Help me decode my 1978 Fleetwood body tag ...

[Antoni L Deighton]

What can you tell me about my 1978 Fleetwood Brougham?

I've attached a photo of the cowl tag. As far as I can tell, the car is Arizona Beige, with a special order Autumn Haze Firemist padded roof, and light beige interior.

I'm curious about the equipment and options, especially:

10D   AV7   V    SFN   9
CBL   D   G

The headliner is falling down, and I'd like to order new fabric from SMS. Is there anything above that would help me locate and order the correct material?

Thanks,

Antoni Deighton

[jagbuxx #12944]

Antoni, none of those codes will assist with headliner color. 10D is build date of 4th week of October, AV7 is front seat assembly style And the balance roughly correspond to fitted options.

[D.Smith]

No "Special Order" indicators on that tag.

When a person walks into a dealership,  looks at color charts and orders a car from the offered colors, that is not a special order.   That is a sold car, or retail order.

A "special order" means a customer is willing to pay a premium for some deviation from what is listed available that year. 

All color tops that year offered to match or compliment exterior paint colors were available as a regular production option. 

Doesn't matter if a top color or interior color isn't a complimenting match to the body color.   If the colors selected are offered that year, it isn't a "Special order".   Unusual perhaps, but still all regular production colors.

Ordered cars are just sold cars.  Not special orders.  People think just because they sat and picked out colors and options that makes a car a special order.   Nope. It's just an order. 

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Interior code is 612 - Antique Beige Leather which means the headliner would also be Antique Beige/Beige.

May have to cut out a section and use as a sample such as SMS Upholstery requests but they are very slow. A local upholstery shop may have something reasonably close as beige is a common color. I would explore that option first.

[Antoni L Deighton]

D. Smith - Thank you for clarifying the Special Order / Regular Production Options. I didn't know that, but it makes sense. When I was ordering replacement vinyl from SMS for the top, SMS tried to tell me that the color I wanted was incorrect for the car, so I knew it wasn't a standard combination. (I've also had people tell me the car has been repainted, because they've never seen Arizona Beige before).

jagbuxx - Thank you for explaining 10D on the tag. I couldn't figure that one out, but it makes sense: the car was first registered in November of 1977 sold via Thomas Cadillac, and taken in on lease through Newco Car Leasing in Beverly Hills, CA.

Eric, thanks for suggesting I check with an upholstery shop before pursuing SMS. I'm not in a rush, but it might be worth checking around first.