I recently purchased my first 68. It is red with a red bucket interior. The car has no trim tag but it has a protect-o-plate that indicates in postition A1 "D" which suggests a red interior, however according to the "books" a red bucket interior was not available in 68. Now I suppose the car could have been a bench seat car but there is no indication that was ever the case. The dash and steering column appear to be unmolested, 40 year old parts. As we know the dash in particular is hard to fake since you cannot find them in the aftermarket. Additionally, according to the POP position A15 has an "R" and A16 has a "6." Of course the "R" means red but I can't find anything that suggests what the "6" means.
Could the red buckets be explained by simply being an "ordered" car?
By the way the POP and VIN confirm it is a real SS car so everything else lines up nicely.
Any thoughts woulld be helpful.
Thanks

According to this red was available:

http://www.chevelles.com/years/68/68_interior.html

Give me a minute and I'll try to find some other reference.

I see you are actually asking about buckets. Does the car have the correct inner bracket on the floor for buckets? They do reproduce the bracket so that isn't definitive proof but if they are not there it might make sense. Being an SS with a red interior the column and bezel should be black. Non SS cars had the color matched bezel and column. Sounds like the car might have had some changes done that are not original. Got any pics?

Edit: Looked around and could not find a code for a red bucket interior.

Dale has an SS pictured on www.chevellestuff.com: http://www.chevellestuff.com/1968/chevelle/interiors/795.jpg

You might contact this guy:

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/car/747836404.html see what his trim tag has for a code.

Thanks for the feedback so far. I sent a note to the fellow with the listing for the 68. There is also a similar listing on "Cars-on-line.com" for a 68 with a Red bucket interior that is posted as "rare red interior." I sent a note there as well asking for the numbers on the tag. I did check out the brackets and they do not look anything like new, but if course that could be a resutl of using 67 bucket seats if it was originally a bench seat car. However, under the car there is not sign of any new holes drilled to anchor the hump side brackets as I would suspect would be the case if the buckets had replaced a bench seat. I di dnot pull the carpert up yet to see if there is any indication that something was added. That is next on the agenda.
Again the interior trim, like around the front and rear glass, A pillars and the main dash support all well aged and not fresh if you know what I mean. I do believe the door panels and seat covers are all repo's. The hole for the shift cable into the console is very neatly done, and match's the postioning in the copy of the Assembly Manual I have, and looks like the factory would do.
Am I interpreting the POP A1 positon correctly? And what about that #6 in position A16?
Where else can I look or what else can I check?
Thanks again,

Update,
Finally got the website on POP decoding and now I see the A15/16 slots decode to red with a white vinyl top since the numbers 1 or 6 indicated the same thing. One mystery solved.

The red bucket seat vinyl interior code isn't listed in the Chevelle books, but it was definitely available. The Features and Specifications manual shows it as a convertible only color for bench seats but available on coupes and 'verts as a bucket seat color. The '68 Chevrolet Car Selector book also shows this information.

The Trim Combination Chart found in the GM parts manual lists code 795 Med. Red Imitation leather for 13637 series, but doesn't show the 796 red bucket seat, but we know it's was available. Dales's site shows a 795 bench seat in a Malibu and a 796 bucket seat in a SS.
BillL

Bill beat me to it.

and...IMO, it's not that rare. I see'm all the time. what I saw not long ago was a 68 with red Buick interior...now that's rare!

SPECTACULAR!!! Yep I found on the site just like you all said.
I love this web site!!!
Thanks everyone.

I don't recall who it was but in early 2003 a Team Chevelle member restored and sold a Matador Red '68 SS396 coupe with a red all-vinyl bench seat interior. When I look at the underhood shots I can't read the trim tag. The car was a correct L-34 with the smog pump, plus it had a Muncie 4-speed factory shifter full guages with the roller tach and dog dish caps. Anybody here remember the car or own it now?

what I saw not long ago was a 68 with red Buick interior...now that's rare!

Did you happen to get a picture of that cowl tag?

Did you happen to get a picture of that cowl tag?

no. I looked enough to see the the build date, March, and to see it had 6 digits on the trim line, 3 and 3. Don't recall what they were. I see the car once every couple years. Next time I see it I'll snap a few.