Is my car a Tag Job? Barracuda Decode...
eek, your VIN plate looks correct for a 1965 Barracuda 225. If you indeed have a 903 behind a 273, that's another indication that the engine was swapped out because 903's only came behind a 6cyl. A 273 should have a 745 transmission in a 3 speed manual car. There are 4 places where you can find a car's VIN your year. The driver's side door pillar official VIN tag that you have, on a certicard under the hood mounted inside a plastic sleeve attached to the inner fender, on a broadcast (build) sheet that could be dropped or stuffed just about anywhere in the car, and on the Chrysler IBM card that they may still have on file. The shipping order number is found on the fender tag, radiator core support, rear body panel (in various places depending on model), the broadcast sheet, and the IBM card. You get enough of them together and that should satisfy your questions. On the subject of getting a car registered, so much depends on your state and how anal they are on the numbers, where they are, and how they are attached. Regular rivets on a VIN tag are a definite red flag. No rivets (like our '65 and older cars) can be a red flag too with people too young to know the truth. I've bought cars were the VIN tag was gone and they used the shipping order number off the fender tag! I've had DMV VIN verifiers reject an official tag because it didn't have enough digits to satisfy their computerized format. There again, they're used to modern cars that have a zillion digits that practically tell you the paint color. You just never know what kind of knucklehead you're going to get at the DMV, so, best to have all your ducks in a row and the knowledge of what is original and what isn't. Having and using rosette rivets isn't a crime (at least here in Ca) if they're used legitimately. Body shops remove and replace them all the time while doing repairs. On your car, if it were me, I'd remove those rivets and glue the plate on.