C4 Corvette VIN Decoder

Starting in 1981 GM added several characters to the Corvette VIN to bring the total up to 17 digits. Thankfully this new longer VIN helps standardize the decoding process and has remained mostly the same for almost 30 years now. Those extra characters also allowed GM to give more information about each car. Special options like the ZR1 are now easily verified by VIN, which can be a big help when researching Corvettes for sale. Chevrolet kept the same format for the Corvette VIN going from the C2 generation into the C3. It stayed that way for a few years before Chevrolet changed the VIN configuration around again in 1972. It was still 13 digits like in 1965-1971, but the order of characters and their meaning was switched around a bit. The basic information was still shown including year, body style and engine. There was also a third change to the C3 VIN set up in 1981 with the move to a 17 digit system that is close to today’s VIN organization.

C4 Corvette VIN Ranges (by Year)

C4 Corvette VIN Location

Drivers side top of the instrument panel for late model Corvettes or windshield post (A-pillar) for earlier models. Other locations for theft identification: Engine Block Deck, Transmission, Left Rear Inner Frame Rail, Right Forward Inner Frame Rail.