Should Engine Numbers Match the VIN?

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Ted Spradley, like James Montebello, had always assumed that "numbers match"
meant a correspondence of meaning (but not numbers) between two different
numbers from two different coding systems for the chassis and the engine. That
may be what it means in American cartalk conventions, but I (who haven't owned
an American car since my near-new 1950 Old 88) had never met that meaning, and
assumed that when Bob Brady said the number stamped on the engine did not
match the VIN he meant a literal 1-1, digit-to-digit match.

Whether that was Bob's meaning or not, Ted Spradley wrote "The VIN would
probably have the paint color and some optional equipment encoded in it, but
not serial numbers, just codes to indicate _type_ of engine."

Doesn't, except insofar as "Spider" means four-cylinder and "Milano" or "GTV
6" means six-cylinder. The VIN tells the country (Z=Italy), manufacturer
(AR=Alfa Romeo), carline (A=GTV6, B=Spider,D=Milano), transmission (A=5 sp,
B=3 sp.Auto, C=5 sp.+passive belt) equipment level (3 digits or 2+letter),
check sum digit, model year (H=1987, etc) factory (1=Arese, 2=Naples) and then
the serial number which is the same in Europe and in the US VIN, and from 1988
on common to all cars within a model line rather than specific to the type.
The equipment level section does differentiate Gold, Silver, Green, Platinum,
Graduate, Veloce, Quadrifoglio but not any other special attributes, or
color.

FWIW Alfas had riveted aluminum plates on the firewall stamped with type
number, chassis number and engine number through the 750 Giuliettas but had
dropped the engine number and chassis number listing on the plate by the early
105s, (giving type name and type number only) and dropped the plate altogether
by the 116s. Not dead sure about all the 101 cars or the late 105s, but
Centerline offers reproduction type-only plates for the 101 Giulietta through
the 1750 boattail.

Cordially,

John H.
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