Other readers are invited to chime in on any aspect of my decoder report
CAR NUMBER: VIN assignment has nothing to do with production. It is administrative in nature. You cannot extrapolate that a car was #123456 off the line based on a VIN of 123456. It didn't work that way. If you look at a bowl of apples sitting on a table, you can count the number of apples in the bowl but doing so does not tell you in what order they were picked. VINs only count. They tell you nothing about order.
Evidence also exists that not all VINs were actually issued leaving gaps in VIN ranges (and, by the way, totally screwing with accepted production numbers. OH MY!)
A fender tag is meant to be a durable traveling accounting of, generally, modifications required to the body in white to fit certain options or parameters, (A/C cowls, radiator support width, four speed applications), holes that may need to be punched in panels for things such as for a tachometer, radio antenna, mirrors, specific model moldings, brackets or supports that need to be added such as console or buddy seat, paint, trim, stripes and general administrative data unique to that car such as the sales order/VON or VIN, assembly criteria such as built for US, Canada or Export market.
A fender tag is not meant to convey all options that came on a car nor options that fall outside of the general guidelines above. Different plant coded differently making decoding tags from that era much harder to decode than later. Codes change year to year. Interior options are not usually or likely coded on a tag.
Meaning.....code 2/2 for 1965 likely indicates code 512 LH outside remote chrome mirror. This required a modification to the body per the above parameters and is a pretty standard fender tag code.
AB/60 = 383-2bbl rated at 315 horse.
D/1 three speed column shift transmission
V/3 473 back up lights. Not a light package
PAINT : EE1 dark blue metallic
Sales Order (SO) number 12206 is administrative and related to billing and other administrative functions. It has, again, nothing to do with production. It doesn't refer to an in plant marshaling area. It does not refer to a production sequence. It's function is order tracking, billing and other things like shipping to the dealer.
For a 623 SPD, this Chrysler (12) is, likely, the 206th order generated. It could be the first car down the line at Newark on June 17th, it could be the last car down the line on July 7th. We will never know. Car 62312207, the next Chrysler order generated with an SPD of 626, could be a convertible assigned to the Jefferson plant. That car could be the last car down the line on June 20th. It could be the first car down the line on July 10th. We will never know.
Virtually all 1965 Chrysler SO numbers start with 12 or 13. That's simply how Chrysler Corporation used SO numbers to indicate a hierarchy within the corporation. Low price level '65 Valiants and Barracuda (low cost Plymouth A bodies) start with 00 and the high cost Imperials complete the concept by starting with 14. The various other A, B and C body Dodges and Plymouths have their own specific two digit designations inserted within these two parameters. As the price line goes up the corporate ladder, so goes the first digits of the SO number.
The exception to the two digit assignment is when the car is produced for a specific purpose such as show car, lease car, fleet car, dealer demo, special order or other non traditional retail direct sale to the end user. Again, the SO is an administrative function so these special cars are tracked differently via special SO numbers. You'll see 1965 cars with the SO starting with 33, 38, 50, 99. This indicates the car was built for something intended outside the normal retail sale realm or required special handling.
In later years, we see this special intent concept expressed in the SO or Vehicle Order Number (VON) by letters (A, B, C, E, T, Q, M codes, etc) or numbers (928 sunroof car, 927 special paint, 925 package car, etc).
