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Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:05 pm

Having a time figuring out the vin on my 69 beetle. The number is 1191089348. Can someone tell me exactly what this is. Thanks.

Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:48 pm

First two digits are the model number [11=Beetle], third digit is the year [9=1969], the rest is the serial number. No other info is in the VIN number.

-jeffrey

Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:49 pm

sammywells wrote: Having a time figuring out the vin on my 69 beetle. The number is 1191089348. Can someone tell me exactly what this is. Thanks.

What what is? That's the VIN. Your car was made in June of 1969. Go to the technical tab on the top of the page. Then click on type 1. Then scroll down till you get to 1969. Your VIN falls in the June build date.

Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:53 pm

VIN = Vehicle Identification Number. It is the unique identifier for your car. No two cars should have the same VIN.

For the 1965 model year VW switched to a 9-digit VIN. In 1969 they changed to a 10-digit VIN.

The first 2 digits of the (3 digit) model# are the first 2 digits of the VIN.
11 = sedan
15 = convertable
13 = Super Beetle (starting from '73)
The model year can be determined from the 3rd digit plus the length of the VIN (eg. "116 000 001" would be a '66 model while "116 0000 001" would be '76 model)

The last 6 digits are the serial/production number for that model year.

All the details are here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/bugchassisdating.php

Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:02 am

[quote="ashman40"
For the 1965 model year VW switched to a 9-digit VIN. In 1969 they changed to a 10-digit VIN.[/quote]

1968 for ten digit VINs actually

1968 (1 Aug 67 to 31 Jul 68)
Chassis 118,000,001 - 118,1016,100

1969 (1 Aug 68 to 31 Jul 69)
Chassis 119,000,001 - 119,1200,000

Then in 1970 they added a 10th digit to EVERY chassis number. After the 110 (for 1970), they added a 2 for "2nd decade of this numbering system) which changed to a 3 once they topped 1 million for the year.

1970 (1 Aug 69 to 31 July 70)
Chassis 110,2000,001 - 110,3100,000

Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:13 am

ashman40 wrote: VIN = Vehicle Identification Number. It is the unique identifier for your car. No two cars should have the same VIN.

I agree, but there is a "but"
My Bug is 1592001678
VW VIN decoder says
http://www.dubnetworks.net/vw-vin-decoder.htm

Year: 1979 (or maybe a 1969 Ghia)

Summary:
Year: 1979 (or maybe a 1969 Ghia)
Model: Type 1 Karmann
Serial Production No.: 001678

Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:58 am

wrocek wrote:
I agree, but there is a "but"

There is no but. Ghia model number is 14. The dubnetworks decoder is wrong.

-jeffrey

Sat Aug 22, 2015 1:39 am

wrocek wrote: ashman40 wrote: VIN = Vehicle Identification Number. It is the unique identifier for your car. No two cars should have the same VIN.

I agree, but there is a "but"
My Bug is 1592001678
VW VIN decoder says
http://www.dubnetworks.net/vw-vin-decoder.htm

No "but" as already stated.
1592001678
1 - type 1 VW
5 - Cabrio
9 - 1979
2 - second decade of this numbering system (changes to 3 if the build exceeds 1 million in that model year.
001678 - actual chassis number.

Try using the chassis number list on this site, or on our site at
www.vw-resource.com/years.html

Totally clear.

In 1969 that extra 2 after the 159 did not exist - see my previous post with the 1969 number sequence. so as stated above, the dubnet list is wrong - your 1592001678 number can NOT be a 69 number.

Sat Aug 29, 2015 1:01 pm

thanks guys for the info.

Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:53 am

I bought a 74 Super Beetle convert. It was sold at Miller Brown Motors Inc. in Gainesville, FL. The Chassis # is 154 23# #### . I was wondering if somebody can tell me where this beetle was made.
Thanks,
Thomas

Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:12 am

My understanding is that all VWoA sold Beetles from the mid '70s would have been Germany manufacture. So if you know it was originally sold from a Florida dealership it should be a Germany car.

Have you looked at the VIN plate in the trunk? Many of these will state the "made in" country:

Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:32 pm

tsigg wrote: I bought a 74 Super Beetle convert. [...] I was wondering if somebody can tell me where this beetle was made.

Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. at the Karmann factory, just as any other convertible beetle.

Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:12 pm

Not all beetles were made in Germany however all beetle convertibles were.

-jeffrey

Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:21 pm

Thanks everybody for your feedback. I did not know that all convertibles are made in Germany, that is great. The vin plate in the trunk it gone :-(...there is only the paper kind sticker on the drivers side and it doesn't tell you where it was made.

GArBA, I didn't know about the Karman factory in Osnabruck...very nice. I looked it up and it said they made
Volkswagen Beetle convertible 1949–1980 331,847

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karmann

Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:31 pm

There was never a VIN plate in the trunk, there was however a production date plate near the hood latch on most late model convertibles. The VIN appears on the left hand corner of the dash [you can see it through the windshield], on the tunnel under the back seat, and on the sticker on the left hand door jamb. The sticker also states that it was manufactured by Volkswagenwerk AG West Germany.

Check out http://www.typ15.com/ for more convertible love.

-jeffrey