That's correct. Sometime in July I believe they started with the "C". Mine is an 08D and it has the C. It seems like yours should have it being so late. It does look like it could have been peened over for some reason like you said. That 5 looks interesting too. I haven't seen that before.
Here's what mine looks like.

https://live.staticflickr.com/5628/3...5a3a0f33_k.jpg20150121_183238 by Dave H, on Flickr

Yes. This is what I suspected. It is what I believe to have been originally stamped with a C and then peened. Small timeframe that this happened but it jives with what data I have collected. Thank you for reporting back.




Finally had a chance to come back to this:
For the record the stamp is legit. It is to this point the latest that I have that is peened.

That is a keeper in my book, very nice Z!! My Z is from N.C also, Greensboro area. Called the N.C. DMV and talked to a gal. She went out of her way to look in thru the microfilm and put into the system for me. I sent in the $10.00 and received a bunch of title info, including the ''Statement of Origin'' with the Dealers name. You might want to give them a call at 919-715-7000. Good luck!!

Being as clean as this car is, today I decided to delve into the interior a little and see just how nice it really is. Suffice to say I was utterly impressed. Car has original front mats and what appeared to be original carpet so I pulled the seats to get a better look at everything including the seat backs and bottoms. Wow...completely rust free seats with super clean frames that look like they just went into the car last week. And the carpet is original for sure.

The inside floors are meticulous throughout the cabin, and everything is super clean from the seat back and package tray right up to the firewall pad and up under the dash. No evidence of the car ever seeing any moisture or humidity whatsoever. In fact, the floors and inner sheet metal are some of the cleanest originals I have ever seen in person. Now to deodorize things a touch and put it all back. Made for a fun afternoon where everything appears unmolested and wickedly clean in there. The X 7 is written on the rear package tray but a little hard to read with all that glue over top. Stellar car for sure.

https://i.ibb.co/7CQ0wQ6/IMG-7163.jpg
Car up on the lift where I'll go through everything this winter.

https://i.ibb.co/WHBX1jC/IMG-7166.jpg
Front original mats are in decent shape. Driver side is a little brittle.

https://i.ibb.co/Hnnh1nW/IMG-7137.jpg
Original carpets with factory cuts, jute padding and sound deaden-er.

https://i.ibb.co/pRR7YDz/IMG-7122.jpg
Original sill plates with the rivets which are in great shape.

https://i.ibb.co/m8pXfDF/IMG-7127.jpg
Floors are simply spotless in the front and rear. Found this cardboard under it.

https://i.ibb.co/GtcdpY6/IMG-7121.jpg
All original sound deaden-er and jute padding. Bolt's came out like butter too!

https://i.ibb.co/T8M443W/IMG-7133.jpg
Everything up under the dash is super clean and unmolested throughout.

More pics in the next post including the backs of the seats.

https://i.ibb.co/WD8j763/IMG-7151.jpg
Seat backs are super clean with no evidence of any critters ever.

https://i.ibb.co/7XMC0bX/IMG-7152.jpg
And check out those frames. The car could never of seen any humidity ever?

https://i.ibb.co/7J98mD8/IMG-7113.jpg
The bottoms of the buckets are absolutely impeccable. Zero rust or flashing!

https://i.ibb.co/5j3dHt8/IMG-7120.jpg
Head rests are hard to see but are dated 9 17 69 with mint cushions.

https://i.ibb.co/25vy3C7/IMG-7153.jpg
Rear package trays has the X 7 written in crayon as seen here.

https://i.ibb.co/cXyYXm1/IMG-7162.jpg
You really don't see many 50 year old cars looking this clean inside. Zero rust!

https://i.ibb.co/5MkxM1y/IMG-7156.jpg
Back wheel wells are super clean, seams are all good and it still has the shock caps.

I’m not a 69 guy, but I LOVE this car!

Here's a final picture from today's inspections. The door jamb confirming star shape door strikers for a late issue car.

https://i.ibb.co/h8xDjLD/IMG-7167.jpg

wow, really impressive Graeme.

Graeme, You are the right guy to take this car to the next level, if the 3rd owner would not have hit a deer, it would probably still have original paint.
Here is the twin to your car that was also sold at Freddy's in the early 70's, it had 30k original miles all org sheetmetal flat hood & no spoiler.

That's a great picture Jeff...

It would be cool to have that early LB flat hood / non spoiler car and put it next to this late ZL2 optioned car, just to compare with one another. I'm still going through everything and learning the differences between the early vs late cars. There are a few subtle changes in the part numbers between the two.

In going through the car, it's just so original in so many ways. The lower suspension is fantastic and so much of the car remains original to the factory build. I think it would make for an excellent survivor car if not for the one early repaint. In saying that, Tim Leiphart did an excellent job in repainting the car as I have now inspected the car from front to back and love what I see. I'll continue on cleaning and preserving the car over the winter and should have the car dialed in 100% come spring

Thanks again for such a great car Jeff. I'm really impressed with it.