[Laneco]

Mike,

VINs did not standardize at 17 digits until 1981. Any VIN prior to that will not read on the free sites (which look at standard 17 digit VINs).

For older cars you need other sources, like Porsche VIN registry, Redbook, etc., to decode a VIN. Things like CARFAX, etc., don't work at all for anything older than 1981.

angela