No ,you don't understand THE VIN MATCHES THE ***LE,,, just that the tags decode to 1962,,yet everything one the car and the ***le say 1961 all the match
Is the 1962 tag on the same plate as the vin number? If they are on separate plates then it raises the possibility that one plate or the other was not originally on your car. Typically this happens when someone moves a valid vin tag / ***le to a questionable car. If the body tag is original to the car and the vin tag was moved that would be another possibility to why things aren't adding up for you. Hopefully that is not your situation. Obviously all of this is out the window if the codes you are referring to and the vin number are on the same tag.
ok as I have said ALL #'s match the VIN is the vin ,,cowl tag is separate and the engine is stamped the tag has not been replaced or altered .
Wild how this is somewhat hard to follow. 1961 car, "1962" ***le, 1962 VIN # - correct ?? What's the Style # and the Body # (including letter codes) on the data plate? No question in my mind- that's a '61. '62 VIN tag is 1 of 2 possibilities : factory mistake/extremely late built '61... or replaced VIN tag (and subsequent ***le). I would vote for extremely late built '61. There have been numerous do***ented Pontiac ***embly anomolies in the '60s.
close and yes this is what i was getting at 1961 CAR ***le says it is 1961 even thought the vin number ( which is the same as on the tag ) is a 62 though as I said all the tags match the car and motor number same as vin The car I know to be all original so if late production it is still a 61 correct? Data plate decodes as Style: 622117 Year: 1962 Series: Tempest Body Style: 2-Dr Sport Coupe, CUST Body: PO999 Plant: Pontiac, MI Serial #: 999 Trim: 213 Series: Tempest Interior Color: Red Material: Vinyl Cloth Leather Paint: CC Color: Upper Body Color: Cameo Ivory
if it is a 61 and wasnt sold till 63 it would still ba ***led as a 61. of course the first tag would say 63. drag car or stock the value isnt much different. built it the way you want...
Thats Funny!! But it ia a song about the Caddy ***y. line not Lincoln I agree, Build the car the way you like it. You are not dealing with a car that will change U.S. history If you change its "personality" The VIN / TAG stouy will be just as interesting either way.
OK: 1961 car, "1961" ***le, 1962 VIN (on car & ***le). IMO, the car is built as a '61, it's a '61, regardless of what a piece of paper or a stainless steel (VIN tag) says. It is what it (visually) is. Now, NJ may stick with "62", but what difference does this matter, unless you anticipate difficulties during a resale, either with the next state or the next owner. We know it's a '61, right? No date code on the data plate? Should be above "STYLE". PMD finished '61 production in Pontiac on 07-23-61 and started '62 production 08-15-61, so for all this to have gelled at the factory, we'd need to see a date code of '08-C' or later (08-D, 09-A, etc). 999 doesn't come off as a very late body number when 14,8** 2-dr hdtps were built (yours is the 999th Tempest/LeMans 2-dr hdtp body from the Pontiac plant), but body numbers juggled around relative to VIN numbers- doesn't confirm anything. What would without question is the PHS do***entation for your VIN.
>>"read my post above. my state did this. year of SALE dictated ***le..."<< Right: for the stated year of the car on the ***le, but it would not have changed the VIN tag itself. This is a '61 car with a '62-code VIN tag and a ***le which shows that "62" VIN.
Cool thanks and Jersey says it is a 1961 as well,,the ONLY thing saying 62 is the vin tag 162p and that # is correct on the ***le as well but in year it says 1961
Yup- there's your confirmation: date code "084", that's the 8th month, 4th week (usually the code uses A-B-C-D for weeks). It was built after Pontiac converted over to '62 production on 08-15, which is how it got a 1962 VIN. Prolly was originally ID'd as a '61 to the DMV by the original dealer or owner, and DMV never bothers to match up the year in the VIN# with the stated year on the ***le (if they even know how). Likely it was an ordered car that for some reason got delayed... Weird scenario ('62 VIN on a '61 car), but it all matches up. Neat conversation point.
wicked cool thanks,,that would make it 1 of 11 LeMans built in 1961 and I guess that makes this the LAST 1961 LeMans as well,,lol
go to that pontiac historical services link in post # 21...send off your info, you should get the build sheet ,order info ect.. we sent off for one on my dads trans am, I think it was $35 not too much $ and cool info to have... his was a special order black car that had the small emissions 301, and auto,usually for the california only cars, but was sold in chicago for some reason. you never know you might have the next $300k tempest! the 61 front end looks better, and I would still build it as a drag car.
