With Chrysler, the original A body was the 1960
Plymouth-Dodge-DeSoto-Chrysler body. The B body first appeared for 1962
(Plymouth and Dodge) and for 1963 the new Valiant and Dart was called the A
body. The former A body officially became the C body with the 1965 models
and the body-and-frame Imperials became the D body.
Chrysler used the first letter of the car line name for the model number and
VIN letter, usually. Plymouth, Dodge and Chrysler were simple,.as were the
Valiant (except 1960 which was X) and Barracuda. The Dart's L actually
stood for Lancer (although the 1961 Lancer was W). The Belvedere (R),
Coronet (W), Charger (X), Challenger (J) and Cordoba (S) all used different
letters as the Barracuda and Chrysler had already taken the B and C. Other
exceptions were DeSoto, which used S for its model numbers, the export
DeSoto Diplomat which used "F" in 1958 and 1959 and the Plymouth-sized Dodge
which used "E" in 1958 and 1959.
By the way, the car line letters were used in the 1958 serial numbers
(second digit - C,D,E,P,S,Y). The Canadian Plymouth-sized Dodge used "E".
Letters reappeared in 1964 for the Dart V8 (L) and U.S-built Valiant V8 (V).
In 1965 letters were used in U.S. Mopar serial numbers for all cars with V8
engines. The Canadian-built 1964 Valiant V8 serial number started with "7"
and all Canadian-built Chryco cars had a letter as the first digit in the
serial number for 1965.
>From 1959 to 1964/5, instead of letters, Chrysler used numbers for the car
lines, with the numbers changing in 1960 and again in 1961 and 1962. 1960
saw the addition of the Valiant, 1961 the Dodge Lancer and 1962 the
disappearance of the DeSoto. The use of letters was needed as the
introduction of the Valiant and Dart V8 models meant Chrysler ran out of
numbers.
With the 17-digit serial numbers, Chrysler adopted a letter for the make
(2nd digit : A -Imperial, B - Dodge, C- Chrysler, E - Fargo, P - Plymouth.
In 1988 E became Eagle and J for Jeep was added) and a letter for the car bo
dy (5th digit) in 1981. In 1982 the 5th digit again reverted to the car
line but in 1989 went back to the car body. By the way, all General Motors
cars used the letter "G" as the second digit. The 3rd digit, by the way,
is for vehicle type (car, truck, MPV, etc.)
General Motors body designations were not in reverse. The "A" body first
appeared in 1937 and was used by Chevrolet. GM of Canada added an "A" body
Pontiac Special Six for 1938, followed by the U.S. Pontiac Qualtiy Six and
Oldsmobile series 60 in 1939. Buick used the A body for the 1941 and 1942
Special series 40-A.
The larger B body appeared in 1937 as well and was used by Pontiac,
Oldsmobile, Buick and LaSalle. By 1940 it was used on the Pontiac DeLuxe,
Oldsmobile series 70, Buick Special series 40, Buick Century series 60, and
LaSalle series 50. Cadillac started using the B body in 1941 when the
LaSalle series 50 became the Cadillac series 61.
1940 was the year GM came out with the C body, and was used on the Pontiac
Torpedo, Oldsmobile series 90, Buick Super series 50, Buick Roadmaster
series 70, LaSalle series 52 and Cadillac series 62.
In 1942 the Cadillac Sixty-Special began using the C body. That was also
the last year for the unique bodies used on the Buick Limited series 90,
Cadillac series 67 and the Cadillac series 63. When GM designed the B body
for 1950, the C body was basically an extended B body. By taking the B
body, extending the chassis frame, using the series 62 rear fenders and
trunk area, GM created the Cadillac series 75 sedans and limousines.
In 1959 the A body disappeared as the Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and
Buick (except the Electra 225) all used the B body, GM lengthed the
wheelbase 4" (all in the rear), gave it unique rooflines and created the C
body which was used by the Buick Electra 225 and all Cadillacs except the
75. The Cadillac 75 was again an extended B/C body. The Oldsmobile 98
started using the C body again in 1961. It had been using an extended-trunk
version of the B since 1952. General Motors re-introduced the A body with
the intermediate Chevelle, Beaumont, Tempest, F-85 and Special in 1964.
When GM downsized in the 1970's, the Malibu, LeMans, Cutlass, and Skylark
body was still the A body. It shared nothing with the B body which was used
by the Chevrolet (Impala, etc), Pontiac (Catalina, Parisienne, etc.),
Oldsmobile Delta, and Buick LeSabre. The C body was still an extended B
body and was used by the Oldsmobile 98, Buick Electra, Cadillac deVille and
Fleetwood Brougham. The Cadillac 75 was again an extended B/C body. The
square roofline of the A body Bonneville/Grand LeMans shares only the design
theme of the square roofline of the B body Bonneville. The A body was
narrower and shorter than the B body.
