Number's matching'72E Coupe??
 

I'm going to look at a "basement find" '72E coupe and I'm wanting to know if I can tell by the chassis, engine and transmission serial numbers if they are in the ball park of being number's matching.

I know it won't be definitive until I get a COA, and I am familiar with a '65...that the engine number is generally within 100 +/- of the chassis number. Does this also hold true for a '72E??

The "Red Book" shows 1124 E coupes and the engine #'s show 1765 built.

What cha think??

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I'd look for a similar placement across the range of numbers. If, for example, the chassis serial # is about 35% of way between the 1st and last serial #, then I'd expect the engine # to be roughly 35% of the way from the first engine # to the last.

You are correct in your line of thinking. You can't be definitive without a COA but you can have a reasonable sense of confidence that it is original. If not original, it will at least be 'correct' engine type and range. People get really hung up on correct numbers but correct type is as/more important in my mind. An obvious engine swap (3.0L into a long-hood for instance) is a detractor. A correct engine without the correct serial number......doesn't change the look or enjoyment from original one bit. :)

Thanks for the info guys, I'll post what I end up finding out.

It depends somewhat on what month the car was built. If it was towards the end of the model run, the disparity in the numbers can be much greater. As an example, a '72T I once owned had a difference of nearly 1,300 between the chassis and engine numbers. It was a matching numbers car, built in the last 20% of the model year. The differnce in an E would be smaller, as they built fewer of them, but it might easily be more than 100.

JR

You can get a closer approximation by going to the 911E registry and look for a serial number car near yours and look at their engine number.

911E.org - The 911E Registry

Actually for 1965 one expects the engine # to be on average 100 higher than the VIN since the VIN started at 0001 and the engines at 0101; the first 100 engine serials were reserved for prototypes. Even then it could vary significantly, and increasing as time went on.

For the 1972E there are two models (coupe & Targa) as well as two engines (manual trans & Sporto). So combined bodies are 1124+861-20=1965 ; less 20 since VIN's start at 0011 not at 0001. Combined engines are 1765+248=2013 ; I believe the excess engines were due to failed units. So, as Jim says, you could use the percentages to get a rough idea if the body and engine could match. I have quite a bit of data on VIN & engine serial relationships that may also help.

Well....the '72E turned out to be a '72T...so I picked it up anyway. Overall in pretty good shape and unmolested. It starts up and drives with the usual issues from a car that has been sitting in a garage for 13 years.

03/72 production and what appears to be numbers matching, the engine is a 911/51 and is about 900 units over the chassis serial number.

Color code 936-9-3, Silver Metallic (with a red respray), six Fuchs, stock original black interior showing 67k+ miles. A glass whale tale and the original steel deck lid.

It will go into storage until we have the time to restore it.

Thanks again for everyone's input!!

Glenn

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Where did you find the basement find? Not perhaps in Georgia? My dads neighbor has an 911E in the basement.

Not in Georgia...but within 230 miles of my home base...