baught car in sept, and want to decode the cowl tag to find original info on car including paint code, any help would be appreciated, thanks

 

welcome , you will need to post a pic of it, or at least tell us what it says

 

I don't know how to load it from my albums there is a photo of it there sorry for the problem showing it,thanks rick t

 

72 = 1972 model year
3 = Oldsmobile
42 = Cutlass Supreme V-8
57 = Hardtop Coupe (2-door)
TR 982 = Green cloth and vinyl bench seat with armrest
A65 = front bench seat
48, 48 = Sequoia Green lower and upper exterior body colors
LAN = built at Lansing
01C = built 3rd week of January 1972
301418 = Fisher Body sequence number at the Lansing plant, not decodable further

 

Certainly not an A65 car now. Those seats look like they're out of a 90's GM product. Still a column shift car though.

 

thank you for decoding it for me, I was lost on what I had, now I know, thanks again.

 

yes the seats are not correct, I found a tag on them, they are rv replacement seats, I would like to find the correct intieror, used of course,lol. this is the way I got her, I traded a 91 sunbird 18 ft inboard outboard boat for her, not a bad trade, the interior dor panels and a pillors where painted black by previous owner, npd has the correct ones, when money is right I will get them. thanks for the feedback,rick t

 

i think it was a bench seat car from factory , i am going to find one someday, i have an olds three spoke wheel for it

 

does the sequence number dictate the number of these built or is it just the line number? just being inquizative about what number my car came off the line, sorry for asking soo much, just wanted not to misrepresent the car, also i don't see a kickdown cable or switch for tranny, does not kickdown, and don,t know if it came with a 350 or 400 turbo trans, the motor is a 350 cu in, casting number behind waterpump is 39558 and the heads have the big 7 and a small letter a, is it possible it,s original motor?

 

There's nothing that can be inferred from the sequence number. Your car was built in January of 1972. Given that model year production ran from August (1971) to July (1972) or thereabouts, your car was built pretty much in the middle of the model year.

Production of 1972 Cutlass Supreme 2-door hardtops totaled 105,087. It was the most popular Cutlass line/body style made that year, and that includes F-85, Cutlass, Cutlass S, and other styles of the Cutlass Supreme. Your car is not rare.


While I'm not sure exactly where, and others will certainly know, you should be able to determine if this is a "numbers matching" car by finding the VIN derivative stamped on the engine. In other words, there will be a number stamped on the engine that will include the last six digits (or so) of the car's VIN, and if those actually match the same sequence of the car's VIN, which is stamped on a metal plate on the driver's side under the windshield, that will verify that the engine (or is not) is original.

 

First, the sequence number for your car is part of the VIN, not the cowl tag. There were two separate processes on these builds. Fisher body works at Lansing would start cobbling the body shell and interior together at their plant. Then they would send the shell over to Lansing assembly where the final assembly of chassis, drivetrain, front clip and final trim would be added. The cowl tag number and the VIN are not related.

Reriginality? Yes. Both engine and transmission will be stamped with a VIN derivative that should be the same, and the last 6 digits of the derivative will match the last 6 digits of the car it was originally built for. Since we know your car is a 72 Supreme your VIN derivative will start out 32M followed by 6 numbers that should match your last 6 numbers of you cars VIN.

Your engine casting actually is 395558 2, and it should be a 4bbl carb. The A65 seat is a bench seat with center fold down armrest. There are plenty to choose from as the same seat was used in 70-72. Legendary Auto upholstery sells the better replacement covers for those seats.

 

wonderful information guys, learned a lot, thank you for your time and efforts , i will look for those engine numbers, I knew it was a plane jane cutlass. great site and info, if I can be of assistance to you all just ask and if I can help I will, thanks again and hope to chat about vehicles some more ,have a great day.

 

I wouldn't call your car a "plain jane" car. It was the most popular Cutlass sold that year, and with good reason. It was an attractive body style in the highest-end version of the Cutlass. That's hardly plain jane!

 

Maybe. I use the term 'plain jane' to describe a car in a model line with next to no options. That may be what the OP is referring to. Some of the CS models were remarkably bereft of options. Only ones I see are PS/PB/AT, AC and SS wheels. The SS wheels could have been added at any time though.

 

well the car came with a/c,ps/pb and the auto trans, not a strip model cs,I,ve seen some without that. lol I do love the body style, god I was 12 when she was new, rode in them too .