Ah, you use a NA VIN check. My understanding is that there are five versions of VIN, three of which do not have the check digit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number#...

This is definitely an EU VIN. After 25 years, cars can be imported into the US, so there are definitely non-NA VIN cars driving around the US. And prior to 1981, it was basically a free for all. I have a car with an 8 digit VIN!