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I don't think Oldsmobile, or any GM make, built cars in Europe. Are you sure it wasn't built in the U.S. and then exported to Europe?
That's not a VIN tag. We call that a "body" tag or "cowl" tag, although it does have more info on it than the typical body tag we see here. Maybe it functioned as a VIN tag on European-sold cars.
I don't think Oldsmobile, or any GM make, built cars in Europe. Are you sure it wasn't built in the U.S. and then exported to Europe?
That's not a VIN tag. We call that a "body" tag or "cowl" tag, although it does have more info on it than the typical body tag we see here. Maybe it functioned as a VIN tag on European-sold cars.
Prob a knock down car...built in the US knocked down in crates and sent to Europe where it was reassembled...not uncommon but not very many..Europe, Asia, Austrailia etc got them
Last edited by marxjunk; May 28, 2016 at 11:11 AM.
Wikipedia lists Antwerp as the location of a GM factory from 1924 to 2011. They list only Opel and something called a "TwinTop" has having been made there, though.
I still wonder, though, whether Olds actually assembled any cars there. It seems inefficient to ship all the parts there just to assemble a relatively few cars. Much easier to assemble them in the U.S., where the factories already had the parts available, and then ship whole cars abroad. Perhaps these cars were simply processed through Antwerp or whatever plant, and the tags plus any modifications required by European law were added prior to the cars being sold.
Bloomfield NJ was the place where the knock down cars were shipped from. I have records that Olds shipped 64 F85s there for knock down and boxing for export.
More on the CDK history. There is tons of info out there on the history of GM exporting.
http://www.trifive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116621
Production in Antwerp has a long history, going back to 1925 when it assembled Chevrolets primarily for the Belgian, the Netherlands, and German markets under the name General Motors Continental. The factory was destroyed in WWII and new facilities were constructed in 1953 and expanded in 1967. The plant assembled 1967 and 1968 Camaros from CKD kits. Total CKD Chevrolet production in 67 was 1497 and 1139 in 68. Unfortunately the production quantities are not broken down by model, so the number of Camaros in that total are unknown. At the end of the 1968 model year, Chevrolet production ceased at Antwerp and the 69's were imported
Here's something that may help you more with deciphering the car. The VIN tag on your car is likely on the A pillar. Clik this link to look up the serial number characteristics of your specific car.
I've seen these trim tags before, and they aren't specific to ANTWERP. They were attached at GM divisions located throughout Europe, for cars that were shipped there for sale.
You might also be interested in this reference of Oldsmobile Production Numbers extracted from the Book: Setting the Pace: Oldsmobile's First 100 Years by Helen Earley and James Walkinshaw:
Interesting info! There is no tag on my A pillar, there probably might have been, but the car has been repainted so it was probably removed...the VIN number that is stated on the paperwork that comes with the car, is however the "chassis" number found on the tag. So no other VIN to decode...it starts with "55", which obviously sta ds for the year, followed by an "8" which i guess stand for 88 model, so there probably is a system to it, it just differs from the US way of decoding i guess...
Looking at your profile picture, the car is LHD, making it one of 2247 exported that year.
Look for 2 small holes on the left side of the lower A pillar. This is where the VIN would have been riveted. This pic is just an example of how they did it back then.
Being a LHD car, would the tag be on the left pillar or right pillar? This area is visible when you open the front door and look at the door jamb between then hinges. On RHD, it is, of course, on the left side. Wonder if it might be there still, even if the car was built the other way around.
Also, a VIN starting 557 would indicate a regular 88, whereas yours is an 8, indicating a Super 88 with the 4bbl carb. Your car should have round "88" emblems on the front fenders. Also, I believe "Super 88"s came with a Rocket 88 emblem on the trunk where non-supers had nothing.
LHD is what we drive here, so the VIN tag should have been on the left front door pillar. I'm not 100% sure, but it makes sense to always put the VIN tag in the same place on the assembly line. They probably had a jig or pre-drilled holes for them.
Yeah I checked and nothing on the pillars...not even empty holes so I gues it's different on the European ones then...I digged a little further (before I didn't have enough time to do so) and it appears it was never in the US, was sold here in 1955, lady put it on her name because her husband (original owner) passed away in 1959, drove it 'till 1973, then sold it to somebody in the Netherlands, this person never registered it, sold it again in 1986, this person tore the car apart, had a lot of work done, guess it never drove the streets again since now...last registration is from 1973...in Belgium (where I live)
It seems very unusual for me to think that they would not have put a VIN on the export cars. At this time, the first few digits were the model, year and MFR plant and the last 6 digits were the sequential production number. So, did they build the export cars and then start at #1, or did the export cars get scattered through the production and they'd just skip them? Seems like more work to figure out which ones were export Vs. just putting a VIN tag on all of them. It would be interesting to see what casting dates are on the engine parts....is this a very early car or a mid-year car?
