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'68 442 Holiday coupe trim tag decoding


Guest 63Stude

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Guest 63Stude

I was at a wake/remembrance celebration for a friend yesterday out in NW PA.  His wife has a '68 442 that she hasn't driven in almost 30 years.  It's in a barn but on dirt floor (I know).  She asked if I could take a look.  I couldn't get underneath it as it is on four flat tires.  I fear the worst.  I will say this, both doors shut like a vault, and easily, and there is no visible body rustout and the vinyl top is virtually perfect.  She said she used to have the body 'oiled' and showed me the plugs in the body.  I rode in the car decades ago (she got it in '80).  Anyway, I'd like to decode the car.  I was wondering if it was really a 442 or one made up to appear to be one, but the VIN is 3448781143968 which I see online is indeed a 442.

 

The cowl tag says "MADE IN CANADA", then C08C60D55M4OT-27.  It's a floorshift automatic.

ST  68 34487OS3 47066 BODY

TR 9452-7-15   ANN PAINT

 

Thanks in advance for any help.  I was somewhat surprised to see "MADE IN CANADA" but then I remember '70's mid-size Chevys coming to my hometown dealer sometimes being from Oshawa, Ontario.

Edited by 63Stude (see edit history)
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Olds built A-body cars in Oshawa, Canada through the 1969 model year.  My very first 442 (a 1968 that I got back in 1974) was built in the Oshawa plant. 

VIN decodes:

3 = Oldsmobile division

44 = 442 model line

87 = Holiday Coupe (2dr HT)

8 = 1968 model year

1 = Oshawa, Canada assembly plant

143968 = sequential build number

 

Cowl tag:

C08 = Vinyl top

C60 = A/C

D55 = Console and floor shifter

M40 = TH400 automatic trans

T27 I don't have a listing for - may be mandatory Canadian equipment?

 ST68 = 1968 model year

34487 = same as VIN (Oldsmobile 442 Holiday Coupe)

OS = Oshawa assembly plant

347066 = Fisher Body sequential build number (should not match VIN)

TR945 = Interior trim code (Sorry, I don't have that handy)

2-7-15 ???

ANN PNT = paint, stripe, and top color, but A=ebony black, N=burgundy.  The only available stripe colors were A=black, B=white, O=orange, and R=red.  Vinyl top colors were black (2), blue (4), teal (5), parchment (6), buckskin (7), and gold (8)

 

Note also that Canadian built Cutlii got the real Chevy 12-bolt axle, not the Olds-unique Type O axle.

 

Edited by joe_padavano (see edit history)
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Guest 63Stude

Joe, thank you so much for the very complete and prompt reply!  The car is indeed burgundy with a black vinyl top and red vinyl bucket seats.

 

It had full wheel discs (like a Cutlass Supreme) when I first saw it, but it's on later Olds wire wheelcovers now.  The owner told me the original discs are in the trunk, which I didn't open--didn't have the key and she was busy being a hostess (totally understandable!).

 

I would've thought (but only guessed) that 442's would have come with the Olds Super Stock wheels, but apparently (?) they were optional.

 

It's an interesting car she'd entertain getting together as a reliable driver, but again, I fear the worst for the underbody.

 

Someone over the years put an aftermarket body side molding down the side.

 

When I saw "ANN PAINT" on the tag, I wondered if it was some special 'anniversary' paint color, but I knew 1968 was no even-year Olds anniversary number.  It has no stripe so the two 'N''s must just mean solid burgundy.  On my Chevys over the years, the tag on the inside of the decklid would list a color code for "L" (Lower) and "U" (Upper), and if the car was single-tone paint, the same code would be present in both.  Probably how Olds also handled solid paint color codes.

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7 minutes ago, 63Stude said:

I would've thought (but only guessed) that 442's would have come with the Olds Super Stock wheels, but apparently (?) they were optional.

 

RPO P05 for the SuperStock I wheels and RPO N66 for the SuperStock II wheels.  Both were optional on Cutlii and F-85s as well as on 442s.

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