VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum Chevy truck Vin help required

Hi ALL

I was wondering if any one out here can help me with the following issue I am having:

I purchased a 1955 Chevy 3200 pickup off eBay & being my first truck I made the mistake of not running the Vin number prior. Here is my problem now:

a. The truck arrived with a bill of sale & the vin was on it, 557KI3422, the top plate was cut/sliced off the plate, it was obviously missing some information.
b. I have been trying to figure the VIN out & have had no success what so ever online as a lot of the site results come as "VIN unrecognized"

Can any on there help me figure this out? or help me with some sort of info that may guide me?

Thank you in advance!

https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/VIN.html

Maybe this will help.

I am going to say you have a 1955 Second series pickup as there was not a 3200 in the First Series. For a Second series pickup the serial number should be a letter (for the series/weight capacity should be M for a 3200) followed by 255 for Second 1955 (there were two pickup models sold in 1955). Then another letter for the assembly plant (K would be for Kansas City). Last series of numbers is the production sequence number (starts at 1000, the I3422 would indicate the pickup was the 12422 truck assembled at the Kansas City plant). So if it were the right number it would be M255KI3422.

The serial number was also stamped on the top of the frame rail on the driver's side between the front shock absorber mount and the clutch bracket. Lightly clean off any paint, grease, etc. to see if it is there. It may not be what is on your bill of sale. It also could have been removed with a grinder. Hope that number on the frame rail is still there as the serial number plate on the door post (by the windshield) is cut.

The website that Achipmunk posted is an excellent resource for these trucks.

Just so all of us have a better understanding.

A vehicle identification number (VIN) is a unique code, including a serial number, used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles, scooters and mopeds, as defined in ISO 3779 (content and structure) and ISO 4030 (location and attachment).

VINs were first used in 1954 in the United States.[1] From 1954 to 1981, there was no accepted standard for these numbers, so different manufacturers used different formats.

In 1981, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States standardized the format.[1] It required all on-road vehicles sold to contain a 17-character VIN, which does not include the letters O (o), I (i), and Q (q) (to avoid confusion with numerals 0, 1, and 9).

Many VIN verification services are looking for the 17 character number so may give a "VIN unrecognized". That does not necessarily mean that the vehicle serial number (precedes the VIN) is bogus.

I don't have my serial number book handy but most automotive manuals (Motors, Chiltons) and similar have a listing of Serial number sequences by manufacturer.

To add to Chippers posting down here the 17 character VIN became compulsory in 1988 and followed the US format which includes the country of manufacture, manufacturer, model, year (and possibley month) as well as the sequence number. Our version of DMV have trouble decoding both format numbers.
Tony

Thank you for your help!

Thank you all for your help, the info will definitely help me get some clarifications.

Nader