Geekification of car names/ID?

[Joe Yakubik <75363.2524@compuserve.com>]

I'm not sure if I'm trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist or bringing up
something that may just muddy the waters more.  This may be more of interest in
communicating between continents.  The codes for body types are in the VIN.  For
example, my US-spec '91 200 has the same body style as the older european 200's
and the 89-91 US 100's which have the same body style as the US 5000's.  All of
these are "type 44" in the VIN (digits 7&8).  However, a '91 US 100 is a
completely different car than a '91 euro 100.  The europeans changed body styles
for their '91 model year.  

This is kind of esoteric, because noone thinks of there car as a "type 44" Audi,
but it might clarify things for people trying to order euro parts, wondering
about compatibility, etc.  This would not guarantee a match, but could be used
as a tool to reduce confusion, maybe.  If someone is unsure they could ID there
car by normal number and add the body style from the VIN after.

Or in the interest of "saving bandwidth" we could further abbreviate the names a
la 5K.  My 200 could be 2C, or more accurately CC, a 100 would be simply C.  It
gets really interesting when you start adding all the other trim level codes.
If nothing else it could further complicate Steadiric's tagline, he could go
Roman instead of metric.

Joe Yakubik