I have a 1968 Vette with a key bezel over the letters on the rear. Does that automatically mean that the car had the factory alarm as an option? The car is in rough shape, I bought it several years ago from someone who had pulled it out of a junkyard and it was just sitting in their barn. It had no motor, almost no interior. I've been adding pieces as I can over the years. I know that only 388 vettes in '68 had the factory alarm, I just assumed that all of the cars came with the bezel. Today, I happened to be looking at pics online of other 68's and I didn't see the bezel on any of them. I've confirmed that the VIN number for mine is for a 68 coupe. Since the car did not have the original motor I didn't think the car had much value and I had pretty much decided not to bother going back original.

 

Possibly means your car got the optional alarm, but does not automatically guarantee that. The alarm could have been added by a previous owner.

The only way to verify the factory installation would be the original invoice, window sticker, or the tank sticker.

Welcome to the '68 Owner's Club. Sorry to say, a lot of the interior parts you're looking for are one year only, often hard to find, and usually pricey.

 

Thats a fairly rare option, cars that did not have the alarm did not have the bezel. Thats kind of cool, from messing around with my 68 for 26 years and to going to shows, I can count on one hand how many 68's I have seen with a factory alarm.

 

When I bought the car I had no idea what the lock was for in the back, it made absolutely no sense. I met a guy with a '73 who told me that it was the alarm. I doubt that anyone added anything to the car, I think it's been neglected most of it's life, it did serve some time in a junkyard. I'm going to crawl under it this weekend to try and find out which 4 speed it has in it and which differential and whether or not they are the original. I had a 350 put in it a few years back, my uncle has a high output 327 that I'm going to go look at when I get the chance. The Vette had a small block hood when I bought it. I always thought it was just a base model, but it has the 4 speed, it had A.C. and power steering (though neither are functional, nor are any of the factory gauges or vacuum sytem) and of course, the non-functing alarm. I have already bought most of the missing interior pieces for the car, and yes they were all rather pricey - but I went with black instead of the original blue (I didn't learn about the trim tag until long after I had starting buying pieces). The car is still in really poor condition. I paid about five grand for a paint job about three years ago (that doesn't include what I paid to have it stripped prior to getting it painted) and the paint is literally falling off in patches (some of the pieces of paint coming off are more than 6"). The body shop went out of business a couple of months after they painted the car. Live and learn.