Chassis Number References

This is an explanation of what the chassis number of your car means. For example :

Chassis Number	S	R	H	1	2	3	4	5
Key	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

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1. The first letter denotes the body type :

S	Standard Steel Saloon
L	Long Wheelbase Saloon
C	Two Door Saloon
D	Two Door Drophead (Early Drophead cars before VIN 6646 carried a C prefix)
P	Phantom VI
J	Camargue

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2. The second letter differentiates between Rolls-Royce and Bentley :

R	Rolls-Royce
B	Bentley

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3. The third letter denotes right or left hand drive and also breaks down the American models into years :

H	Right Hand Drive (Home market)
X	Left Hand Drive (Export market)
A	North America 1972 model year
B	North America 1973 model year
C	North America 1974 model year
D	North America 1975 model year
E	North America 1976 model year
F	North America 1977 model year
G	North America 1978 model year
K	North America 1979 model year
L	North America 1980 model year

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4 - 8. The five digits represent the series number. 1001 being the first number issued. We have listed below some key model changes and the number at which they were introduced :

3000	Saginaw power steering pump fitted
4483	GM400 gearbox fitted to all cars
7404	Front height control deleted
7500	Air Conditioning fitted as standard
8742	6.75 Litre engine introduced (denoted by SYL engine number) - Single point distributor introduced
9658	Central door locking introduced
11466	Long stroke front dampers introduced
13485	Compliant front suspension introduced
14674	Camargue introduced
15950	Ventilated front brake discs introduced
18269	Flared wheel arch introduced (Saloon)
18563	Flared wheel arch introduced (Corniche)
22118	Master cylinder deleted - Opus electronic ignition introduced
30001	Silver Shadow II / T2 introduced
34573	Headlamp wash/wipe introduced
37187	Later exhaust system introduced
39628 approx	Later B Series engine introduced (SZ engine number)