Camaro cowl tag decoder, 1970 to 1981
The tag is riveted to the cowl under the hood. Type what it says, line by line, and this reads back each field. Where the table behind a field is not something we hold, it says so instead of guessing.
The tag is four lines. The car is thirty years.
Buildbook keeps the rest: parts, receipts, photographs, hours and who did the work, as one Build Book that stays with the car. Free to keep, and it takes a minute to start.
What each field is
The style. Two digits of model year, then a five-character Fisher body code. 87 is the two-door coupe.
The Fisher Body plant that built the shell. One letter from 1973, three letters on the earliest tags.
Fisher Body's sequence number for this shell. It is not the VIN sequence and does not have to match it.
The interior trim code, three digits, sometimes followed by a seat option such as A51.
Paint. Lower body first, then upper. The same number twice is a solid car. Three dashes mean special paint.
Two digits for the month, one letter for the week. The week assembly was scheduled, not the day it finished.
Body-related codes: Z28, Z27, Z85, and stripe codes such as YF8 and ZR8.
The last run of digits, the plant's own tracking number. No published decode exists for it.
The tables
- N
- Norwood, Ohio
- NOR
- Norwood, Ohio
- L
- Van Nuys, California
- LOS
- Van Nuys / Los Angeles, California
- VN
- Van Nuys, California
- 12387
- Camaro sport coupe, six-cylinder, 1970 to 1972
- 12487
- Camaro sport coupe, V8, 1970 to 1972
- 1FQ87
- Camaro sport coupe, the base car, 1973 to 1978
- 1FS87
- Camaro Type LT 1973 to 1978, and Berlinetta from 1979
- 1FP87
- Camaro sport coupe, the base car, 1979 to 1981
- 01
- January
- 02
- February
- 03
- March
- 04
- April
- 05
- May
- 06
- June
- 07
- July
- 08
- August
- 09
- September
- 10
- October
- 11
- November
- 12
- December
- A
- first week
- B
- second week
- C
- third week
- D
- fourth week
- E
- fifth week
- Z28
- RPO Z28, the special performance package
- Z27
- RPO Z27, the Super Sport package
- Z85
- RPO Z85, the Rally Sport package, 1975 and later
- YF8
- RPO YF8, black stripes
- ZR8
- RPO ZR8, white stripes
- A51
- RPO A51, front bucket seats
- AN6
- RPO AN6, the adjustable driver's seat
- 10
- Classic White
- 14
- Cortez Silver
- 17
- Shadow Gray
- 25
- Astro Blue
- 26
- Mulsanne Blue
- 43
- Citrus Green
- 45
- Green Mist
- 48
- Forest Green
- 51
- Daytona Yellow
- 53
- Camaro Gold
- 58
- Autumn Gold
- 63
- Desert Sand
- 65
- Hugger Orange
- 67
- Classic Copper
- 75
- Cranberry Red
- 11
- Antique White
- 13
- Nevada Silver
- 19
- Tuxedo Black
- 24
- Ascot Blue
- 26
- Mulsanne Blue
- 42
- Cottonwood Green
- 43
- Lime Green
- 49
- Antique Green
- 52
- Sunflower Yellow
- 53
- Placer Gold
- 61
- Sandalwood
- 62
- Burnt Orange
- 67
- Classic Copper
- 75
- Cranberry Red
- 78
- Rosewood
- 11
- Antique White
- 14
- Pewter Silver
- 24
- Ascot Blue
- 26
- Mulsanne Blue
- 36
- Spring Green
- 43
- Gulf Green
- 48
- Sequoia Green
- 50
- Covert Tan
- 53
- Placer Gold
- 56
- Cream Yellow
- 57
- Golden Brown
- 63
- Mohave Gold
- 65
- Orange Flame
- 68
- Midnight Bronze
- 75
- Cranberry Red
- 11
- Antique White
- 29
- Midnight Blue
- 56
- Chamois
Three codes, off one photographed tag. This is not the full 1973 chart and is not printed as one.
What this does not decode
Interior trim numbers. We have how the TR field works, but not the table of what each three-digit number was. We do not have it, so we do not print one.
Paint codes for 1974 through 1981. The 1970, 1971 and 1972 tables come from reproduced factory paint sheets. For 1973 we have three codes off a real tag. After that we found no table we trust, and one widely copied database returned colours that were never Camaro colours.
The last number on the tag, the plant's own batch code. Nobody publishes a decode for it. Restorers use it as one more originality check and so do we.
Whether a 1970 to 1972 Van Nuys tag was stamped L, LOS or VN. Sources disagree and none of them shows a second-generation Van Nuys tag settling it. The reader accepts all three and says the plant, not the era.
- https://www.nastyz28.com/camaro/tagpop.html
the fields on a 1970-1981 tag, the series letters, the plant letters, the build date and the paint format
- https://macswebs.com/7073camaroworld/1973/trimtag.htm
a real 1973 Norwood tag, read line by line
- https://www.camaros.org/numbers.shtml
the Camaro Research Group on tag mechanics, body number against VIN sequence
- https://www.classicmuscleparts.com/resources/1970-1981-camaro-vin-decoder
the plant letters N and L, cross-checked against the VIN
- https://over-drive-magazine.com/document/1970-camaro-paint-mix-codes-body/
the 1970 paint codes, from reproduced factory paint sheets
- https://over-drive-magazine.com/document/1971-chevrolet-camaro-paint-mix-codes-body/
the 1971 paint codes
- https://over-drive-magazine.com/document/1972-chevrolet-camaro-paint-mix-codes-body/
the 1972 paint codes
Found a code we read wrong, or hold a table we do not? Write to buildbook@nanocorp.app. Corrections go in with the source named.