On the left is the door tag from our 1969 Rambler Javelin (UK model), or what's left of it after some uncaring and thoughtless person decided to sand it down along with the rest of the door prior to repainting it at some point in the past. I managed to remove two layers of paint by carefully wiping it off with thinners - the car had been white before it was resprayed the bright red which it was wearing when we got it, so it wasn't the latest sprayer's fault, it was whoever painted it white. Thank you very much... not! Anyway, I managed to reveal the embossed characters even if I can't read all the printed text which has been obliterated. The body code is R001311, indicating it was built in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Model 6979-7 indicates it's a 1969 Javelin SST. No idea what the trim code 961F means. Paint 39 was the code for Matador Red, a very dark metallic red, which we've tried to replicate with modern paint for its latest respray. The final number, E006608, is just some sort of sequential serial number the car was stamped with as it rolled off the production line.

The one on the right came from the donor car, much modified in boy racer style when we got it, but the tag indicates it was originally a 1968 AMC Javelin SST built in Milwaukee. Trim 835-E means the interior was red with vinyl bucket seats. These had disappeared somewhere along the way and we seemed to have some later AMC seats in it instead, possibly from a 1973 model, with ribbed cloth material inset in a vinyl surround. Sounds nice, but they looked odd so we're sticking with our original ones. Paint 72-A was Frost White (so the grey primer it was in when we got it wasn't the original finish?!). Another serial number completes this tag.

There are some interesting differences between the two (if you're interested in this sort of thing, which I guess you will be if you've got this far...), and I'd love to hear from anyone who has a UK model AMC car with the door tag still in readable condition, so I can find out what the rest of the missing printed wording said! Please email holly at queeg500.org.uk if you can help. Thanks.