Determining CMC year by VIN matching

I am really curious about the

Ignacio,
I bought a 1991 CMC that came with the original MSO. The paperwork is at home so I will check tonight. Maybe there will be some information on it that may help in your quest.
Jeff

Sorry...meant to add THIS picture.

FS1481 on my 2/27/91 MSO.

Where to look for my CMC VIN number?I was told from the previews owners is a CMC plus I have the paper work from the original owner but I can not find the VIN number on the body.Any suggestions?

Mine is FCO 1244- made in 1989

Mine is C1230 ("C" for "Californian")

Body built in mid-1993.

gn

Lambros:

Could be anywhere. It was just a small metal plate included with the kit. I've seen them inside the door jamb, under the hood, in the engine compartment, screwed to the dash - you name it.

I never bothered to mount mine, since I use the VW pan VIN number to register it (as a volkswagen convertible).

gn

Thanks Gordon.

So you guys think the first letter(s) stand for the county? So what S stans for? I bought the car from a guy in Salt Lake City (Utah).

Also the numbers were not correlative? If they were 1230 cannot be dated in 1993 and 1481 in 1991 or even to make things look worse 1244 dated in 1989

Don't you think the first letter is there so that they always would be able to keep only four numbers afterwards (for instance the would start with A0000 and maybe finish with ZZ9999). Just a thought, maybe not as Joe even has three letters before the numbers, and who knows how many cars were ever built. I guess I'll never know what happenned in the life of this car before...

By the way what is the MSO?

I am tending to believe that the VIN numbers are the invoice or customer numbers.

My MSO (Manufacturers Statement of Origin) has an invoice number as well as a VIN number. They are not the same. I agree they do seem to be cryptic. There is a guy on a CMC/Fiberfab Yahoo site that used to work there. I will post a question to him and see if he knows.

I ordered my flared Speedster C back on 10/10/88. The "C" stood for the flared body as opposed to the "Classic Speedster". I made payments for three years and the body shipped on 8/12/91. My body tag shows No. SC 1095. I believe the 1095 goes back to my original order in 1988 rather than when it was manufactured. My 8/8/91 Bill of Sale shows a "CUST. ORDER NO." as "C 1095". So it would appear that they used my original Customer Number as the body VIN number.

I have a CMC#1710 and then I have a Arizona Vin# and it was registered in Calif. and then Mo. I have just about given up on trying to find out the past. It is now registered in La. as a kit car with an Arizona vin #.

Copy of CMC serial #1710

I would bet serious moiney that the alpha prefix is the intials of the person who took the order.......

gn

Well here is the response I got from the gentleman who used to work at CMC. Certainly sounds like we are not going to find any rhyme or reason to these numbers.

"Jeff,

I had already left Classic as late as the 90's but in the 80's the brass plates were kept in a desk drawer in the Controllers office. She would pull a plate out and match it to the corresponding Manufacturer Statement of Origin and ship it with the kit or Factory Finished car. Once in a while, I was told, there would be a skipped number because someone had misplaced either the plate or the MSO, but that was pretty rare. The Gazelles outsold all other kits 10 to 1, so I remember that they were all numbered with a B and a four digit number, like B1234. Eventually they reached 5 digit numbers. I don't recall how the Speedsters were numbered, I am surprised they had two letters, in fact!"

Thanks anyway everybody