themagicisback wrote:
I just got a Luv with the vin # CLN1368230861. The title says its a 1977. From what I've read it should be a 1976. Is this true? Made in Japan. Stepside bed. Everything is pretty close to stock except the paint. 1.8L with a 4 Speed transmission and a moonroof. It even has the stock AC which is working. I'll post some pics later.
Initially I thought that what was sold to me as a 1975/Series 4 was actually a slightly-more-primitive 74/Series 3 based upon the VIN info I decoded. I proved myself wrong comparing the presence of options/configurations that differed between the two years. Lo and behold, I found a few differences that just weren't present on any LUV's in the 74/Series 3 model. Then, I decided my decoding was mistaken, but the difference turned out to be due to my [model year 75 series 4] truck having been
manufactured in October 1974.
I might be mistaken so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like this particular type of confusion is due to the 2-4 month lag between that
manufacture date and the truck series/model year itself. Like you said, manufactured in Japan, right? It takes time to ship things across the ocean, so a good many 1977/Series 6 trucks would have already been manufactured and shipped (with VIN stickers) well before the end of 1976, and would therefore show 1976 VIN dates.
TL;DR The VIN reflects manufacture date, not model year. Thus, some trucks made toward the end of one year will belong to the next years' series.