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So is there any other information other than color and date that can be found on the cowl tag like buckets, trim or trans the car came with? Are there any options that owners can find without a build sheet? Is there a historical society that has information that we can write to? Ty
69= 1969 model year
3=Oldsmobile
36= Cutlass V8
87= Holiday Coupe
LAN119539= Lansing plant sequential build. Does not necessarily match the VIN sequence. Your VIN should have an M for a Lansing car as in 336879Mxxxxxx.
75 75= Aztec Gold Metallic upper and lower body color. No vinyl top.
934=gold vinyl strato-bucket seats
09C= built 3d week (C) September (09) 1968. Very early car.
In those years GM didn't put engine or driveline codes in VIN or on data plate like Ford did. That's partly why Chevrolets and Pontiacs are so easy to counterfeit. Unfortunately we're seeing more and more of that in the Olds and Buick universe.
Last edited by rocketraider; Jun 6, 2021 at 02:28 PM.
That's a known idiosyncrasy in 68-69 442 data plates vs VIN. Why? Only the factory people who were there know. Joe P I think has some documentation on this quirk.
So is there any other information other than color and date that can be found on the cowl tag like buckets, trim or trans the car came with? Are there any options that owners can find without a build sheet? Is there a historical society that has information that we can write to? Ty
Some information can be found in the chassis service manual .
Also the Oldsmobile parts books have charts to decode almost everything on the tag except for the option codes .
The Oldsmobile parts books are available for a free download here ; Thru 1975 - Oldsmobile Chassis and Body Parts Catalog - ClassicOldsmobile.com
That's a known idiosyncrasy in 68-69 442 data plates vs VIN. Why? Only the factory people who were there know. Joe P I think has some documentation on this quirk.
Yes, this is well documented in the Fisher Body Manual, the parts books, and other factory documents. FYI, this isn't the only instance of the cowl tag not matching the VIN. Fisher Body only cared about model differences in the body, and in 68-69, the 442 and Cutlass S were identical as far as Fisher was concerned (Olds installed the front fenders with the 442 emblems on the assembly line, not Fisher, for example). Other instances are six cylinder cars, which got a different VIN (335... for a six vs 336... for a V8), but the cowl tags were all 36xx body codes. As far as Fisher was concerned, there were no body differences between six and eight cylinder cars.
This is from the 1968 Parts Book. Note the Oldsmobile Sales Model Code vs. the Fisher Body Model Code, including the footnote halfway down the RH column. Also note the F-85 Six and Cutlass Six cars. Same thing.
