Teknical

Doing my first spring hand-wash last weekend, I noticed a ton of grease
flown up around the front passenger side wheel well. Checking, the CV boot
is cracked. I'd planned on getting a new boot and doing the job next week,
but the joint started making noise today, so i need to get a halfshaft and
replace the whole shebang.

When I called to get one, the auto parts guys wanted to know which tranny is
in the car. I can't easily go check this, as the car is right now 60 miles
away at a relative's place (I don't have room to work on cars at my home).

Is there any way I can find out which trans is in my car from the VIN or
from the year/engine type, or do I need to physically go out there and get
under the car to find out?

It's a 97 Taurus GL sedan, 3.0 Vulcan engine.