1971 SS-Optioned MalibuFisher Body Number Plate - Arlington, Texas Assembly Plant (R)Arlington makes a distinction between an inline 6-cylinder engine and a V8 engine with the style number. Other 1971 final assembly plants also matched the Fisher Body style number with the exact series/model. The words/abbreviation ST (for style), R, BDY on the second line were consistent along with TR (for trim) and PNT on the third line. The body date, style year and number, body number, trim code, and paint codes were stamped for the specific car as it was scheduled for production. Arlington did use a hyphen character between the year and style number such as 71-13637 but no space between the Fisher Body plant designation letter and the body number such as R48332. The 3-digit trim code itself was enough to distinguish between a bench and bucket seat type. For example, trim code 705 is a black vinyl bench seat whereas trim code 706 is a black vinyl bucket seat. Arlington did not separate the lower and upper body color letters/number with a dash (or hyphen) character. When an Arlington-built Chevelle was ordered with a special paint color, the lower and/or upper body color (as applicable) is noted with a blank space in lieu of a paint code number. The final line of car-specific information is the Fisher Body assembly date such as 04D. Body dates of months 1 through 9 were padded with a leading zero to make a 3-character body date. The 3-digit number following the body date is an internal plant tracking number that corresponds to the last three digits of the number in block 10 of their build sheet. This number is not significant today except to help match the trim tag information with a build sheet.
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