When I lived in Baltimore, I had an '86 Ford Tempo that the state of Maryland insisted on ***ling as an '85. It had an '86 VIN number and a third brake light--'86 was first year to have the third brake light in the back window--still they ***led it as an '85. I didn't care at the time about that car, it was just cheap transportation from Point A to Point B.
lol,,I don't think its crazy $$ like that ,,but nice to know it has alil history,,yeah was gonna send out for that. Thanks everyone for your help
If you find the right person at the DMV, they can probably fix it for you and issue you a new ***le that's correct. A long time ago I bought a beat up '70 convertible, and when I got the ***le in the mail it said it was a coupe on the ***le. After I found some lady that knew what she was doing at the DMV, she went out and verified that it was indeed a convertible and looked at the vin and everything and she turned in some paperwork and I got the new ***le and it said "roadster". I think the people who work at the DMV now try to get other people to do any work that requires them to do any hard physical labor like getting up off their ***es now, so probably they'll give you paperwork that you have to take to the Highway Patrol or somewhere else to get verified now. Every state is different though.
umm,,it is correct the car is a 61 ,,1962's don't look like 61's ,,and no ones gonna change the vin and cowl tags...no reason to mess with it,,but what he said makes it all fit together now
Fantastic chance it's the last '61 LeMans built- definately of those out of the Pontiac plant. But Pontiac built 7,455 '61 LeMans 2-dr hardtops.
ahhh,,I was told the LeMans were much lower,( in the double digits ) ,sure thats not the Tempest numbers? it is also the Custom Coupe
Tempest 2-dr hardtop coupe : 7,432 Tempest Custom LeMans 2-dr hdtp cpe : 7,455 -- Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975 -- Pontiac! They Built Excitement These 2 sources agree & according to them, all Tempest Custom 2-dr hdtps were called LeMans. -- -- -- -- -- Your car shows 3 data plate option codes 542, 67Y and 764. Build manifest forms featured boxes with the first 2 numbers, and if a car had equipment from that category, the 3rd character was entered. So you have whatever option code '2' denotes in category 54, etc. I cannot dechiper these, unfortunately. Here's some of the same manifest/order codes for the '63 Tempest- none of yours are there, but note: 44x is a mirror category and 55x is window-related. http://www.oldride.com/library/1963_pontiac_super_duty.html As a 2-owner car (IIRC), it would cetainly be worthwhile to hunt for the car's build sheet. Under carpet, under seats, under the dash- not sure if Tempests were diff... there are many places but note it's not guaranteed to even be there (my Pontiac-built '64 GP did not have one that I ever found). That is the 'birth certificate' that would have all the info you'd ever want. So what are your plans for this little Indian ??
OK satan, I can't vouch for cars, but I can tell how it worked for my '68-'70 Triumph Bonnieville. I bought this bike here in Texas at a swap meet with a NJ ***le. all numbers match, engine frame, ***le. ***led as a '70 model. When I started doing research, I found the the engine numbers made it a '68!! So I go to DMV, (what was I thinking!?!) and told the blue hair behind the gl*** what I'd found out. She says" don't worry, that bike probably sat on the showroom floor until '70 when it was given it's first ***le." I wandeed out thinking she was crazy until I got into some of the Triumph books and found out that it was common for these bikes to set on the floor for SOME time. What does this have to do with you? If your Poncho was right around the end of the year, it could cause the confusion as apparently, NJ dates by the origination of the ***le. Or at least did. JMHO, Thanks, Mike
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