Re: ?'s about possible
 

I've been through quite a few model changes in Oshawa over the years. When you have a whole new body style change, they build pilot jobs without VIN tags. Until the bodyshop tooling is tuned in the fits are not nearly good enough to sell to the public. Some of these vehicles spend a few years around the plant as yard trucks etc before being scrapped or given to schools.
On the other hand, a new engine is a straight bolt in and the very first one built could be shipped for public consumption. No doubt quite a few were built for durability testing, road tests and big bosses within the organization with the right pull. Just a little more insight into how things worked back then.