Chevelle Data & ID Guide: 1964-1972

1964

Malibu SS with optional tachometer. Although the steering wheel is not correct for 1964, the clock was moved to the top of the dash when the optional tachometer was ordered.

1964 Production Numbers

These production figures are from GM production reports. They are listed by series/body style, series number, and quantity reported sold. All series numbers with an odd second digit are L6 cars; those with an even second digit are V-8 cars. Quantity sold includes exported Chevelles.

Production Numbers by Plant

The figures reported by General Motors for each month should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s not known what each plant used for a cutoff time; it could be the last car out the door on the last workday of the month or last car scheduled for the last workday of the month, or maybe something else. There are documented cases of a VIN showing up with a Fisher Body date of a different month than the VIN sequence here. There are documented Fisher Body trim tags with build dates in late August 1963, but production figures begin with September in the reports.

1964 Vehicle Identification Number

The 1964 Chevelle VIN format was unique to 1964. The VIN is a 12-character alphanumeric set. An example is 45635 K 123456. All assembly plants used the same basic format of five digits, a space, a single letter for the plant designation, another space, and a six-digit sequence number.

All 1964 production plants used the same format of five digits, a letter, followed by six more digits.

Breakdown

Assembly Plants

The two-door station wagon made its return but without the famous Nomad name and upscale trim. The two-door station wagon was available in 1964 and 1965. The two-door station wagon was only available in the Chevelle 300 series.

Decode Your VIN

Production at the Kansas City plant exceeded 100,000 units sometime in mid- to late June so the VIN sequence from that time frame to the end of production was 2nnnnn for the Kansas City plant.

GM of Canada VIN plates (or Chassis Serial Plate) differed slightly. The entire stamped VIN was a single 12-character alphanumeric code with no spaces (in contrast to their U.S. counterparts). A sample GM of Canada VIN might read 4563505001 for the same V-8 Malibu shown in the Kansas City example. There was no letter for the final assembly plant because there was only one plant.

GM of Canada also had some differences in the series and body styles available. Some series/body styles were only imported from the United States, namely the two-door station wagon and two-door sedan pickup.

The VIN plate was attached to the driver-side A-pillar approximately centered vertically on the pillar and appears to be spot welded to the A-pillar. The letters DD on all VIN plates stands for Dealer Delivery or Delivery Date, depending on whose documentation you read. The dealer selling the car could opt to stamp a date here, typically when the car was sold. Because these plates were thin and not very sturdy, dealers found their stamping often deformed the tag. As a consequence, not many dealers stamped them and those that did followed no specific procedure.

1964 Engine Codes

The Flint and Tonawanda engine plants used unique one- or two-letter engine suffix codes for Chevelles to designate the cubic-inch size and horsepower rating as well as the transmission type (manual versus automatic). This mattered primarily because a manual transmission car required a pilot bushing in the crankshaft, whereas an automatic transmission car required a flexplate.

A total of 149,506 6-cylinder engines were installed; 84,400 194-ci and 65,106 230-ci engines.

A total of 221,338 8-cylinder engines were installed; 212,993 283-ci and 8,335 327-ci engines.

The engine block had a machined pad in front of the passenger-side head where the Flint engine plant information was stamped. You find the letter F followed by a four-digit date code and, finally, the engine identification code. An example is F0508J, where F is the Flint engine assembly plant, 05 is the month of May, 08 is the 8th day of May, and J is the ID code designating a base 283-2 195-hp engine setup for a manual 3-speed transmission. The month and day are always two numbers each. Often, the letter I is used to represent the number 1.

1964 Transmissions

Several manual and one basic automatic transmissions were available in 1964 Chevelles. Besides the basic, column-shifted manual 3-speed standard on all 1964 Chevelles, a column-shifted manual 3-speed with overdrive was available behind both 6-cylinder engines as well as both 283 8-cylinder engines with the regular production option ordering (RPO) code of M10. A floor-shifted aluminum Muncie 4-speed was optional under RPO M20 and was available behind any V-8 engine. Also optional under RPO M35 was the Powerglide 2-speed automatic transmission. This was column-shifted on all but the Malibu SS series where the shifter was moved to the floor in the center console.

