Run The Numbers

By Joe Whitaker

For years, we folks in the classic Chevy hobby have found ourselves envious of, and yes, even jealous of the guys who collect Fords. What's that I say you ask? Jealous of that four-letter word? Well, yes, and here is the main reason why. Ford Motor Company was rather good at keeping production records so Ford owners can go on-line and for just a few bucks submit their cowl tag, option and VIN information and verify that their car indeed was delivered from the factory with the engine option, colors and body and power options that their car is currently equipped with. Even more importantly, they can verify a "match" between the body number on the cowl tag and the vehicle VIN. Prospective buyers of classic Fords and Mustangs very often request this info and verification from a seller before purchasing a particular car so they don't buy a bogus "counterfeit" car. The interest in this type of verification and research goes out the window when we are talking about a custom car as most builders/buyers/sellers of modified and customs are not too concerned about changes from original.
It seems that Ford was particularly well organized internally and saw a real value in maintaining these records. Accurate records have been kept since 1946 through present day.
We GM guys are not nearly so fortunate. With the clear separation (some would even say rift) between Fisher Body Division and the various Chevrolet, Olds, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac assembly divisions, the lines for good record keeping became very blurry indeed. Fisher Body was not at all interested in sharing information with Chevrolet and the other "assemblers". The many people I have gotten to know over the years at both GM and Chevrolet assured me that no such production records remain for the classic years 1955- 1972. When Fisher Body and GM became one in the late 1970's, excellent records were kept and information on GM vehicles manufactured since then is readily available. Any records that may have existed for the years that interest you and I were always said to either never exist or were destroyed when GM downsized and destroyed old plants and facilities. Many folks have asked me over the years if I knew if any such records existed, but my answer has always been "no" based upon what GM tells me.
In 2003, when we first started to consider hosting a 1955 50th Anniversary Celebration in Detroit, I learned of and visited the GM Heritage Center in Warren, MI. I was surprised to learn that spotty records including proving ground material, styling studio photos, internal memos between top GM executives and some production information was indeed stored at the Heritage Center. I got to know several people at the Heritage Center including Bob Stillmann, Records Upkeep Manager for the Heritage. Bob indicated that I was welcome to visit and review the rather large volume of material any time I wished. Unfortunately, I was not able to take him up on his offer until early January of 2008. I spent a full week reviewing only Chevrolet and Fisher Body records. It was fun at first, but then looking through piles of mostly boring old photos (many were of GM executive birthday parties, overseas trips, etc.) and typed and hand-written memos, charts, graphs and other dusty nonsense began to get the best of me. Very little valuable or interesting information was found. That is, until day five. On day five I stumbled across a special area dedicated completely to the personal files of both Ed Cole and Harlow Curtice. These two men apparently threw nothing away and insisted that huge files be kept on anything they touched right down to names of plant managers including their birthdays and employment anniversaries. Both men also insisted that detailed production records be maintained as well. You cannot imagine the amount of space (nothing is on microfilm or computer) these records take up. After organizing and searching all day on day six, with Bobs help, I found the “mother load!” Exact production records beginning on September 14, 1954 up until August 6th, 1972 were found and put into order. These records list each and every Chevrolet car and truck produced by VIN number, engine option, exterior paint color, interior trim number as well as FPO's and RPO's like power steering, power brakes, AC, etc. GM allowed us to photocopy all of these documents (over 7500 pages) and we are now in the process of scanning them all into a massive Excel spreadsheet. This information will be especially valuable to owners of the performance cars as this will allow them to verify that their car or the car they are thinking of purchasing was indeed a “real” 2x4, fuel injected, tri-power, etc. when new. Unfortunately for those who have assembled or purchased "bogus" cars, the value and marketability of these vehicles may drop dramatically. However, the value of the "real" cars will certainly increase tenfold. Other vehicles that were painted green or tan when new, but changed to a more desirable red or black, will also decline in value, but not nearly as much as the fabricated performance cars.
After all of this information is input and sorted, we will make it available to members only on our club website. Non-members will be able to purchase a history report on their car for just $19.99 plus shipping and handling. We expect to have this information completed and available by April 1, 2009, so don't hurry and call or email us today. April 1, 2009. What is significant about the first day in April? Nothing much, other than each and every word you have read up until this last sentence is a complete and total untruth.
Gotcha! After all, it is April fools! You can relax now.