1965 ECL Trim Tag Suffix

[Grant P.]

I have a St Louis built convertible with a trim tag:
900UU Rally Red,
407BA red vinyl --convertible. What does the B stand for?
Thanks. Grant

[Wayne M.]

Re: 1965 ECL Trim Tag Suffix

I have a St Louis built convertible with a trim tag:
900UU Rally Red,
407BA red vinyl --convertible. What does the B stand for?
Thanks. Grant

The "B" part of the "BA" means you have a convertible body made in St.Louis, with a red vinyl interior, but WITHOUT A31 or M35. This was considered the base equipped interior. If you had a coupe, it would have been "AA". Along with you mentioning the 900UU exterior paint code, we could be certain that it was a St.Louis body, even without your telling us, or even if you provided the body number (ie. S2154).

[Jack H.]

Re: 1965 ECL Trim Tag Suffix

Complex answer here and you need a copy of the Sinor/Grenning Authentication Library, Vol 1 book to fully explain... The short answer is trim codes changed format during the mid-year era, so you have to get specific about a given car based on model year and time of build (VIN). But, the letter sequence that follows the trim code represent 'exception codes' which were used by the body plant(s) (St. Louis and AO Smith) to get the body 'right' to match the characteristics of the target car it was to be installed on.

Some vehicle options affected the specific construction of the body. Examples: (1) different shifter and console components for automatic vs. manual transmission, and (2) different wiring harness and center console construction for power window vs. manual crank window configuration.

So, the 'exception' code sequence was a means of telling the body shops how to specifically build this/that body to fit/match its intended vehicle at final assy.

Basically, in 1965 there were two schedules of exception code sequences (early and late). On early cars, the 'AA' sequence applied to coupes and indicated no exceptions/restrictions while the 'BA' sequence had the same significance for convertibles.

On later cars, the definition changed and schedule table expanded in the number of specific entries. But, to cut to the short, the 'BA' sequence identified a 'base' optioned convertible that excluded A31 and/or M35 (power windows, automatic trans) options. A different code, BC, got you M35 without A31. A 'BG' code bought A31 without M35. And 'BJ' coding pointed to both A31 and M35 being on board...

The Authentication Library book makes NUMEROUS mention of forensic examples (known original cars) where there 'appeared' to be deviations in this/that car's actual factory configuration versus the exception code cited on the car's trim tag...

[Grant P.]

Re: 1965 ECL Trim Tag Suffix

Thanks for the clarrification.