Chevrolet’s Accumulative Production Report indicates that sales included 5,214 M10 3-speed overdrive transmissions, 30,566 M20 manual 4-speed transmissions, and 241,412 M35 Powerglide automatic transmissions.

1964 Rear Axle Identification, Codes and Ratios

The 1964 Chevelles only came with a 10-bolt rear end and had a casting number of 3839390. The casting date of the center section is found in one of the webs of the center section and has a letter code for the month, a one- or two-digit number for the date of the month, and a one-digit year code. An example is E 20 4 for May 20, 1964.

A ratio identification code, the date, and plant of assembly should be stamped on the front passenger’s side of the axle tube. General Motors called for this stamp to be 8 to 10 inches inboard of the brake backing plate, but it can be found almost anywhere on the passenger-side front. Not a great deal of care was taken to stamp this information and often it’s not very deep resulting in being hard to find and requiring a good scraping of the road grime from this area to see it.

This stamping is in the format of a two-letter code for the ratio information and (generally) a four-digit number to indicate the month and day of assembly. This is followed by a letter indicating the assembly plant. For example, a typical 3.08:1 ratio from the Buffalo, New York, assembly plant shows something like LA 1025 B.

Rear Axle Assembly Plants

1964 Interior Trim Codes

The 1964 (and 1965) was unique in the sense that no RPO A51 bucket seat option was available. Bucket seats were part of the Malibu SS standard equipment and not available on the other two series, Chevelle 300 and Malibu. The exception, oddly enough, were three bucket seat trim codes unique to the Malibu sedan pickup series; you simply ordered the appropriate trim code with the sedan pickup code (717 for Light Fawn, 724 for Medium Aqua, or 726 for Medium Red) and you received bucket seats. Black seats were only available in bucket seats with the Malibu SS, no black bench seats. The term Imitation Leather was Chevrolet’s way of saying vinyl. True leather seating was never a Chevelle option.

Black interior was only available in the Malibu SS series in 1964. (Photo Courtesy Tory DiBlasi)

Unique to the Malibu SS was this embossed emblem in the center of the rear seatback. (Photo Courtesy Tory DiBlasi)

1964 Exterior Paint Codes

The 1964 Chevelles were available in 14 solid colors for all series and a 15th color, Goldwood Yellow, that was available only on the Malibu SS sport coupe and convertible. In addition, 11 two-tone combinations were available on any Chevelle except convertibles and sedan pickups.

Paint codes for 1964 were unique in two aspects. First, Fremont was the only 1964 assembly plant to use letters for the upper and lower body colors; all other plants used a three-digit number. Also, Fremont in 1964 was the only plant and year to list the upper body color then the lower body color. Fremont often used a third paint code letter for the wheel color (no other plant did this). It’s believed that when this third paint code appeared, a wheel color of black (Code A) meant the car came with one of the optional full wheel covers; a paint code that matched the lower body color meant the car came with standard hubcaps and no optional wheel cover was ordered.

Sometimes Fremont put a space between the upper/lower paint code and the wheel color code such as CP C and sometimes not, such as CPC. There does not seem to be a discernible pattern for this.

The 1964 did not have to deal with vinyl tops, but convertibles were given different treatments on trim tags depending on the plant.

•Atlanta: No known convertible bodies were built at this plant although the Fisher Body plant at Euclid, Ohio, is known to have supplied at least nine convertible bodies to Atlanta for final assembly. The convertible top color was noted by a dash, then the number 1 (white) or 2 ( black) for the convertible top color. For example, 774-1 on a Malibu convertible or 786-2 on a Malibu SS convertible.

•Baltimore: Did not specify the convertible top color on its trim tags.

•Fremont: It’s not known if this plant built any convertibles; no trim tags for any have shown up yet.

