Rare 69?
 

check it out, Pilot? Said the car was in Lakeland Florida for quite a while..Ill post trim tag when he gets it to me...

http://www.cars-on-line.com/21675.html

Re: Rare 69?
 

I think the SN is a little high for a pilot car.I would like to see a pic of the cowl tag XXXX BDY?.

Re: Rare 69?
 

Me too, he is emailing it, ill post when I get it

Re: Rare 69?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think the SN is a little high for a pilot car.I would like to see a pic of the cowl tag XXXX BDY?. [/quote

Agreed,my 69Z is a 10C LOS 505XXX so that would be around an early Dec 68 build..I think they replaced LOS for VN on the trim tag later that month?

Re: Rare 69?
 

if this car was from lakeland i may know this car a fella named reed durden owned it for years,he was a 67-69 camaro wheeler-dealer in the 80's he bought the car off of a used car lot in the 70s, and when i looked at it it had a 427 in it, he told me he thought it had been special-ordered for an executive, reed would run ads in the local auto-trader weekly in the 80s and found many rare cars 68&69 z28s,396rs-ss cars,he bought and sold camaros for years. years later i talked to eon johnson a camaro restorer and he said he knew the car and it was an original 396 car not a 427 car. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Rare 69?
 

Then my car must be a pilot car also, yeah right. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...thumbsdown.gif
My car was built about 300 cars before. It is an 11B built car and so is this convertible. VN did not show up on the cowl tag until 12C. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/scholar.gif

Re: Rare 69?
 

i am not saying it is a pilot car, but i thought it was very interesting that it had the xs on the cowl-tag, also i remember that the car was loaded with options.

Re: Rare 69?
 

The pencil rubbing of that tag is in Hoopers Camaro book on page 397.

Re: Rare 69?
 

Sounds also likethat 69Z listed a while back that had ZZ stamped into the cowl tag....remember it was stamped from the back side....i believe its still a mystery of why??

Re: Rare 69?
 

Here are the Tag Pics, There is no build date?
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/153...reConvert2.jpg

Re: Rare 69?
 

Here is a blowup--
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/153...eConvert2a.jpg

Re: Rare 69?
 

A Little Bigger..
https://www.yenko.net/attachments/153028-Rareconver6.jpg

Re: Rare 69?
 

What is a "pilot" car. When we did model changes, there would be the first few off the line with no VIN. These were pre-production models built to fine tune the tooling in the bodyshop and address other assembly problems. The doors, fenders etc. wouldn't fit very well as did other panels. When everything was acceptable, then they would build cars for sale with VINs. Some of these pre-production vehicles would be used for a year or two around the plant for yard cars then scrapped. I understand that some went to high schools and colleges for the tech classes to use. It's always possible that some of these eventually found their way onto the street through back door means. I don't think that pre-production and pilot are necessarily one and the same. The first LS6 Chevelles may have been called pilot models and would probably have been built quite a while before actual LS6 production began. A few get run down the line to pick out any unforseen production problems. These problems would be corrected so that the line runs smoothly once actual production begins. This is still done today and is especially important when doing rolling model changes. Pilots, without all the obvious pre-production problems, would be saleable vehicles.

Re: Rare 69?
 

maybe this was an early car that was assigned a vin later??? maybe the owner should start checking the date codes on the car?? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/hmmm.gif

Re: Rare 69?
 

Look at the dents in the firewall around and behind the tag. Could the original tag have been on the car and survived without a mark on it? Maybe this one is a replacement tag installed on the line so the body shop would know what color to paint it? (not my idea originally but sounds plausible)

Pilot cars are not typically big block SS convertibles and not assigned VINs 4 months after they were built. The 508799 VIN is a Mid November of 68 built car.

Re: Rare 69?
 

Could it have been the 1st 69 big block convertible? this one is pretty odd.. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/hmmm.gif

Re: Rare 69?
 

Keith,agreed.Pre production models are just that.I have a backround in sports car racing at the pro level,and that gets me work with manufacturers doing R&D on a dynamic level with new product models.Some of the contract work has been with GM(Mesa facility) and I can tell you the "mule" or "betas"as the engineers refer to them are indeed"pre production"and are not intended for sale,as they are not fully DOT approved yet.Pilot cars in my experience are the first production run type vehicles intened for dealer networks.While some are monitored for evaluation in urban enviroments,others are designated for racing applications,usually in showroom stock type endurance events.This falls under"race on sunday,sell on monday" marketing,very valuable for accelerating fatigue on parts in a somewhat controlled situation.These particular vin#'ed "house"cars are also crushed as they would never be released to the public for saftey reasons

Re: Rare 69?
 

i agree on the cars not being released to the public, my father worked @ a structural steel fab business that also ran a scrap yard. mitsubishi would bring in pilot cars witha crew of federal agents to ensure no part was useable. but who knows in '68-'69.
i work for GM and the "plant vehicle" cars are s-10's and now colorados some being pilot vehicles with manufacturer tags in plac of the vin, some of them turned out pretty odd. new vehicles with mismatching interiors, different mirrors all kinds of things. they are mainly used to run between main plant and shipping center. wish i could get pics but of course no cameras allowed in plant.

Re: Rare 69?
 

Here is a copy of the email sent by Glenn:
Sam
The car is a SS396 325HP with factory air, deluxe interior, PS,PDB P-top factory tack dash with gas gauge in the middle. The car originally came with the SS lover hood but was changed out some years ago.
Thanks, Glenn

Re: Rare 69?
 

At the Bj auction they had a bunch of pilot cars that were sold with the knowledge that they are "not" street legal and cannot be registered. So why would you buy one?

Re: Rare 69?
 

Good dust collectors? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif