Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 06:43:51 -0500 (EST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         RGOLEN@umassd.edu
Subject:      EV "birth certificate"...

Rick Gordon mentioned seeing a paper with a VW logo and some numbers on it 
while rooting around the pedal assembly...

On the EV, if you pop off the access panel for the fuse box, to the left of 
the steering column, you will notice on the wall next to the fuse box a 
white label. This is what VW calls the "birth certificate". 

This label contains the VIN number, the options and market equipment (ie 
USA, Germany, etc...) that have been put on the car. It also contains a 
"UPC" bar code which is used by the various bar readers along the assembly 
line to track the progress of the vehicle and to make sure that the various 
bits and parts which are to be added to the van are ready and waiting 
further down the assembly line. There should also be a second bar code 
on the door frame of the passenger front door.


Interestingly enough VW thinks of its vehicles as "beings". The sticker with 
the construction info and VIN number is actually called a "birth 
certificate", and down the assembly line when the engine/drivetrain are 
mated to the body that action is called the "marriage".

Thats one of those odd tid-bits I learned when I was in Wolfsburg a couple 
of years ago......strange but true!


Ric