Automotive Addict

Every auto ever made has a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). It does not matter if it is a car, truck, van, or SUV, it will have a VIN number found on the driver door panel and in front of the steering wheel on the dash-seen from outside the car. Over the years the VIN numbers have grown in length to signify different things. They are currently 17 digits long and mean the following.

1st digit: Country of origin, 1 is US, 2 Canada, 3 Mexico, Germany is W, and Japan is J. Don't ask why Germany is W??

2ND digit: Manufacturer. A is Audi, N is Nissan, B is BMW, G is General Motors.

3rd digit: Tells the make of the Car. In the diagram 1 is for the Chevrolet division of General Motors.

4Th and 5Th tells what type of car. The YZ is a Corvette ZR1.

6Th digit is the body type. 2 is 2 door hatchback and 3 would be 2 door convertible.

7Th digit is the type of restraint system. It this instance the 3 means manual belts with driver air bag.

8Th digit is the engine type.

9Th is a check digit. It will be a number from 0-9 and supposedly it can be told if the VIN has been tampered with.

10Th digit is very useful especially when appraising a car because it tells what year the vehicle is. It used to be represented by letters and now is using numbers. P-93, R-94, S-95, T-96, V-97, W-98, X-99, Y-00, 1-01, 2-02, 3-03, 4-04, 5-05, 6-06, 7-07. Well you get the point. The letters go back further and if you notice there are some letters that got skipped. I, O, Q, U, Z, because they could have confused with other numbers.

11Th digit is where the vehicle was manufactured. 5 being Bowling Green Kentucky, 9 is Detroit Michigan.

The last six digits 12-17 are the production sequence numbers.

Now you will look at VIN numbers in a different way. Impress your friends, count back 8 from the end and this will tell the year of the vehicle.

General Motors showed off 3 Minicar concepts at the recent New York International Auto Show. The Cars were designed in its South Korea design studio in Inchon. GM were asking potential customers to go to www.vote4chevrolet.com to cast a vote on their favorite of the 3. I believe GM was testing the waters to see if any of the 3 would float.



The first being the Chevrolet Beat Concept which has a 1.2 liter gasoline engine and automatic transmission. It is a 3 door hatchback that has a fabric covered instrument panel that will give it an uplevel feel.


The Chevrolet Groove Concept is a 4 door and features the only deisel engine of the minicars. It is a 1.0 liter deisel and could get up to 50 miles to a gallon. The Chevrolet Groove has a matte finish similar to the finish on cell phones, but GM is concerned the sought after matte finish will shine up from buffing of car washes.


The Chevrolet Trax Concept will feature a low cost All Wheel Drive option with a 1.0 liter gas engine. The Chevrolet Trax uses thermoplastic components that are injected with paint on the front fenders and front and rear facia.

When I voted, and I will not tell which I voted for, the Groove was in the lead with 53.8 percent of the vote. The Beat was a close second with 37 percent, and the trax just had 9.2 percent.