[Keith Tedford]

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.