Identifying Numbers

[Guest dapy]

New to AOAI and buying a Studebaker Avanti. Does the correct Vin # include the model year? In other words if my car is Studebaker Serial No. R 4888 is the correct Vin 63R 4888? This is to question the legal title description.

[Gunslinger]

Studebaker stopped adding the "63" sometime in the middle of the '63 model run. I don't know what exact number, but I used to own R4341 and it had stopped sometime prior to that. The reason Studebaker stopped was to allow dealers to title unsold cars as new '64s after the model year had ended. That can't be done by manufacturers anymore as the laws were enacted later in the '60s that all cars made had to have a year designator in the VIN.

Your R4888 should not have the "63" in it...just what's on the serial number tag on the fright front frame.