1. The first character identifies the country of origin:
* W - West Germany
2. The second character identifies the manufacturer:
* V - Volkswagen
3. The third character identifies the type of vehicle:
* W - Passenger car
4 - 8. The fourth through eighth characters represent the body type and model:
* 1302 - Super Beetle
9. The ninth character is a check digit that helps validate the accuracy of the VIN.
10. The tenth character represents the model year:
* 3 - 1973
11. The eleventh character represents the assembly plant:
* A - Wolfsburg, Germany
* B - Hannover, Germany
* E - Emden, Germany
* F - Brussels, Belgium
* G - Sao Paulo, Brazil
* H - Uitenhage, South Africa
12 - 17. The twelfth through seventeenth characters represent the serial number of the vehicle. The serial number is unique to each vehicle and is used to identify it for registration and titling purposes.
For example, a VIN for a 1973 VW Super Beetle assembled in Wolfsburg, Germany, and with a serial number of 123456789 would look like this:
WV13023A131234567