Introduction

The M-plate shows a lot of information about how the car looked like when it left the factory. It gives details on used paint, interior, optional extra's, engine, transmission and the production date.

Every T2 that left the factory in Germany had the M-plate fixed in it. In other parts of the world there were factories that assembled T2's out of CKD-kits that were shipped there from Germany (CKD = 'Completely Knocked Down'). It seems these buses never had an M-plate.

Where to find the M-plate?

1968-1976. The plate is located on the metal wall behind the drivers seat (Left Hand Drive, for Right Hand Drive it's the passenger seat).

1977-1979. The plate is fixed on the left side of the fresh air pipe under the dashboard. It is quite hard to read. It may help to put a piece of paper on the plate and then rub it with a pencil. Another usefull method is using a mirror to read the codes. A flashlight might come in handy.

'68-'69 and '70-'79 plates

The layout of the plates fixed on 1968 and 1969 models is different than the plates fixed in later models. The old plates are basically the same as those in the T1. From 1970 on the layout is different. There was also a code added to the plate which purpose is still not completely revealed.

• Since 1970 an extra code is added to the plate. So far I haven't been able to find out what it means. All I have discovered is that it always starts with a '7', in rare cases with an '8'.

• If all the M-codes fit on the third line then the second line remains empty

• Please send me the codes of your bus if you like: molenari@hotmail.com. I put them in a database to compare them and try to figure out the unknown codes. Unfortunately the number of mystery codes grows faster than the speed in which they are solved.

• Click on the group of codes you want more info about. Check out the example below.

62 116 450
123 226 508 528 697
960977	FS9 H86 008 046
13 5	7497	HO	2650 11

62116450	Together with "26" this makes the chassis number: 2662116450 . "26" stands for "Double cabin pick-up" (crewcab). The "62" indicates that this bus is from model year 1976.
FS9	M-code: ? (probably stands for a collection of codes)
H86	M-code: ? (probably stands for a collection of codes)
008	M-code: ?
046	M-code: "Side turn signals" (I don't know why the list says "Denmark", this car was made for the Netherlands)
123	M-code: "Special suppression equipment"
226	M-code: "Retaining cables for tailboard"
508	M-code: "With vent wing in double cab door and in the opposite side panel"
528	M-code: "Rear view mirror, outer, right (Convex, LHD)"
697	M-code: ?
9609	Exterrior color: Army Green
77	Interrior color (seats and door panels): Canyon Brown
13 5	Manufactured in week 13, day 5, 1976 (note that the model year starts the year before in July/August, in this case in 1975. This means that week 43 would be the 43rd week in 1975)
7497	-- I haven't got a clue --
HO	Delivered to: The Netherlands (Holland)
2650 11	Model type. "265" means Double cabin pick-up, left hand drive, passenger door right.". "11" indicates the engine type, a 1600 in this case

m-plate

where to find the mplate?

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chassis number
m-codes
paint &interior
production date
production code
destination codes
models
engine & transmission