1964 Malibu SS

Fisher Body Number Plate

Fisher Body built the body from the firewall back, the final assembly line at Chevrolet assembled the chassis, driveline, interior, and front sheet metal. Fisher Body affixed a plate to the firewall.

Two theories on the purpose of the Fisher Body Number Plate (aka, trim tag, cowl tag, or firewall tag). One theory is since the tag was affixed early in the body production, some options were shown on tag in what are referred to as “groups” to help later builders of the body identify what changes would be needed to a base car. For example bucket seats and 4-speed required a different floor pan, steering column, dash, etc. than a bench seat, manual 3-speed car would. A Chevelle ordered with a radio required additional pieces like noise suppression straps.

Not all plants put group options or ACC. codes on the tag and the practice was stopped beginning with the 1968 model year so this theory doesn’t seem readily applicable. The second theory is this information was put on the tag to assist dealers in repairs if necessary. This seems to make more sense as things like body dates, interior trim codes and exterior paint colors would help the dealer.

The various plants did not appear to have a common supplier of blank body plates and some even changed the format of their plates as each had their own standard operating procedure (SOP).

The body number on the data plate is generally sequential according to the particular style number meaning a more popular style number (such as 5637 or 5837) at any given time in production will have a higher body number than, say, a 300 series 4-door sedan would have because more Malibu or Malibu SS sport coupes would have been built up to that point in time.

Table of known assembly plants and whether they support odd 3rd digit in Style number or not.

Plant ↓ Year →	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972
Arlington, TX.							unk	Yes	unk
Atlanta, GA.	No	unk	No	No	unk	No	unk
Baltimore, MD.	unk	No	No	No	No	unk	Yes	Yes	Yes
Euclid, OH.	unk	No *
Framingham, MA.		No	No	No	No	Yes
Flint, MI.			No				unk
Fremont, CA.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kansas City, MO.	No	No *	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Van Nuys, CA.⁽¹⁾	No						unk	Yes	unk
Oshawa, ON.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	unk	Yes

⁽¹⁾ Van Nuys changed to Los Angeles for 1970

unk ~ No proof one way or the other if the plant that year coded the trim tag to match the engine type (L6 or V8). Any "unk" entry is still questionable. Anyone finding a trim tag from one of these plants with an odd 3rd digit is encouraged to email a photo of the tag to me and I'll update this page.

No ~ Those noted No are known to NOT have coded the trim tag to match engine type (such as 13637) and have L6 VINs (such as 13537) or 64 5637 trim tag style number and 45537 VIN in the case of 1964. Meaning the style number on the trim tag will show 13637 whether the car is a V8 or L6.

Yes ~ The trim tag style numbers match the series/body style on the VIN. Meaning a 13537 L6 Malibu will have a 13537 style number on the trim tag and 13637 V8 Malibu will have a style number of 13637 on the trim tag.

No * - confirmed on at least one El Camino body built at Euclid with 13480 body style and assembled at Kansas City with 13380 VIN and at least two 2-door station wagons built at Euclid with a 13215 body style assembled at Kansas City with a 13115 VIN.

~ Plant did not assemble Chevelles in this year.

It should also be noted that in 1972 Chevrolet VIN format changed and a single letter such as "B," "C,", "D," and "H" replaced the 31/32, 33/34, 35/36 and 38 series designation but the trim tag retained the Fisher Body Style 5-digit number so the Chevrolet VIN will not match the Fisher Body Style number in that regard, only the body style designation did not change - For example, #37 body style is still a sport coupe, #67 a convertible, etc.

See Atlanta, Baltimore, Euclid, Fremont, Kansas City, and Van Nuys for information on their Fisher Body Number Plates.