Jeepster VIN Numbers

Found this VIN chart, interesting info!

 

Yes Dave...there is lots of misinformation and lack of understanding out there. One of the common down falls is the concept of 'calendar' (=production year) year vs 'model year' (MY). During the Kaiser era and prior to government mandating long VIN's to include more data, these were very difficult to ascertain the production dates (and impossible for some series and years). Additionally, a great many of these vehicles sat on dealership lots unsold during their production year, and when finally sold they were 'titled' for the year of sale, not the year M.Y. ...never trust a titled year. Also, vehicle production for a 'Model Year' usually began in the early fall of the previous calendar year and continued into the new year which was the MY. ie built in Aug '66 would be MY ' 67. Confusion I see in this forum regarding the 87 series at least needs some clarification. A VIN (vehicle Identification Number) for this era incorporated only 12 characters, starting with the series then engine and emissions followed by the 'sequential serial number'. Sequential serial numbers were assigned for a given mfg plant for each 'series' of Jeep and not 'model'. Full production numbers at the time were not kept as Jeep was also producing military vehicles and the plant capacity had to be kept 'classified'. Also, some components on civilian Jeeps shared those of military units...more security needed. These same circumstances are applicable to all 'series' of Jeeps at the time. I will copy this and post it under a new page for additional exposure. I have production numbers and months for various '80' series, MY '66, '67, '68 and will post that chart also. Pre- black and yellow VIN stickers (introduced during AMC take over of Kaiser), will not have a 'build' date anywhere on the vehicle. On the 87 series, if you have the ambition, pull the heater box and on the firewall side of it you should find a white ink stamping showing the date the box was produced and likely close to production build date for the Jeep. I'm sure there will be more question and I may think of other items I missed here. Cheers

 

I realize this is a CJ 5 forum, but I couldn't help noticing all the '87' owners' posts, so I wanted to quickly help answer some questions, then leave it to the good CJ5 owners. ;-). I have included a rare doc. acquired courtesy of my friend in France who is generally acknowledge to be the leading expert of Kaiser era, particularly Gladiator, Wagon and Jeepster. This doc breaks down the production dates for any given month for the '80' series. Left col. indicates the month of the year. Consider there are usually 4 weeks to a month...take the start of month to month for sequential numbers and you can get a reasonably accurate build time (week) within a given month using your own 'sequential' number on the right side of your VIN plate (last 5 digits).
I noticed there is some confusion on the nomenclature of the '87' series. They are 'Jeepster', 'Jeepster Commando', and 'Jeep Commando'. The 'Jeepster' denotes ONLY the 8701 series convertible. The 'Jeepster Commando' denotes the 8702 (austere convertible) and 8705 series (3 body types), while the 'Jeep Commando' denotes the introduction of the AMC era starting with the '72 MY and finished in '73 (last of the Commandos). VIN plates for the Kaiser era were on an aluminum plate affixed to the left firewall and later, added info (month/year of build) was available on the yellow and black decal on the left dash or 'A' pillar area. (caution - do not try to remove this sticker as it is dual layer and will leave behind the "VOID' of the first layer). To answer another couple of inquiries I saw, the 'serial' number matching the last 5 digits on the VIN plate should also be visible on the right side top of the frame rail in 1 or both locations behind the front shock mount our near the rear beyond the axle. Hope this wasn't too verbose. I would highly recommend the '87' owners on here to seek out the very active Jeepster/Commando FB pages also...there are also used parts FB pages devoted also. A number of retailers in USA cater exclusively to the '87' folks with almost every thing you would need, including reman. V6 engines, sheet metal, electrical etc. Further questions, you can PM me is that is available on this site. Cheers.

 

In this case the 'title' is correct. Yours is Model Year (MY) '73. Production for any given MY begins in the late summer/early fall of the previous calendar year ie Aug '72 onwards is a MY '73, and runs to approx. end of May in MY (excepting Special Order builds) which can extend the MY until those orders are filled.

 

I have a 70 JC 8702, and I'm a member of the Facebook group, but the answer for every question there always seems to be "put an LS in it!"
The group here is much more inclusive of stock AND modified vehicles, I wish the Commando section here was a little more active.

 

I have not been on here for a while. The documents I submitted are informational and collected data with those inherent inaccuracies that may occur. My terminology may not always be as clear as I want it to be. I was an ASE certified mechanic in the 70's before I started my aviation career and some of the documentation I dealt with used "date of production" vs "production year" to be two different things. The "production year" was generally the period of Aug thru June and "model year" replaced production year terminology when the VIN started including Model Year. Note,adding to the confusion for us trying to maintain older vehicles, manufacturers did not always use the same terminology between themselves and sometimes even between two plants of the same mfr. to maybe hide something from the competition or other reasons, just my speculation.
PS I do plan to updated the list of collected serial numbers with those that I have seen since.