cruiser
Well-Known Member
Time to climb into your jammies, snuggle into your bed and curl up with tonight's component resto story. This chapter addresses an obscure part of our hobby - the key set that came with your car. If you're like me (and I know I am) you've likely had a number of cars over the years that came with a wide assortment of keys, but almost never the factory original ones. So how did the key set come when the car was new? The factory delivered new vehicles to the dealers with two sets of keys and an aluminum key code tag all fastened together with a loop of 14 gauge steel wire. Very few of the factory supplied code tags have survived as they were stamped with the phrase "RECORD NUMBER & DESTROY TAG". And that's pretty much what happened. The code could be used by a locksmith to make new keys should you lose the originals. He merely referenced the tag code in a code book (see photos) and then used a special tool to cut the new keys. Note the warning on the cover of the code book reminding the locksmith to keep the book away from the public. Presumably, this would prevent someone from making a key for your car and then stealing it. Also note the instructions in the owner's manual (shown below) to record the code then destroy the tag, which I find puzzling. Why not just keep the tag in a safe place instead? In any case, my 1974 Gold Duster came with its four original keys when I bought the car in 2019. I've always wondered about the code tag though, as I remember seeing them in my father's desk when I was growing up in the sixties. Thus began my improbable quest to find the code tag for my car. I contacted the original owner of my Duster - a wonderful guy named Ray who lives in Portland OR and kept the car until 2010. Ray was glad to search around for the tag as he tended to save a lot of original stuff from the car. I didn't really think he had much of a chance to find the tag, but I asked him to look anyhow. Ray woke up early the next morning and immediately emailed me with the amazing news that he had located the original key tag! And how do we know that this is the original? I also have the original sale paperwork for the car from December of 1973, upon which the salesman wrote "Key Tag ES0563" (see photos). The tag Ray found matched the sale paperwork, and so this was the real deal ladies and gentlemen. Ray told me that he kept the tag in a plastic bin in his desk for many years. When he remodeled his house, he put all his keys in a ceramic mug that his wife made for him years ago. He found the tag in the bottom of the mug in the dusty rear corner of a kitchen cabinet after only a few minutes of searching. Ray immediately sent the tag to me, and now my Duster has its four original keys and the original key tag with its factory supplied wire loop. The set is complete and back together for the first time since December of 1973. The four keys - two ignition and two trunk - are chrome plated brass and show a nice patina with some of the chrome worn off. The ignition keys have a small letter "B" stamped at the base of the pentastar, and the trunk keys have a small letter "Y" stamped at the bottom of the head. If anyone know what these letters mean, please comment below. So there you have it, tonight's implausible tale of the wayward tag that has come home after all these years, and I couldn't be happier. Now turn off the light and maybe your dreams will come true too. Night night!
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