#13 is lucky if you are a Camaro Engineering Pilot

[70 copo]

Here is the document and owner history files that came with the car. This will take several hours to review.

[Verne_Frantz]

Phil,
I'm confused why you'd call this car both a Pilot AND a Prototype. Those two kinds of cars were vastly different, with a prototype having mostly hand made parts, while the pilot cars were intended to have production parts on them for test fitting and to write assembly instructions from them. To save costs, some pilot cars were first built one way, then taken apart and rebuilt with other options.
Prototypes were never assigned VINs as far as I know.

Verne

[70 copo]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Verne_Frantz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Phil,
I'm confused why you'd call this car both a Pilot AND a Prototype. Those two kinds of cars were vastly different, with a prototype having mostly hand made parts, while the pilot cars were intended to have production parts on them for test fitting and to write assembly instructions from them. To save costs, some pilot cars were first built one way, then taken apart and rebuilt with other options.
Prototypes were never assigned VINs as far as I know.

Verne </div></div>


Verne,

That's a good question so lets get to it... at the risk of splitting hairs lets see what the Merriam-Webster Dictionary says about &quot;prototype&quot;first...

Full Definition of prototype:

1. An original model on which something is patterned
2. An individual that exhibits the essential features of a later type
3. A standard or typical example
4. A first full-scale and usually functional form of a new type or design of a construction

In each of the 4 applications above the term &quot;Prototype&quot; is exactly correct when referring to the Norwood Camaro pilots.

There will always be debate on some issues and the pilot function at Norwood is no different, however when the you understand and accept the fact that in the context of assembly line element proofing, RPO time validation, and AIM finalization the pilot Program as it functioned at Norwood in the spring of 1966 was at the plant level also assembly line prototype work right down to the term &quot;Hand Made&quot; found on many of the early sheet metal parts.

There is an excellent article that appeared in MCR recently where Pilot Car Registry clarified this matter in detail.

Please have a look here: http://pilotcarregistry.com/assets/m...dition0002.jpg

[Verne_Frantz]

Phil,
I certainly don't want to start a argument but since Chevrolet used both terms, it stands to reason that they each had their own meaning (regardless of Webster) and were applied to different kinds of cars. I'll go by the information I received by someone who was there both as an engineer and manager at that time.

Verne