More fender tag fun

[Maindrian Pace]

Before my Monaco is permanently Bluesmobiled, I'd like to document what it started out as. So I've spent some time on the interwebs trying to find the various codes on the fender tag; not as easy a job as it should be by now. I think I've got most of them, culled from various sources. The four I can't find, K5X, (more on that below) KL2, 331, and 903655. The rest tells the story, a plain-jane base '75 Monaco in parchment with parchment interior (tan on more tan) 318, automatic, air, vent windows, and not much else. Nothing looks like a radio code, no radio car?

Curious code: Y16 - sales bank car. Had to look that one up. Very interesting, a '70s method to stock up for the coming strikes, maybe? Different world then.

HL4 appears twice. First one is the exterior paint, but what of the second one? I have about the right side 3 inches of broadcast sheet, plus a few fragments in a bag, I saved what I could find. On one fragment:

HL4 - roof style. Pillared sedan? Slick top? And right next to it, Stripes - sub heading K, 5X. Is that the K5X? Stripes on this car? Could this have been a fleet car of some sort?

 

[413]

K5X is body side moldongs
KL2 is upper door frame paint- interior
331 is the scheduled build date March 31
HL4 twice means lower is body paint and upper is for roof paint.
Also tells us the car has no vinyl top

903655 is the vehicle order number. Will be on broadcast sheet also. And on the order form they used to order the car.

 

[Maindrian Pace]

Many thanks, that about covers it. Were the upper interior door frames painted to match the interior color? What do you make of that 68 hand stamped in the tag?

 

[PeugFra]

Very plain Jane car! We can't know about a radio, because on Dodge and Plymouth tags radio codes were not used by then.

The sales bank was a managment trick to keep the production lines running on a regular basis, regardless of the number of orders on hand.

 

[69CoronetRT]

Before my Monaco is permanently Bluesmobiled, I'd like to document what it started out as. So I've spent some time on the interwebs trying to find the various codes on the fender tag; not as easy a job as it should be by now. I think I've got most of them, culled from various sources. The four I can't find, K5X, (more on that below) KL2, 331, and 903655. The rest tells the story, a plain-jane base '75 Monaco in parchment with parchment interior (tan on more tan) 318, automatic, air, vent windows, and not much else. Nothing looks like a radio code, no radio car?

View attachment 604449

Curious code: Y16 - sales bank car. Had to look that one up. Very interesting, a '70s method to stock up for the coming strikes, maybe? Different world then.

HL4 appears twice. First one is the exterior paint, but what of the second one? I have about the right side 3 inches of broadcast sheet, plus a few fragments in a bag, I saved what I could find. On one fragment:

View attachment 604450

HL4 - roof style. Pillared sedan? Slick top? And right next to it, Stripes - sub heading K, 5X. Is that the K5X? Stripes on this car? Could this have been a fleet car of some sort?

Y16 = Internally ordered car. Meaning someone at Chrysler Corp sat down with an order blank and ordered this car as opposed to it being ordered by the customer or dealer. Y16 can be sales bank cars or cars ordered to populate dealer inventory and to keep the lines running in between ordered cars.

Or, Y16 cars can be internally ordered vehicles designed to fulfill a special purpose or order. For example, 'appearance cars'. Marketing reps sign a contract to sponsor golf tournament. Part of the agreement is for Chrysler to provide cars to transport celebrities or tournament officials during the event. These cars could code Y16. Another example would be parade cars or pace cars for race. Y16 cars like that typically carry specialty VONs.

Y16 cars can carry a typical VON or a specialty VON depending on their end use or a specific application.

Specialty VONs are assigned internally by Chrysler to help designate that special purpose. A specialty VON supersedes the Vehicle Order Number found on the order sheet. For MY '75, letters were typically used for special VONs (such as a K VON for 'cop cars'). The other exception is the use of the number 9. Cars with a 9***** VON typically have other handling or deliver instructions over and above a standard retail VON. This series is assigned by Chrysler and does not appear on the order sheet.

This car carries Y16 and a 9***** VON indicating to me the car was ordered internally at Chrysler with special handling or delivery instructions over and above a standard retail delivery. The reason for this VON is typically associated with additional Y codes. Those Y codes would be found on the broadcast sheet, invoices, or ADSN dealer paperwork. The codes may not be found on the window sticker. Given what we have in front of us, we do not know why this car carries a Y16 code and 9***** VON. It likely doesn't mean much for significance, but it is mildly interesting.

As not all sales codes appear on a tag and not all plants coded the same. It is difficult, if not impossible, to know what options came on a car simply by looking at a fender tag. Therefore, we really can't make too many judgements as to how well or sparsely equipped car was when built simply by looking at a tag. A car could have come with 5-8 additional cost and desirable items that are not coded on a tag.

Not all plants coded the same. For MY '75, some plants coded R series radio codes (Hamtramck, St. Louis) and some did not either by choice (Windsor, Belvidere), coding layout (Lynch Road) or limited coding (Jefferson). Belvedere (D plant) did not. The lack of an R code does not tell us whether the car came with a radio or not.

The 68 stamping is a typical inspection code. Somebody did their job, inspected something and punched the tag to indicated they inspected something.

 

[Maindrian Pace]

Lots of great information there. It would be nice to know what the internal order was for, considering that this car is really plain - the basest of the base with only A/C, vent windows, and side trim as options - at least from what we know.

The previous owner was converting it to a replica cop car, and he had a rusty '74 NYS unit to get parts from, so it had a number of police parts on it when I bought it. He also back dated it to a '74 with the right grille, front bumper, 14o ('74 only) speedometer, spot light, and other parts. That's as far as he got before he found something that interested him more - 'a '77 Pontiac Can Am. He was in New York, but he bought the car in Georgia, where he said it was sold new. That would make sense, because it was very solid, as a lot of Georgia cars are.

 

[PeugFra]

This car carries Y16 and a 9***** VON indicating to me the car was ordered internally at Chrysler with special handling or delivery instructions over and above a standard retail delivery.

Here's another 1975 tag with said combination: