Whilst checking out VIN plate data for the new Type 34 Registry update, I ended up on a site with a rather nifty bay bus VIN decoder. http://www.alltheprettybuses.com Being completely sidetracked from my original task, I decided to see what VIn decoders there were for the 15.
As luck would have it, I snapped shot of the VIN plate from the 15 on my phone this weekend. I have no idea why, but it's a good job I did.
After a little bit of a google, I ended up over at The Samba, where they have a nice page listing the various VIN plate options. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/id.php
The Details on my plate tell me that the bus was built on the 11th of September 1961.
It was supplied with the following options.
M376 - North American equipment. Includes 2 popouts
M130 - Deluxe without sunroof and roof windows
M185 - Cargo floor mountings for short middle seat?
M104 - ???
The final Mcode is a bit of a mystery, even discovering the excellent site http://www.vw-mplate.com/mcode.php which allows you to type your VIN plate details in did not have M104 listed.
vw-mplate.com did give me some additional info...
| Type 2 (T1) mod. 251 : - Microbus Deluxe - 7 seater - Cargo doors right - Short middle seat - LHD |
|||||||||
| Chassis number | 826912 | ||||||||
| Serial number | 25826912 | ||||||||
| Modelyear | 1962 | ||||||||
| Planned production date | September 11 ,1961 | ||||||||
| Paint color |
|
||||||||
| Interior color (doorpanels and seats) | 75 - Silver Beige | ||||||||
| Destination | USA, Portland |
I knew the bus came from Portland, but was not 100% what the original colours were. It appears to still be painted in it's original colour scheme.
I did plan to eventually paint it Sealing wax red with a chestnut brown top - one of my favourite colour schemes, but for the time being it can stay as VW intended it.
Guess I will have to keep looking to find out what option M104 relates to. Would also like to figure out exactly what is included in 'North American Equipment'.