1979 Mercury Capri VIN ... my old car

[Saturn V]

My mother recently found the title registration receipt from when I purchased my 1979 Capri in 1983. I was a junior in high school and that was my first car. I thought that I had long ago thrown away any paperwork that would have included the VIN. But the VIN that is typed on the receipt does not appear to match what I recall about the car. Shouldn't the last letter be F for the 5.0L engine, instead of T? Perhaps a mistake was made on the receipt? Here it is:

9F14T659615

Here is what I recall about the car (sold 20 years ago):

Engine: 5.0L
Trans: 4-speed SROD
Susp: TRX (at least it had TRX wheels)
Rear: I think it was 3.08, but can't recall for sure
Exterior: Charcoal gray
Interior: Red with highback houndstooth cloth/vinyl seats
Accessories: Manual windows and locks, A/C, rear defroster, I think the radio was only AM/FM no premium sound, no console, no tilt, no cruise, no sunroof.
Other: No 5.0 or any other badges. But it definitely had the 5.0 engine, 4-speed trans, and the twin tip exhaust, like on Pace Cars. I believe the dash trim was a fake wood, which I painted black. No hatch spoiler.

I bought the car in Houston from a guy who had moved the car down from Michigan. I think I recall him saying that he had worked for Ford up there. The car had about 36k on the odometer when I bought it. I still remember that first test drive ... it was the fastest car in which I had ever ridden.

I plan to search the VIN and see if I can find the history of the car since I sold it. I don't have many photos of the car. The one below is from the summer of 84 in Houston. I was in the middle of putting on long tube headers, my first "major" project.

Comments on the VIN?

[FoxChassis]

VIN
9 = 1979 model year
F = Dearborn Assembly
14 = Capri 3-dr hatchback
T = 3.3L I6 engine
659615 = 59,615th 1979 Mercury scheduled for production at Dearborn Assembly

[Saturn V]

Thanks, Fox. I'm going to assume that a mistake was made during the title registration process and that the VIN should be 9F14F659615. But have you ever seen an example where VIN codes were incorrectly assigned at the factory?

I've checked a few VIN record websites and they all say that the VIN is too short (needs to be 17 characters) or that it is too old (needs to be 1980 or later). Even CarFax couldn't use the VIN. Any other ideas for where I can research the VIN? The Texas license plate at the time was VXN 392.

[FM2NOTCH]

VIN mistake is highly unlikely, a engine swap is more probable, but who knows?

early VINS were shorter, T is for a 3.3 6 cyl.

[Saturn V]

VIN mistake is highly unlikely, a engine swap is more probable, but who knows?

ealy VINS were shorter T is for a 3.3 6 cyl.

I seem to recall that the guy worked for Ford, so I did wonder about an engine swap. But if that's what happened, they did just about everything right. I mean even the twin tip exhaust was there.

I still think the title was wrong or there was some other clerical mistake when I registered the car. If I can find a way to research old VINs, I'll look them up both ways.

Has anyone found a way to research these old VINs?


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[KCoker]

Get a Marti report. You can get the cheep one for $15 and it should answer your question. I typed the vin in you have posted on the marti website and it went through. 9F14F659615 This should be the correct vin.

[Saturn V]

Get a Marti report. You can get the cheep one for $15 and it should answer your question. I typed the vin in you have posted on the marti website and it went through. 9F14F659615 This should be the correct vin.

Thanks for that check. I went to the website and entered the other VIN (9F14T659615) in the order form, and it took that, too. Maybe the order page doesn't do any VIN quality check. Or did you enter the VIN at a different place on the website? I guess in buying the basic report they could research and tell me if T or F is correct. What I'm really interested in is finding out if the car is still alive, or at least how far the trail went after I sold it.

[FoxChassis]

Only one possible VIN for 9F___659619. I don't think Marti Auto website does a VIN check. If it does the VIN would be have to run against the production database. There was no check digit in 11-character VINs, so no way to check typos. Autocheck, Carfax, etc. are only for 17-character VINs.

If you order a Marti report for a VIN that doesn't exist (wrong VIN entered, or it's a good VIN but was never made) they'll tell you.

[FoxChassis]

I seem to recall that the guy worked for Ford, so I did wonder about an engine swap. But if that's what happened, they did just about everything right. I mean even the twin tip exhaust was there.

Twin exhaust tip was part of the 'Sport exhaust system' which was optional with non-turbo 2.3L, 2.8L, and 3.3L.

[Saturn V]

Only one possible VIN for 9F___659619. I don't think Marti Auto website does a VIN check. If it does the VIN would be have to run against the production database. There was no check digit in 11-character VINs, so no way to check typos. Autocheck, Carfax, etc. are only for 17-character VINs.

If you order a Marti report for a VIN that doesn't exist (wrong VIN entered, or it's a good VIN but was never made) they'll tell you.

Well, now I'm curious enough to order a Marti report for a car that I haven't owned in 20 years! Is that nuts??

Twin exhaust tip was part of the 'Sport exhaust system' which was optional with non-turbo 2.3L, 2.8L, and 3.3L.

Wow, I assumed that exhaust was only available on 2.3T and 5.0.

[FoxChassis]

Twin exhaust tip was part of the 'Sport exhaust system' which was optional with non-turbo 2.3L, 2.8L, and 3.3L.

Wow, I assumed that exhaust was only available on 2.3T and 5.0.

I was mistaken.

In the 1979 model year, the "Sport Tuned Exhaust" system was available only with the 2.3T and the 5.0L. It was optional with the 5.0L/C4 auto. It was standard with the 2.3T and 5.0L/SROD manual, and with any engine with the Cobra package (including 5.0L/C4).