My shop manual states that the serial numbers for the 1963 Dart starts at 500,000, or something like that. On my VIN plate, it shows 7?37100599. this means that my car is the 600,599th produced, which seems unlikely, or the 599th unit produced. Does that sound right? That would make mine an EARLY production???

I got mine decoded about a year ago. Not sure where the info came from though.

http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... highlight=

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1963 Dodge Dart -225 Slant 6, 904, 2.76's, 18.84 @ 73
1970 Nova 12.53@108
1970 Bug 15.38@87

Most cars I know about (Novas), start with the number 100001, give or take, which would make your Dart (100599) the 599th car built, and mine (136919) the 36919th car built.


Not definite, but I highly doubt that they made anywhere even close to 600000 Darts in 63.

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1963 Dodge Dart -225 Slant 6, 904, 2.76's, 18.84 @ 73
1970 Nova 12.53@108
1970 Bug 15.38@87

I'll verify the '63 info when I'm back in the office (stuck @ home now waiting for warranty work on the dishwasher) but in '64 and '65, each plant consecutively numbered all vehicles beginning at 100 001 regardless of make and model, except Detroit-built Valiant and Dart models which begin with 500 001. That question mark in your VIN plate needs resolved; you're missing a character, and it should be a "T" in the third position. Assuming your VIN is actually 73T7100599, that would decode as follows:

7: Dart
3: 270 model
T: 1963 model year
7: Built at St. Louis
100599: 599th 1963-model car built at St Louis

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

The stamp is a little mangled, maybe over-stamped. I know for sure it is a '63 due to the rounded corners on the back glass gasket and the under dash heater controls. I read somewhere that the 63's has some fit and finish issues because it was a brand new body and uni-body technique. My car sure does show this. i am thinking because it is an early production unit, it may have more flaws than later ones.

If it is indeed the 599th one produced at St Louis, would that make it first week production? Probably a definite first month production. Are there any production date codes on the car? I do have the fender tag, but have not been successful in decoding it.

The car is really a total mess, and probably not worth restoring, but if it is #599, it may be unique and valuable as an early build. Any thoughts?

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Restoring Wife's Great Grandparent's 1963 Dart.
Built August 30, 1962 in St Louis
First month of production
Serial Number 599
Still is a basket case.

OK, I checked, and it is DEFINITELY 7137100599. The first two numbers are stamped from the front, and the rest from the back. Something funny here??? Where did you get 'T' for 1963? My VIN has 3 for 1963. My shop manual, dated 9-62, shows 7=Dart, 1=low (guessing lowly 170), 3=1963, 7=St Louis, 100599 = 599th car built at St Louis, but states Dart starts with 500000.

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Restoring Wife's Great Grandparent's 1963 Dart.
Built August 30, 1962 in St Louis
First month of production
Serial Number 599
Still is a basket case.

This is exactly why I said I needed to verify the '63 info; I was going by '64 info I had at hand when I posted. Chrysler assigned a letter to each year's production. 1960 = Q, '61 = R, '62 = S, '63 = T, '64 = V, '65 = A, '66 = B, and so on. The 3rd character in a '64 VIN is "V" to indicate the 1964 model year, so because I didn't have '63 info to hand, I tried to decode your '63 VIN using '64 info. Whoops, didn't work, the '63-down VINs are different as you discovered in your service manual, which omits that only Detroit-built Darts start with 500001.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Great info. Thanks. I just spent the morning in the scrap yard going through a '64 Valiant scabbing as much as I could. For $0.30 a pound, things can be had for cheap.

Anyway, one other quick question. How many factories built Darts in 1963, or even in Early 1963? There was St Louis and Detroit. Others?

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Restoring Wife's Great Grandparent's 1963 Dart.
Built August 30, 1962 in St Louis
First month of production
Serial Number 599
Still is a basket case.

Pretty sure Los Angeles, too...

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.