How Do Tell What Year Mustang You Have

[mercurycapri]

Sounds funny but I have a 1982 mustang that has a working third brake light. It has a salvage rebuilt title. There is no VIN number any where on the car. Title says 1982 but I know the third brake light didn't come on mustangs til 1986. I bought the car from a from my dad 10 years ago he doesn't know anything.

The car is painted black spray can. The car looks like it was originally medium red but the doors look like one was white the other yellow. The hood underneath is blue. Is there clues to look for to see what year this car is???

 

[mikestang63]

look for vin tags on the inner fender, on the underside of the trunk/hatch, on the sticker inside the driver door, on the radiator support. How do you expect to get the car titled with no VIN?

 

[Mustang5L5]

With no VIN on the car, you technically shouldn't be able to register or drive it. There's no proof that the title you hold belongs to the car in question. Dash VIN plates are usually only removed when a car is stolen, or a car is shadily rebuilt using a few different vehicles that may have been wrecked and totaled.

Ford put the VIN everywhere on Fox mustangs. All the fenders and doors and such should have a sticker. These can be removed however. From the sounds of things, the car was cobbled together from a few cars, so even if you find a VIN on the fender, there's no way to prove it was the original fender, especially since it seems the car has been repainted and has parts from other Mustangs.

Hope you don't get pulled over because if a cop ever does check the dash area for that VIN and sees it missing, he may impound the car due to suspicion of being stolen. Missing the dash VIN plate screams stolen car. It would be impounded and gone through to look for other hidden VIN numbers and if found stolen, returned to the owner...with all your mods still intact.


Other than the VIN, there might be small clues that can be used to identify the year. Wiring harnesses and plugs and other bits and pieces changed over the years. The car might be assembled, but someone with some experience might be able to pick the little details apart and better narrow down an age.