertible for 35 years and have a question that has been bugging me. My vin plate and data plate list my convertible as being a coupe. Has anyone ever heard of this sort of thing before? The plates do not appear to have been changed. I had the police run the vin numbers back in the 80s to make sure it was not stolen. The car is from the state of Alabama and they did not issue titles back then so I don;t have extensive paperwork on it.
Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of this happening before.

 

[XFIRE82]

does your VIN correspond to these numbers :

Convertible Serial Numbers: 194675S100001 to 194675S123562
Coupe Serial numbers: 194375S100001 to 194375S123562

 

[wildmandon]

MY convertible number starts 194375 . I know it should be a 67 but appears to be a factory mistake to me.

 

[XFIRE82]

It does appear that the factory stamped the wrong number. I'm sure you researched and dug all you possibly could on this over the years. Do the frame numbers match also ? I never seen or heard of a factory error like this but believe it is possible. What I have seen and know of 2 cars 'round here, a 55 BelAir and a 59 Impala that were hardtops and made into convertibles, thus the tags don't match. Is it possible your car was a conversion very well done thus the tag id ?

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Knowing if the frame numbers match would help solve this puzzle. It could be a mismatched body frame and there could be any number of reasons for that or indeed a factory error.

No matter the numbers I hope you enjoy your Corvette. Love to see some pictures of it.

 

[Riley P]

I agree on the pictures! My dad had a '65 Convertible when I was a kid, so that got me into Corvettes. I'd love to see a picture of another '65. I'm also interested in hearing if the frame numbers match the body, but even if it was a body swap, the tags don't seem to have been replaced so I'm leaning towards there being a coupe out there somewhere that has the tags for a convertible.

 

[Rruuff Day]

Don posted one picture of the 65 in his introductory post in New Users. Here's a re=post of it but of course we want more of them....

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Thanks Eric.

 

[wildmandon]

I only have a couple of the photos before I put it in the garage. Here is another. I was looking for the frame numbers yesterday but did not find them yet. I had the body off years ago but don't remember looking for the frame numbers. Supposed to be above the left rear wheel, right? Is is supposed to be on top of or on the side of the frame rail?

 

[Black 03 Z06]

I read somewhere that you needed a mirror to see it. Hope you can find it.

 

[ddgermann]

Wow that car is beautiful!

 

[wildmandon]

I just found out something odd again. The reason I am just discovering things about this car is that it has been stored away for so many years that I have forgotten a lot about it.
Anyway, if what I just read is correct, according to my VIN, this is the last 65 Corvette made. That might explain why it has 1966 knobs on the dash and a 1966 dated transmission case, and has a coupe vin stamp on a convertible.
Does that sound logical?

 

[taylorsk8]

That would be cool if it was indeed the last '65 of production. I hope you can verify that for interests sake. I guess if '66 production was ready and they were short on parts (knobs, etc.) they may throw them in. Never heard of it but I would think it is very possible.

BTW. nice looking car. I am sure the pics don't do it justice and they even look good.

T

 

[wildmandon]

Well, I managed to transpose some numbers in the process of copying the VIN and then writing it down again. This is not the last 1965 Vette produced. My old eyes played a trick on me. I did manage to locate the VIN on the frame. It is a 65 but does not match so it looks to me like someone did indeed swap or replace a missing VIN tag on my car. I no longer am curious. I guess this car will never be worth a whole lot with a VIN problem. I guess I need to talk to my DMV about it. I never intend to sell it anyway though.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Wildman as long as you enjoy ownership of your car that is all that matters.

 

[turbozig]

Well, I managed to transpose some numbers in the process of copying the VIN and then writing it down again. This is not the last 1965 Vette produced. My old eyes played a trick on me. I did manage to locate the VIN on the frame. It is a 65 but does not match so it looks to me like someone did indeed swap or replace a missing VIN tag on my car. I no longer am curious. I guess this car will never be worth a whole lot with a VIN problem. I guess I need to talk to my DMV about it. I never intend to sell it anyway though.

Interesting story, thanks for sharing and enjoy your Vette!

 

[nascar03]

I’m still curious as the whether the other serial number you found on the frame says the car is a coupe or convert?
I also wonder if that frame serial number is registered as a vehicle somewhere else?

Interesting.!?

Graham

 

[wildmandon]

The number I found on the frame was above the left rear tire and it was only a partial number, it did not have the 37 or 67 stamped on it.

 

[XFIRE82]

more info I dug up :
My guess is the C2 frame was stamped the same as C3 frames.
First location is on top of the driver's side frame rail about where your hip would
be if you were sitting in the car. You cannot see this stamp with the body on the
frame.


Both are on the top horizontal surface of the frame rail, about 1/2" in from the
outer edge; the one forward of the kickup can't be seen with the body on, but the
rear one, directly above the shock upper attaching bracket, is visible with the body
on with some cleaning and a small mirror.

 

[Luke 1967]

There were 2 different rivet types used to fix the serial number tag to the birdcage in 1965. The plain round rivets (similar to trim tag) were used on earlier cars up to around 9900. After that, they switched to rosette style (looks like flower petal). That might be something else to check on your car.
Regardless, its a beautiful car and I'm sure its a joy to drive and nothing will ever change that!