Bill
Vancouver, BC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher Hoffman" <imperial67@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 8:17 PM
Subject: Re: IML: The Alphabet Soup of Designations
> Since you mentioned my name...
>
> A "carline" exists within a brand. It is also known as a model series. For
> example, Chrysler Newport is a carline. Within a carline there are usually
a
> number of trim levels, such as Newport (base) and Newport Custom. New
Yorker
> is generally considered a separate carline from Newport. Imperial was both
a
> brand and a carline because there were no other models within the Imperial
> brand (during the years that Imperial was its own brand, or make, or
> marque). For Imperial, the distinction between carline, model and trim
level
> is a bit blurry. (Then again, so is "New Yorker Brougham" for 1975-77,
since
> all NYers were Broughams... officially, it is a three-word model name with
> no trim level. My '78 Salon would be the only NYB trim level ever
offered...
> St Regis was just an option package... essentially a vinyl roof treatment,
> not a trim level.)
>
> A body designation indicates the platform upon which a model or carline
(or
> several carlines) was built. The C in C-body does not stand for Chrysler,
it
> was simply the largest Chrysler Corporation platform (fullsize Dodge and
> Plymouth, too), with the B-body for the midsize (Charger, Coronet,
> Satellite, Belvedere, Road Runner, Cordoba, Magnum, etc.), and the A-body
> compact (Dart, Valiant, Barracudas through 1969, Demon and Duster). By the
> way, the C in the VIN only began in MY1965.
>
> That C-body and Chrysler begin with the same letter is coincidental. After
> all, Dodges were also C-bodies (though they had D VINs), as were Plymouths
> (and they had P VINs). The fullsize cars' VINs, however, DID represent
their
> make, a holdover from when there was only one size of Dodge, Plymouth or
> Chrysler (up through '59). Most of the other Chrysler VIN series similarly
> did not match the first initial of their names. (For example, Valiant was
> launched as a separate make--not as a Plymouth--in 1960, but Valiant VINs
> didn't start with V until 1964, by which time they were badged and
marketed
> as models within the Plymouth line.)
>
> To address Mark's point, the body designations were indeed from Chrysler,
> not affixed after the fact by enthusiasts, but they were used only
> internally, and in an age where such information rarely became part of the
> consumer's vernacular. Chrysler still does this, although they tend to
give
> an all-new platform generation a new series designation. For example, the
> original cab-forward Dodge Intrepid, Eagle Vision, and Chrysler Concorde
and
> LHS were the LH platform. The current ones are the LX, and I honestly
cannot
> remember what the new RWD 2005 300-Series (yes, that's officially the
name,
> with "300" base, "300 Touring" and "300C" being the trim levels in
ascending
> order) and Magnum (wagon only but expect a sedan to follow soon after when
> the sales figures don't pan out) are...
>
> GM did the same thing, starting in the 1940s or even earlier, but in
reverse
> order. Cadillacs, top-line Buicks and top-line Oldsmobiles used the
A-body.
> Chevys, Pontiacs and low-line Buicks and Oldses used the B-body. By the
> 1970s, they even made hybrids: Bonnevilles and Grand Villes used the
B-body
> wheelbase but an A-body roofline. But this is not a GM list, so enough
about
> that!
>
> As for VINs, it was not until the standardized 17-digit VINs were
introduced
> in 1980-81 that any manufacturer's VINs became uniform across the
industry.
> In this system, the first digit indicates the country of manufacture
(1=US,
> 2=Canada, 3=Mexico, W=Germany, etc.), and the 2nd and 3rd indicate the
> automaker. But prior to this system, every automaker used their own
system.
>
> Many all-Mopar shows tend to lump all fullsize models under C-body,
> including pre-'67 Imperials, even though they did not share their platform
> with the Chryslers, Plymouths and Dodges from 1957 through 1966. It's a
> sloppy error, again, probably of convenience. Many shows do separate the
> Imperials, of course.
>
> Anyway, that's the world's longest answer to a question about one letter.
>
> C ya!
>
> Chris in LA
> 67 Crown (C-body, Y VIN)
> 78 NYB Salon (C-body, C VIN)
>
>
> Mark McDonald (tomswift@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:
>
> > I think Chris Hoffman could probably explain the breakdown better than
> > I as to what precisely "carline" means.
> >
> > But-- if you go to a show (at least this is true of all the ones I've
> > been to)(all two)-- an Imperial is classified as a "C body," like it or
> > not.
> >
> > But again, the "C" in "C body" stands for "Chrysler" -- meaning the
> > carline. They didn't use "I" for "Imperial" presumably because an "I"
> > can be confused with a "1."
>
>
>
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