Thread: Vin & Cowl Numbers (help)

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Can someone please help me to figure out if this car is a Belair, or sports coupe? I have found different answers at different places and I would like to make sure of what I am looking to buy.

The VIN #'s are, B57J282285, the cowl tag says the STYLE is
57-1037.

Thanks for the help in advance

here's what ya got
B-210
57 -year
J-assembly plant ,Janesville , Wi
282285-serial # of the car

looks like a 57 210 6 cyl model

Thanks for the help with the VIN numbers.

Can anyone help me with the cowl tag, it reads

STYLE 57-1037
BODY NO J 2947
TRIM 654
PAINT 811C

Again thanks for the help, I am trying to make sure of what I am buying. The seller is telling me that the car is a Belair but the VIN number shows that it is a 210 car. So now I would like to find out about the cowl tag if there is anyway.

Have a good day.

To add to cool's good info, you sound confused about those two designations. The reason you've found both as being applicable is that they ARE both applicable. Bel Air is a model designation.
They had three models; Bel Air, 210 &150. The BA was top of the line, 210 middle, 150 base, as far as standard features and trim. Sports coupe is a body style designation, along with sedan, convertible, station wagon, etc.

As a 210 yours would have similar side trim to the BA, but without the shiney insert on the tail fins. That's the most visible que, there are other slight trim differences and upholstery is different.

Thanks cool and Bob for the information. The reason that I do sound confused is because I am. The seller is telling me that the car is a Belair but when I found a VIN decoder last night, I came up with the same information that Cool, came up with. The car does has all of the trim of the Belair on it, by looks it looks like a Belair but the vin says it is not. The cowl tag says that it is a sports coupe (1037). Maybe I am wrong but that is the information that I came up with. So I am tying to make sure of what I am looking at, as we all know that it will affect the price of the car.

Again thanks

You're doing the right thing as for protecting yourself. The body tags tell the tale, not the trim that can easily be transferred. What you're seeing is a common modification. Many 210's have had the side insert and BA tags put on to "gussey them up". It could be that the seller didn't do the checks you're doing when he bought it and honestly thinks it's a BA, or he's a liar. Either way, if you want the car and think that you've discovered a bargaining advantage, you should print out the info you've located so you can prove to the seller what you're saying. Even then he may not believe you because it's not in his best interest.

As a practical matter it depends on what your intentions for the car are. As a six cylinder car there's nothing particularly "special" about this car as compared to other '57's. This sometimes causes confusion for some folks. We see the high dollar cars go through the auction and that sets a tone for the rest of that vintage/brand/model so forth. The thing is, the high dollar cars have something(s) special. Extremely low original miles (WELL documented), very rare options (like factory dual quads or FI), or limited production numbers (which a 210 sport coupe with six wasn't). If you're going to modify the car it almost doesn't matter which model you start with (an exception I'll deal with later). If you're going to paint it a non factory color, reupholster it in leather or other non stock design/material, change the drive train, lower it, etc. etc. then when you're done it isn't going to matter whether it was a 210 or a BA to start with. Folks will still appreciate it just the same, and it's value will be based on the tastefullness, and quality of the work done. If you were going to "clone" a limited production car such as the "black widow" cars, then you'd have to start with a 150 two door sedan. But then I've seen semi-clones based on 210 sport coupes too, that's what customizing/rodding is about. Doing a fully authentic restoration (which by definition means ABSOLUTELY no deviations from stock appearance, even though people missuse that term all the time too) becomes another matter, especially since it would cost pretty much the same to do a proper restoration on either model. If you did a car like a 210, sport coupe, six cylinder car, it would be a rarity, there would be way many more restored V8 Bel Airs out there. But rarity doesn't automatically convert to higher value. There's still a demand factor to contend with. Way many more people will pay a premium for a proper Bel Air than an equally done 210..............deceptions excluded. But then if you get into the stratosphere of relative pricing the buyers are usually sophisticated enough to check the numbers, or have it done for them.

So if you're going to modify the car, use the 210 info as a bargaining tool, but in the big picture it doesn't much matter.

Oh, and here's a link to Danchuk's site for vin and cowl tag decode. You'll need Adobe PDF.

http://www.danchuk.com/PDF/specs.pdf

Thank you for you help Bob and also thank you Cool