TheSamba.com :: View topic - VIN number sequence for convertibles

Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:53 pm

I've been trying to better approximate the actual date my '78 Super Beetle convertible was built. The sticker says June, '78 and the VIN is 1582057087.

But when I look at the Samba Technical section under VIN numbers for Beetles it confuses me. It's my understanding that convertibles were all that were produced in '78 & '79 but all of the VIN numbers for those two years in that listing start with 11..., why don't they all start with 15... indicating convertibles?

Secondly that listing says "NPR" (does that mean "no production" or "no production records" or what?) for June and July of '78 but my car's sticker says it's date of manufacture is June, '78.

And last the production sequence doesn't seem to fit my particular VIN number either. It would seem to imply that my car was manufactured in February, '78.

I'm hoping someone can clear this up for me.

Thanks.

Wed Jan 13, 2010 7:12 am

Here is a link to the Samba VIN listing that I'm referring to in my message above:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/bugchassisdating.php

Also, does anyone know if that birth date certificate thing is still an available service from VW-Germany? If so, how much does it cost, where do you inquire about it, and what's the turnaround time in getting one?

I look forward to your responses. Thanks again.

Wed Jan 13, 2010 7:26 am

Your sticker info sounds right. 15xxxxxxx is the correct VIN for the 78-79.

Wed Jan 13, 2010 8:07 am

158xxxxxxx is 1978 and 159xxxxxxx is 1979

Wed Jan 13, 2010 10:50 am

Thanks for the responses but I never doubted the authenticity of my VIN sticker, what I'm questioning is the Samba web site VIN information as per this link: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/bugchassisdating.php

Given that only convertibles were produced in '78 & '79, why do those monthly VIN sequences shown in the Samba VIN information all start with 11xxxxxxx instead of all being 15xxxxxxx (since all convertibles) for those two years?

Also, does anyone know what the notation "NPR" means in that Samba VIN listing? I can't find any definition of that.

And my other question is why my car's VIN seems to fall in the February '78 production on the Samba VIN information when my sticker says its manufacture date is June '78?

Again, thanks for any help you can provide.

Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:43 pm

From that page
Quote: Beginning in the 1965 model year (August 1964), the VIN/chassis number begins with the 2-digit model number, i.e. 11.

So convertibles would start with 15 as you mentioned.
Use that as a general rule.

NPR? I can't remember where I got that from.
No Public Record?
No Production Record?

I can't answer the Feb. vs. June thing but the numbers around that time appear to be really close together so they may be off or June may be when it left the factory as a completed convertible from Karmann vs. when it left the general production line? (Guess)

Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:59 pm

Those 11-numbers, you're right about that. Some of that information on those charts came from me, and looking at the sources I had here, I find the what I have shows 11-series instead of 15-series. I'm not sure what those numbers mean, actually, as they cannot be German production, that ended in 1977 for US production and in Jan, 1978 for non-USA. :-k

I did look in the Car of the Century book, to see if shows any dates matching with chassis numbers. One thing it says is that 158 2 028 534 was the first one made in Calendar 1978, so I'm assuming that was sometime in January. It does not have an accurate "end" chassis number for the year as apparently for some odd reason, VW rounded it up to an even 100,000.

-Andy

Thu Jan 14, 2010 1:00 am

What are the VIN's of Beetles made in Mexico, Brazil, etc. in 1978 and 1979? Beetles were imported to Germany for a while after German production ended.

The 158- and 159- VIN's were sequential and germain to the Karmann-produced convertibles only.

Thu Jan 14, 2010 7:51 am

Thanks for the additional responses. I have two other questions:

1. Is the printed "birth certificate" thing still available from VW-Germany and if so how much does it cost, where do you request one, and how long does it take to get it?

2. Thanks for supplying that VIN number for the first Beetle convertible built in 1978. Since it is 1582028534, that would imply that my car, ending in 57087 would have been the 28,553rd car built in '78. But that doesn't seem to jive with this listing in The Samba: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/beetle_productionfigures.php
which states that a total of only 19131 German-built Beetles were produced in all of 1978. Can someone explain that?

Thanks again, this is an interesting discussion.

Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:02 am

Birth Certificates are still available, the thread for that info is here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=398

I do not know why yours would have a 57K number on it. Perhaps VW alloted number blocks but never filled them up for various build specs, leading to those higher VIN numbers.

Another thing in the COTC book is a note as to the final German-made Non-Super (torsion bar front end) Sedan's serial number, which was 1182 034030, on Jan 19th.

Then it lists the range of AJ EFI engines, which I think were mostly for the US market. At the start of the year it was AJ0 119688 and ended at 132850, for a total of 13,162 engines. It says that VW's own publications claimed they sold "nearly 13000" convertibles in the US in 1978, but other sources say 8000-9000. It looks like 1978 is a pretty unknown year.

Your thread title also asks about 1979. I looked to see what is in the COTC book about that final year. Well, year and a half as they got a waiver to keep making them as a 1979 model all the way up into January 1980....:

August 1978 - 1592 000001 - AJ0 132851 = Start of Model Year
Janaury 1979 -1592 018069 - AJ0 136983 = Start of Calendar Year 79
August 1979 - 1592 036062 - AJ0 143096 = End of 1979 Model Year

But then compare that last number, to this one it lists in the Body section that the last true 1979 Convertible body was at 1592 036506. Then in that section under 1980 model year it says began at 1592 036507.

Finally, in 1979 they had that special 'Epilog' triple-black edition, which got it's own separate number series, starting at 1592 029000

It says a grand total of 10,681 convertibles were sold in the US in 1979.

Then for "faux" model year 1980, which was still VIN'd as a 1979:

August 1979 - 1592 036063 - AJ0 143097 = Start of 1980 Model Year
January1980 - 1592 043635 - AJ0 149559 = Start of 1980 Calendar Year
Jan 30, 1980 - 1592 043705 - AJ0 149567 = Final US-Spec Convertible.

And a total of 4.572 sold in the USA for that extra half-year.

-Andy