Warranty Card Protect-O-late Decode

 

If you have ANY 1964 through 1972 Chevelle Protect-O-Plates with something that doesn't match what is shown here, please email me a readable image of the card and what your question(s) is/are.

 

The Warranty Card, or Protecto-O-Plate (P-O-P or POP for short), was stamped at the assembly plant when the car was completed. The Chevelle's vehicle identification number (VIN), the engine build date and suffix code, transmission code and date, the rear end code and date, the month (indicated by a letter or single-digit number), and specific options were stamped on the card. The information was 'mirror-stamped' (backwards) due to the imprint machines dealers used then. Where today our credit/debit card information is read via a magnetic strip on the card or an electronic chip, credit cards back-in-the-day had to be physically stamped onto a paper receipt with a device much like this. When the car was sold to the original buyer the selling dealer would put the owner's name, addresses, and often the date on a label tape and affix it to the warranty card and typically glued to the warranty book itself.

 

 

The warranty card was used much the same way. When your Chevelle was at a dealer for service, the card was stamped onto the work order to identify the vehicle and its pertinent information. These cards were never meant to 'document' a vehicle, but were meant for service only. When the warranty period for the vehicle expired these were usually tossed in the trash as they were no longer relevant to the car. Now, 40, 50, and almost 60 years later, enthusiast have discovered these are invaluable in documenting their car since so much original, vital information is shown on them.

Sadly, because of their value today, especially in documenting true SS-optioned Chevelles, many unscrupulous individuals are reproducing them in an effort to document their fake or marginally correct Chevelle or to make and sell to others. Blank cards are readily available along with GM label tape and even the printing machines themselves making it easy (and profitable) for someone to reproduce them. Some are getting so good with the ability to add patina to the card and affix it to an appropriate warranty book making it difficult to tell an real warranty card and book from a reproduction.

If you have ANY 1965 through 1972 Chevelle warranty card with something that doesn't match what is shown here, please email me a readable image of the tag and what your question(s) is/are.

 

Select a year below then select the appropriate assembly plant for that year.

 

Year	Year
1964	1965
1966	1967
1968	1969
1970	1971
1972	Comprehensive Trim Tag/Warranty Card Decoder

 

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