Is the vehicle's "build date" the day the car started down the line, went out the door or some other event during the trip down the line? Could the "built" vehicle sit for a day or two with additional parts being put on after the build date?
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Re: Definition of vehicle build date
The Shipping Data Report that you can obtain from NCRS gives the date the car was built, well maybe. The information NCRS is looking at is on Microfiche. It displays what VIN's were to be built on a given day. This is as close as you can get unless you have Copy 5 of the Regular Commercial and Truck report. This document was partially typed and handwritten. Additional information was added when the car was on the assembly line shipping area/documentation station. The person at that spot looked at the car in front of him, checked the VIN then looked at the clock for the date. Then he typed the date on the document. The car was essentially finished (engine installed, etc). So if the Shipping date report says November 3rd and the car was at the documentation station at 1 minute past midnight the build date is November 4th. Very few, probably 1% or less of the Regular Commercial and Truck reports were given to the original owner and less survived till today. It is essentially the Holy Grail of birth certificates.
The Regular Commercial and Truck report accompanied the car to the dealership. The dealership either threw it away or put it in the glove box.
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Re: Definition of vehicle build date
thank you. Very interesting procedures for build dating a vehicle.Comment
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Re: Definition of vehicle build date
I had a long conversation with John Hinckley a few years back about this. My NCRS Report has a build date of 4/19. My Regular Commercial and Truck Document has 4/20 as the build date. John took me through a diagram of the St. Louis line and explained the process and why the real build date might not match the NCRS Report.
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Re: Definition of vehicle build date
Harry, thanks for the explanation, very informative.
There is something that does not jibe on my 1973. I have a trim tag with K08 which indicates June, 8 1973. In addition, my VIN sequence is 429857, with June VINs starting at 428893. With a production run of about 2800 units in June, the timing is about right. My engine stamp is V0601 CLR, which indicates June 1. All good so far.
However, the NCRS shipping report provided with the car when I bought it indicates GM production date of 6/1/1973. This does not make sense given date of trim tag and VIN sequence, as well as the engine build date, which all correlate to each other. The NCRS shipping report appears to be wrong. A mis-type or mis-read of the documents? What should I make of this?Comment
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