1967–69 Camaro Cowl Tag Decoder
Type in what’s stamped on the small plate by your Camaro’s brake master cylinder and see what each line means: paint, top, interior, plant, the week the body was built, and the option codes where the tag has them. Free, no account, and nothing is saved.
Fill in as many lines as you can read. Blank is fine.
Reading the tag
Fisher Body built the Camaro’s body and stamped the tag as it started. That’s why the tag describes the body and not the drivetrain: it has the color, the trim, the body style and when the work began, and generally nothing about the engine.
1967 and 1968 tags have the build date on the top line, then the ST line (year and style) with the plant and body number, then the TR line (trim) with the paint. 1967 tags add a row of option codes underneath, in groups numbered 2 to 5. Group 1 isn’t numbered, so letters before the first digit belong to it.
1969 tags moved the date to the bottom line and labeled the fields BDY and PNT. Paint codes became numbers and top codes became letters, the reverse of 1967–68. From about the second week of December 1968, Norwood tags also carried an X-code on the bottom line.
Two plants built first-generation Camaros: Norwood, Ohio (NOR) and Van Nuys, California, which Fisher stamped as LOS until mid-December 1968 and VN after that. Tags varied a little between the plants, so if a line doesn’t look like the examples, type what you see and the decoder will tell you what it can read.
Common questions
Where is the cowl tag on a 1967–69 Camaro?
On the firewall in the engine compartment, on the driver’s side next to the brake master cylinder. It’s a small aluminum plate held on with two rivets, stamped by Fisher Body when the body was built.
Does the cowl tag tell me if my Camaro is an SS, RS or Z28?
Sometimes, never on its own. 1967 tags carry option codes that can point to an SS or Z28, but early cars weren’t always coded. 1968 tags carry no option codes at all. On 1969 Norwood cars built from about the second week of December 1968, the X-codes (X11 to X77) say whether the body was trimmed for an SS396 or Z28, and whether it had Style Trim or Rally Sport. Van Nuys cars didn’t get X-codes. Documentation such as a build sheet or invoice is what proves a car’s original package.
Is the style number on the tag the same as the VIN?
No, though it looks similar. On the tag, the third digit meant standard or custom interior in 1967 and nothing at all in 1968–69. In the VIN, the third digit means six-cylinder (3) or V8 (4). A 1969 V8 coupe has a VIN starting 12437 and a tag reading 12437, but a six-cylinder 1969 coupe has a VIN starting 12337 and the same 12437 tag.
What does the build date on the tag mean?
It’s two digits for the month and a letter A to E for the week of that month, so 09B is the second week of September. It marks when Fisher started building the body, which can be a little earlier than when the finished car left the plant.
Why does the paint field show the same code twice?
The paint field records the body color and the top color. A car with no vinyl or convertible top had the body color stamped twice, for example 51-51 on a 1969 Dusk Blue coupe. If the second code is different, it’s the top: a number in 1967–68, a letter in 1969. The one exception is the 1969 two-tone coupes, which show two color numbers.
My paint code is a dash. What does that mean?
Special-order paint. The car was painted something outside the regular Camaro list, ordered through Chevrolet’s Fleet & Special Order system, and the tag doesn’t say which color. 1967 tags used the letter O for this, and early 1968 tags used Z, before Z became British Green in January 1968.
Is my tag information saved?
No. The decoding happens in your browser. If you choose to start a page for your car, only the year, the body style and the paint name carry over. The body number never does.
Where this came from
We compiled these codes ourselves and checked them against each other. Where two independent references agree the decoder just gives the answer. Where only one published source has a code, mostly some interior trims and the 1969 X-codes, it says so, so you know to check it against your car’s paperwork. A build sheet, invoice or Protect-O-Plate is the better record whenever you have one. Have a 1968–72 Chevelle too? Decode its trim tag. Want to read the VIN plate? Use the VIN decoder.
- Camaro Research Group — VIN, cowl tag and other numbers
- Chevellestuff — 1967 Chevrolet paint codes
- Chevellestuff — 1968 Chevrolet paint codes
- Chevellestuff — 1969 Chevrolet paint codes
- Classic Industries — Camaro trim tag decoder
Garage Chronicle isn’t affiliated with General Motors. Camaro and Chevrolet are GM trademarks, used here only to describe which cars this tool reads.