VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number and it is as unique to your car as your Social Security number is to you.  Because it is unique, most states use this number for vehicle license registration, but to classic Cougar enthusiasts, the VIN also serves another purpose:  It is your first source of information about a Cougar.

FINDING YOUR VIN CODE

On 1967 Cougars, the VIN was stamped into the driver side inner fender panel.  In 1968 the VIN was stamped into an aluminum tag that was attached to the passenger side of the windshield frame above the dash pad.  For all other model years, the VIN tag was mounted on the driver's side windshield frame above the dash pad.


This is what VIN tags looked like from 1968 through 1973. We'll use this sample 1969 tag as our decoding example.



DECODING YOUR VIN


The first digit of a Cougar's VIN is the last digit of the car's model year.  This is not necessarily the year it was built or first sold.  The chart below shows the seven possible year of model codes for classic Cougars.


VIN MODEL YEAR CODES
VIN CODE YEAR OF MODEL   VIN CODE YEAR OF MODEL
7 1967   1 1971
8 1968   2 1972
9 1969   3 1973
0 1970      



The VIN's second character identifies the Ford plant at which the Cougar was manufactured. Between 1967 and 1973 Cougars were built in two plants: Dearborn, Michigan (CODE F) and San Jose, California (CODE R).  The Cougar in our VIN sample was assembled in Dearborn.



The next two VIN digits are the body series code. A 1967 through 1973 Cougar will have one of four numbers in this part of the VIN. As you can see from the chart below, our example Cougar is an XR-7 Hardtop.

VIN BODY SERIES CODES
VIN CODE BODY SERIES   VIN CODE BODY SERIES
91 Standard Hardtop   93 XR-7 Hardtop
92 Standard Convertible   94 XR-7 Convertible



The engine code follows the body series in the VIN.  The chart below illustrates that the same letters were used to identify different engines in different model years, so be sure you're looking at the correct model year section of the chart when you decode an engine VIN code.  Looking at the 1969 section of the chart, for example, tells us that the S code engine in our sample VIN is a 390 4V.

VIN ENGINE CODES
YEAR
CODE ENGINE  
YEAR
 CODE ENGINE
1967 A 289 4V 1970 G 302 4V (Boss)
C 289 2V H 351W&C 2V
S 390 4V (GT) M 351C 4V
Q CJ428 4V
1968 C 289 2V
F 302 2V 1971 C 429 4V (CJ)
J 302 4V H 351W&C 2V
R 428 4V (CJ) J 429 4V (CJ/RA)
S 390 4V (GT) M 351C 4V
W 427 4V Q 351C 4V
X 390 2V
1972 H 351W&C 2V
1969 G 302 4V (Boss) Q 351C 4V
H 351W 2V
M 351W 4V 1973 H 351C 2V
Q 428 4V (CJ) Q 351C 4V
R 428 4V (CJ/RA)
S 390 4V (GT)



The last six digits of the VIN comprise the sequential unit number of the car, beginning each model year with 500001. Thus, to determine where your car fits in the model run, simply subtract 500000 from your sequential unit number:

530971
- 500000
30971

Sequential unit numbers are useful for determining when a Cougar was built within the model year run.  For example, we know from the History section of Encata that 100,085 Cats were produced in 1969, so our sample car was built during the first third of the model year production run.

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