VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Serial Number VS VIN

My '51 has a "serial number" on the A Pillar, left side.

What year did Chevrolet go from the serial number to the "VIN number" ?

Does the term "VIN" only designate a 17 digit number ..... or can less digits still be a VIN ?

To quote Wikipedia:

"VINs were first used in 1954.[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 I (i), O (o), and Q (q) (to avoid confusion with numerals 1 and 0)".

LINK:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number

Also it depends on what you call a Vin Number.

Many of us recognize a "VIN" as being the standard 17 digit number. Prior to the 17 digit number we refer to the vehicle identification number (VIN) as the "Car Serial Number".

I has become common for folks to call all vehicle serial numbers a "VIN". There are legal differences between the 17 digit/character number dictated by the USA Federal Government and serial numbers generated by individual manufacturers. Generally prior to 1981 each state regulated vehicle identification and therefore theft and fraud. With the VIN mandate fraud became a Federal offense. Just a word for the wise.

Chevy did not use VIN in 1954, Wikipedia is incorrect.

I believe they mixed the "description", as many do.

That is exactly what I do ot understand.

After asking my VIN question, I was curious, then did a search on the GM Heritage site.

I discovered Chevrolet called the I.D. numbers/letters a "vehicle serial number" up to and including the 1971 model run.

Beginning in 1972, Chevrolet called their 13 digit I.D. numbers/letters a "vehicle identification number".

After 1972, the "VIN" nomenclature continues in their description, describing the I.D. numbers/letters, which ultimately grew to the 17 digit variety.

When I answered your question, I did not answer it as "Chevrolet specific"...that was an oversight on my part...sorry if you understood it that way. The quote does say that different manufactures used different methods and that the "VIN", per say, was not standardized until 1981. So I wouldn't say that Wikipedia was incorrect. Good to see that you did some research and came up with the answer though..

Raleigh,

My initial question was Chevrolet specific, but I appreciate you taking the time to explain how you arrived at your answer.

Thanks.

Interesting info. Thanks to all.

On a different note:
This thread IMO is an excellent example of how Chat users can amicably discuss a topic, despite differing understandings of data sources and remain civil and respectful. Hats off to you all.

Actually my and most of the others were answering the second question as we hadn't done the research to determine exactly when Chevrolet began to call the serial number a "Vehicle Identification Number".