1953 Operator's Manual Usage
Conventional wisdom says that GM stopped putting the pictureless 1953 Operator's Manuals in the 53 cars around car #150 or so, and started placing the orange manuals in the 53's after #150. I think that might be wrong. I suspect GM might have placed the pictureless version of the manual in all 53s.
GM placed a bag of parts and an operator's manual in the 53 cars after the body drop. Take a look at the attached pictures. The pictures show 53 #287 right before the body drop (you can see the car number on the passenger side kick-up). I've been wondering if that was really car #287. But a 53 restoration expert, Brett Henderson, confirms that he has seen an unrestored 53 with the correct number on # on the passenger side kick-up:
Look at the pic showing the work bench in the lower left hand corner. You can clearly see the bag of parts that will go into #287. And right next to the bag - a 53 pictureless Operator's Manual.
I don't know what the evidence is supporting a car #150 cutoff for the pictureless Operator's Manual. But I think this photo evidence is pretty telling that the pictureless manuals were still in use in mid-December.
Thoughts or Comments???
Russ
GM placed a bag of parts and an operator's manual in the 53 cars after the body drop. Take a look at the attached pictures. The pictures show 53 #287 right before the body drop (you can see the car number on the passenger side kick-up). I've been wondering if that was really car #287. But a 53 restoration expert, Brett Henderson, confirms that he has seen an unrestored 53 with the correct number on # on the passenger side kick-up:
Look at the pic showing the work bench in the lower left hand corner. You can clearly see the bag of parts that will go into #287. And right next to the bag - a 53 pictureless Operator's Manual.
I don't know what the evidence is supporting a car #150 cutoff for the pictureless Operator's Manual. But I think this photo evidence is pretty telling that the pictureless manuals were still in use in mid-December.
Thoughts or Comments???
Russ