VIN decoding 1993-2002 Camaros

Given that VIN decoding isn't as easy as it used to be (the Google results for a VIN used to be a lot better), I wanted to write about the trick for visually looking at a 4th gen's VIN and knowing the two biggest questions. Did it come with a V8 or V6? And what year is the car? If you memorize these two digits, you can look at the VIN at a car show and instantly know a lot about the car. Below that, I'll get really specific... for those willing to waste an hour chasing VIN combinations.

Here's an example VIN (a fake one): 2G1FP22P6V2114204

Via my guide below, you can take one look at this VIN and know this car had a V8 and was a 1997 model year vehicle.

The 8th digit in a 4th gen Camaro's VIN is the engine code

S= 3.4L V6 (the L32 for '93-'95)

K= 3.8L V6 (the L36 for '95-'02)

P= 5.7L V8 (the LT1 for '93-'97)

G= 5.7L V8 (the LS1 for '98-'02)

The 10th digit in a 4th gen Camaro's VIN is the year code

1993 = P

1994 = R

1995 = S

1996 = T

1997 = V

1998 = W

1999 = X

2000 = Y

2001 = 1

2002 = 2

The rest of the numbers and letters are meaningful, but they are largely only interesting for trivial reasons. Some of them are always the exact same letter or number for every single 4th gen Camaro or Firebird. Here's a guide to all of the digits. **All of this information below is only specific to 1993-2002 Camaros and Firebirds.**

1st digit - Origin: Always 2 for made in Canada.

2nd digit - Origin: Always G for General Motors.

3rd digit - Origin: Always 1 for Chevrolet, 2 for Pontiac.

4th digit - Series: Always F for F-body platform.

5th digit - Series: Always P for Camaro, S for Firebird, or V for Formula or Trans Am

6th digit - Body Style: 2= Coupe and 3= Convertible. Fun trivia: there's no 3 for 1993 because there weren't any convertibles.

7th digit - Restraint: Always 2 for Manual Seat belts with Built-in Safety (2 air bags).

8th digit - Engine Code: see above for more info. Summary: S or K = V6, P or G = V8.

9th digit - Check Digit: this is a check digit for internal GM records at the manufacturing plant. I don't know what it technically means or if it is worth knowing. I included a guide below if you need to chase this # down.

10th digit - Year: see above for more info. It is encoded alphabetically (with missing letters). PRST_VWXY_12. There's no U or Z.

11th digit - Assembly Plant: Always 2 for St. Therese, Quebec.

12th through 17th digit - Sequential Production Number (for that year).

So... if you want it spelled out... you will know this about the fake VIN I provided...

2G1FP22P6V2114204

It was made in Canada by GM,specifically Chevy as part of the F-body platform. It's a Camaro coupe with manual seat belts and 2 airbags. It has a LT1 V8 engine, has a check digit of 6,and was made for the 1997 model year at St. Therese, Quebec. It was the 114,204th F-body made for that year. (Yes, the Firebirds and Camaros have sequential numbers with each other and therefore, their numbers are combined).

Common Questions

Can you tell by looking at the VIN if a 1996-1997 V6 Camaro was an RS or not? No.

Can you tell by looking at the VIN if a 2001-2002 V6 Camaro was an SLP RS or not? No.

Can you tell by looking at the VIN if a 1996-2002 V8 Camaro was an SS or not? No.

Can you tell by looking at the VIN if a 1993-2002 V8 Camaro was a B4C or not? No.

Can you tell by looking at the VIN if a 1993-2002 V8 Camaro was a 1LE or not? No.

Can you tell by looking at the VIN whether a 1993-2002 V8 Firebird was a Formula vs. Trans Am? No.

Additional VIN help if you only know a partial VIN

You can use the NHTSA check digit calculator to fill in the variable check digit (the 9th digit) based on what constants you put in. This takes some set up and you need a VIN from a Camaro the same year (with same engine and same body style--coupe or convertible) to make your researching life easier. Camaros and Firebirds shared the same production line and thus the same sequencing. For example, let's say I'm trying to identify what kind of car the car with the last 7 digits 2172462 was if I am looking for a 2002 (2 as the 10th digit).

There are 8 possibilities for 2002:

2G2FV32G_22172462 a Trans Am/Formula convertible
2G2FV22G_22172462 a Trans Am/Formula coupe
2G2FS32K_22172462 a Firebird convertible
2G2FS22K_22172462 a Firebird coupe
2G1FP32G_22172462 a Camaro Z28 convertible
2G1FP22G_22172462 a Camaro Z28 coupe
2G1FP32K_22172462 a Camaro convertible
2G1FP22K_22172462 a Camaro coupe

Just to make my life easier, when I reference this page of my site, here's all the possible combinations for 1995... the only year when 3 engines were available:

2G2FV32P_S2218791 a Trans Am/Formula convertible
2G2FV22P_S2218791 a Trans Am/Formula coupe
2G2FS32K_S2218791 a Firebird convertible with 3.8L engine
2G2FS22K_S2218791 a Firebird coupe with 3.8L engine
2G2FS32S_S2218791 a Firebird convertible with 3.4L engine
2G2FS22S_S2218791 a Firebird coupe with 3.4L engine
2G1FP32P_S2218791 a Camaro Z28 convertible
2G1FP22P_S2218791 a Camaro Z28 coupe
2G1FP32K_S2218791 a Camaro convertible with 3.8L engine
2G1FP22K_S2218791 a Camaro coupe with 3.8L engine
2G1FP32S_S2218791 a Camaro convertible with 3.4L engine
2G1FP22S_S2218791 a Camaro coupe with 3.4L engine

Eventually, with enough combinations, the NHTSA tool can help you discover the check digit.

The check digit can be 0123456789X, and that's a LOT of variations to have to manually check yourself.

How do you know if a VIN is real or not? You can check it on a site like Free-Vin-Decoder and if the RPO codes show up, you found the real car. If the RPO codes don't show up... keep trying different combinations.