Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Is there any on .line vin decoder for a Packard ? Is there one on this sight?
Thanks
Mark

Packard model info. Link on left side of page. First two are year....second two are model....last four are the build number as it came off the line(minus 1000 from that number)

Paint and interior codes underneath.

Ignore the minus 1000 advice from above, it's a bit more complicated than that, see below. For Canadian-built Packards the base line starting number for the sequential part of the vehicle number (VN, not VIN) was 1001 for 1931 to 1934 and 101 between 1935 and 1939.

And the first two digits representing the model year only holds for 1954, 1955 and 1956.

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Well considering his name is 55packard400.... ignore your advice.

As a licensed CA state VIN verifier, I can assure you that the distinction between VN and VIN is nonexistent in any real or legal sense. Vehicle Number and Vehicle Identification Number: the verification forms say VIN and do not differentiate between standardized or not. So what if VIN generally refers to the standarized 17 character number that newer cars use? VIN is still an identifying number regardless of standardization or not!

Anyway, decoding the number on a Packard as outlined in the earlier answers is not so difficult that a decoder is needed. As a programmer, I entertained the idea of creating one but it would have been only for fun and would not have had any real practical purpose. Still, I might try it sometime.

Packard's patent plate designates their number as a vehicle number and I call it that just to be consistent, no other reason.