Cowl Tag Decoding

[464ChillerTech]

69hurstolds Here is a picture of my cowl tag. This is more for my own curiosity and to settle an argument with my wife lol, I doubt we would ever repaint the car to its original exterior color but it would be helpful if it told the interior color. It was hard to get a clear picture so I added in what the digits are. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[mikester]

What year is the car ?

 

[abbey castro]

48L: L= Lower (Dark Red)
42A : A= Accent Strip (Mocha or Silver Black)
48U: U= Upper (Dark Red)
42C: Cloth Gray Fern
AR9: Front Bucket Seats
CC1: Glass Tops
BX2 Side Mouldings
NB1: Emission Control Closed Loop
61417: Plant Build Sequence Number
Ser#: M= Build Plant (Lansing Michigan
646412: VIN Ser# (Should Match the VIN Number tag on the dash)
D07A3GR47: ????????

 

[mikester]

48L: L= Lower (Dark Red)
42A : A= Accent Strip (Mocha or Silver Black)
48U: U= Upper (Dark Red)
42C: Cloth Gray Fern
AR9: Front Bucket Seats
CC1: Glass Tops
BX2 Side Mouldings
NB1: Emission Control Closed Loop
61417: Plant Build Sequence Number
Ser#: M= Build Plant (Lansing Michigan
646412: VIN Ser# (Should Match the VIN Number tag on the dash)
D07A3GR47: ????????

Odd that a Dark Red car would have a Gray Fern interior. In '83 42 is Gray Fern and 48 id Dark Gray Fern. Might be the same in '84. Thats why I asked for the year.

 

[464ChillerTech]

Odd that a Dark Red car would have a Gray Fern interior. In '83 42 is Gray Fern and 48 id Dark Gray Fern. Might be the same in '84. Thats why I asked for the year.

It is a 1983 The interior is gray, the dash & console are much darker almost green looking to me. I pulled the back seat and the floor pans look gray but again look to have a greenish hue. My wife disagrees but thanks to that whole “blue dress” meme a while back I know her and I do not see the same colors.

 

[464ChillerTech]

Odd that a Dark Red car would have a Gray Fern interior. In '83 42 is Gray Fern and 48 id Dark Gray Fern. Might be the same in '84. Thats why I asked for the year.

The plot thickens, none of those numbers match the VIN in the window. Since I bought it out of state I had to have it inspected and the sheriff didn’t mention the numbers not matching.

 

[69hurstolds]

D = 1983
07A = July, 1st week scheduled build week in 1983.
3= Olds
GR= Cutlass Supreme
47= 2 door notchback
M= Lansing, MI build plant
646412= Fisher body internal number. Has nothing to do with VIN.
48L/48U = lower and upper body color - Dark Grayfern metallic (dark gray green color, I always thought it was strange)
42A = light grayfern accent pinstriping.
42C = cloth medium grayfern interior
AR9 = reclining bucket seats
CC1= T-tops
BX2= Lower wide body molding
NB1= Closed loop emissions system

6147- never did find out what these numbers were at the bottom of the tag. Maybe something else with Fisher stuff. Again, has nothing to do with VIN.

In 1983, they didn't usually have "Y78" (Calais) RPO on the body tag. But once enacted, the Y78 package changed the VIN to an AK47 vs GR47. This is why you still show a "GR47" supreme 2 door body style on the body tag vs. AK47. Also, the dash, steering column/wheel are probably a darker shade of the same color than the carpet and seats and junk. They used a lot of "2-tone" lighter/darker color mixes in the early 80s on these cars. I know the sand gray interiors used a really dark gray on dash and column bits.

 

[69hurstolds]

The plot thickens, none of those numbers match the VIN in the window. Since I bought it out of state I had to have it inspected and the sheriff didn’t mention the numbers not matching.

Nope. Nothing to do with the VIN. They were Fisher Body internal numbers. The top Fisher number ends up on the build sheet somewhere if you can find it.

 

[mikester]

It is a 1983 The interior is gray, the dash & console are much darker almost green looking to me. I pulled the back seat and the floor pans look gray but again look to have a greenish hue. My wife disagrees but thanks to that whole “blue dress” meme a while back I know her and I do not see the same colors.

Fern Gray is a greenish gray. It was the original color of the interior in my 83 Malibu wagon. It was also the color of the body. Its a metameric color. Changes shades under different lighting. When my car was in the shop they used the cowl tag to get the right color. When they sprayed the jambs the first time it came out a very light green instead of the silver/gray. They even tried to scan the original hood and that didnt work. In the end they used a Nissan color from the early 90s.
This is the original front door panel. The dash was slightly darker.

 

[464ChillerTech]

D = 1983
07A = July, 1st week scheduled build week in 1983.
3= Olds
GR= Cutlass Supreme
47= 2 door notchback
M= Lansing, MI build plant
646412= Fisher body internal number. Has nothing to do with VIN.
48L/48U = lower and upper body color - Dark Grayfern metallic (dark gray green color, I always thought it was strange)
42A = light grayfern accent pinstriping.
42C = cloth medium grayfern interior
AR9 = reclining bucket seats
CC1= T-tops
BX2= Lower wide body molding
NB1= Closed loop emissions system

6147- never did find out what these numbers were at the bottom of the tag. Maybe something else with Fisher stuff. Again, has nothing to do with VIN.

In 1983, they didn't usually have "Y78" (Calais) RPO on the body tag. But once enacted, the Y78 package changed the VIN to an AK47 vs GR47. This is why you still show a "GR47" supreme 2 door body style on the body tag vs. AK47. Also, the dash, steering column/wheel are probably a darker shade of the same color than the carpet and seats and junk. They used a lot of "2-tone" lighter/darker color mixes in the early 80s on these cars. I know the sand gray interiors used a really dark gray on dash and column bits.

That is really awesome 69hurstolds you’re the man!

Fern Gray is a greenish gray. It was the original color of the interior in my 83 Malibu wagon. It was also the color of the body. Its a metameric color. Changes shades under different lighting. When my car was in the shop they used the cowl tag to get the right color. When they sprayed the jambs the first time it came out a very light green instead of the silver/gray. They even tried to scan the original hood and that didnt work. In the end they used a Nissan color from the early 90s.
This is the original front door panel. The dash was slightly darker.


View attachment 208742

Looks pretty similar to ours minus 40 years of cigarette smoke.

Fern Gray is a greenish gray. It was the original color of the interior in my 83 Malibu wagon. It was also the color of the body. Its a metameric color. Changes shades under different lighting. When my car was in the shop they used the cowl tag to get the right color. When they sprayed the jambs the first time it came out a very light green instead of the silver/gray. They even tried to scan the original hood and that didnt work. In the end they used a Nissan color from the early 90s.
This is the original front door panel. The dash was slightly darker.


View attachment 208742

looks similar to ours minus 40 years of cigarette smoke 💨