quick VIN question...

[biosurfer1]

what does the WPO in the beginning of a vin mean? my dad's friend has it on his 83 SC and I dont for my 79, is it just because the US went to a 16 number/letter system?

[Steve87-911]

It's the manufacturer's code for Porsche.

[emcon5]

Originally posted by biosurfer1
is it just because the US went to a 16 number/letter system?

Yes.

[86 911]

WPO means that the car was made in Germany, and the manufacture is Porsche. W= Europe, WP= Germany, and PO= Porsche.

Starting in 1980, the Motor Vehicle Safety standard regulation FMVSS-115 required a 17 digit VIN number. Your 1979 does not have the 17 digit code since it was made before 1980.

Hope this helps!

[Jack Olsen]

Yes. WPO is the global manufacturing code for Porsche. You can learn more about the post-1980 VIN contents here.

[86 911]

Oh yeah, I got my info from analogx.com. The link will not work if posted or book marked since the page can only be visited once without having to go to the Vin page.

Here's what the screen showed when I typed in a VIN for an '83:

Description----Position----Raw Data----Decoded Data

Region: 1 W Europe

Country: 1-2 WP Germany

Manufacturer: 2-3 P0 Porsche

Model Specific: 4-8 EA091 Unknown

Check Digit: 9 8 Invalid

Year: 10 D 1983

Assembly Plant: 11 S S

Serial Number: 12-17 1709 1709