Foxbody Mustang Vehicle Identification Number
The VIN on any vehicle is a very useful line of characters and numbers. It tells us the year, assembly plant, body type and engine option that the car was factory fitted with. Below is how to decode these magical strings.
1979-1980 Mustang VIN
1981-1993 Mustang VIN
1979-1980 Mustang VIN:
ex: 9F04F100001 - 11 characters
| Character | Significance | Crack the code |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Year | 9 = 1979, 0 = 1980 |
| 2nd | Assembly plant | F = Dearborn, R = San Jose |
| 3rd & 4th | Body model | 02/04 = 2dr notchback, 03/05 = 3dr hatchback |
| 5th | Engine | F = 5.0L 2bbl, D = 4.2L 2bbl |
| 6th to 11th | Production number | x Mustang produced for year |
1981-1993 Mustang VIN:
ex: 1FABP27M7EF100001 - 17 characters
| Character | Significance | Crack the code |
|---|---|---|
| 1st to 3rd | World manufacturer | 1FA = FMC, passenger car |
| 4th | Restraint system | B = Active manual seat belt, C = Active seat belts + airbag |
| 5th | Passenger car | P = Passenger car |
| 6th & 7th | Body model* | 10 & 26 (L,GL,GLX), 12 (Ghia), 40 (LX, LX 5.0) = 2dr notchback 16 & 28 (GL,GT,GLX,L,LX), 41 (LX,LX 5.0), 42 (LX 5.0, GT) = 3dr hatchback 27 (GLX,GT,LX), 44 (LX), 45 (GT) = convertible |
| 8th | Engine | D = 4.2 2bbl, F = 5.0L HO 2bbl/4bbl, M = 5.0L HO 4bbl/CFI/SEFI(1987), E = 5.0L HO SEFI, D = GT40 |
| 9th | Check digit | 0-9 |
| 10th | Year | B = 1981,C = 1982,D = 1983,E = 1984,F = 1985,G = 1986,H = 1987 J = 1988,K = 1989,L = 1990,M = 1991,N = 1992,P = 1993 |
| 11th | Assembly plant | F = Dearborn, R = San Jose |
| 12th to 17th | Production number | x Mustang produced |
ex: 27 = convertible, but GLX was not used for later years, thus if you have an 88, body code = 27, it can't be GLX.