paint and interior code explanation

Paint and interior codes

The paint and interior code consists of 6 numbers or letters. In most cases the code is put together like this:

PPPPUU

The 'PPPP' indicates the paint code and the 'UU' stands for the interior code. The exception to this system are the buses that have a special paint instruction ('Sonderlackierung') and were built in the model years 1968-1971. In these cases all six digits were used for the paintcode. More information on this can be found in under special paint codes.

The paint code on regular bus can be split in two parts. First the colour for the lower part of the body is printed, then the colour of the upper body part. It depends on the model year to determine where the border lies between the two colours. On 1968-1970 models it is the rain gutter, on 1971-1979 it is below the belt line, which is about 10cm below the windows.

Below are two examples of late model buses and their codes:

This bus has paint and interior code 'J6J677', meaning: color lower part: Neptune blue (J6) color upper part: Neptune blue (J6) interior: Canyon brown, leatherette upholstery (77)

This bus has paint and interior code 'G9R177', meaning: Color lower part: Senegal Red (G9) Color upper part; Pastell White (R1) interior: Canyon brown, leatherette upholstery (77)

Paint sticker and 'L-codes'

In both the list of the regular and the list of the special paint codes are codes mentioned that start with an L: 'L-codes'. The L-code and the name of the colour in German are printed on the paint sticker below the M-plate. The L-code is usefull if you want to order paint at a paint shop. The code printed on the M-plate is completely useless for this purpose. It was only used in VW sales brochures and booklets.

The paint sticker is fixed on the metal partition behind the driver seat (passenger seat on RHD vehicles). On 1968-1976 models this is actually right below the M-plate. See the example on the left. The sticker is made of paper which makes it voulnerable, it has often disappeared

The paint sticker shows one colour name if one colour was used for the entire body. If a roof colour was applied it would also appear on the sticker. The font used to print the colour name and the L-code varies over the years. Also the way of writing varies. Sometimes the 'L' was left away. In other cases the L-code was printed without spaces, for example: 'L 90 D' was used, but also 'L90D'.

Buses with a Sonderlackierung normally didn't have a paint sticker. If the colour used was a regular Volkswagen colour the sticker would be fixed anyway, Westfalia buses are an example of this. Only in model year 1978 and 1979 buses with a Sonderlackierung got paint stickers as well listing both the colour name and the L-code.

The picture on the left shows the position of the M-plate and the sticker in a 1976 bus. The plate reads "E1E1" (color lower and upper part is "Bright Orange"). The sticker says "leuchtorange L 20 B". This is the German name for the colour. "L 20 B" is the colour code.