Red08

When did VIN numbers expand to 17 characters? I found a registration for my 1974 car and went to one of those websites that supposedly can identify where the car is now registered (if it is still registered somewhere). The VIN has 13 characters, and the website is telling me that it isn't a valid VIN.

billyjoeraybob

1981

Vette_DD

VINs were first used in 1954.[1] From 1954 to 1981, there was no accepted standard for these numbers, so different manufacturers used different formats.

In 1981, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States standardized the format.[1] It required all over-the-road-vehicles sold to contain a 17-character VIN, which does not include the letters I (i), O (o), or Q (q) (to avoid confusion with numerals 1 and 0).

Greg

Hmmm,
I posted in C3 and it showed up here?
oh well.