•Euclid: This Fisher Body plant in Ohio built certain body styles for various final assembly plants in both 1964 and 1965. As noted, Atlanta used Euclid for convertible bodies. Other plants used Euclid for two-door station wagons and sedan pickup bodies.

•Kansas City: These convertibles had their top color code added to the three-digit paint code, making a four-digit code. Examples are 9121 for a Silver Blue (912) convertible with a white (1) top. The same car with a black convertible top was coded 9122.

•Van Nuys: This plant used the same scheme as the Euclid plant did for Atlanta convertibles, a dash-1 or dash-2 after the interior trim code.

A three-digit number was used for the paint code by all plants except Fremont; Fremont used letters (in parentheses here).

1964 Exterior-Interior Color Combinations

Some interior trim colors (and their associated trim codes) were limited to specific paint colors and recommended by Chevrolet. Optionally, a buyer could override the recommended color, but the orders had to be verified by the dealer. Specific trim styles, however, were limited to certain series and could not be overridden. For example, you could not order a Malibu series interior trim in a Chevelle 300 series.

Chevelle 300 Series

Chevelle Malibu Series

Convertible Top

White standard; black or beige optional with any exterior color

Malibu SS Series

Convertible Top

White standard; black or beige optional with any exterior color.

Instrument panel, steering wheel, and carpet were red in a white interior.

1964 Regular Production Options

1964 Dealer-Installed Accessories

Many options offered as factory-installed could be (and often were) installed by dealers as an accessory item.

Is My 1964 Chevelle a Malibu SS?

Because the Malibu SS was a separate series from the Malibu in 1964 it’s very easy to determine if your Chevelle is a Malibu SS. If the second and third numbers in the VIN are 57 or 58, it’s a Malibu SS.

The 1964 Malibu SS was available in both sport coupe and convertible body styles and with an L6 or V-8 engine. The Fisher Body style numbers 5737, 5837, 5767, and 5867 and VINs beginning with 45737, 45767, 45837, and 45867 denote a Malibu SS. Although the Fisher Body plate style numbers (such as 5837) usually do not coincide with the series/model number of the VIN (such as 5837), that is not always the case.

Although the Malibu SS could be ordered in any of the available colors, Goldwood Yellow was reserved for the Malibu SS only in the sport coupe or convertible body style. (Dave Krespan Photo)

Fremont was the only 1964 U.S. plant to use an odd second digit (5) on an L6 Malibu SS trim tag. All other U.S. plants used only an even second digit. In these cases, the VIN is the real proof the car was an L6 or V-8 originally. As with all years of Super Sports, the VIN only depicts the base engine and does not indicate any optional engine. Both the L6 and V-8 versions of the Malibu SS could be ordered with any available engine.

The only external indications of the Malibu SS were the emblems on the quarter panels and the rear cove, distinctive bright trim along the upper body line extending from the front to the rear along with wheelwell moldings, and bright rocker panel trim extending behind the rear wheel opening. The Malibu SS also included bucket seats, center console (when ordered with optional Powerglide or 4-speed), and real gauges for water temperature, oil pressure, and ammeter. The tachometer (RPO U16) was still optional.

Sedan Pickup

The sedan pickup (commonly known as the El Camino) is, basically, a standard Chevelle mid-size car with a pickup body for light hauling. Somewhere along the evolutionary path, in the mind-set of many, the sedan pickup lost its identity as a Chevelle. In aftermarket parts catalogs, Chevelle car clubs, etc. you’ll see something like Chevelle and El Camino. You never see Chevelle and Station Wagon or Chevelle and convertible. The sedan pickup, or El Camino, was just one of the several body styles in the entire Chevelle lineup.

Some options could be ordered on some body styles but could not be ordered on others; for example, rear seat belts were not available on the sedan pickup but were available on a sport coupe or sedan. How may convertibles have you seen with a power rear tailgate window? How many sport coupes have you seen with a power folding top? The sedan pickup is as much a Chevelle as any of the body styles but is often relegated to red-headed step child status and that’s a shame.

1964 Malibu SS