C-1 '62 RPO Alpha Suffix Codes

[Bill O.]

Question has come up as to what the Alfa designation that follows a RPO code really means and does it's meaning differ with each option.

For exanple, is the progression from A to B on a RPO 685 4 SPD TRANSMISSION merely a production modification or is it to do with gear ratios or mated or not with some other option? Take CONVERT TOP WHITE with RPO 470E...again just a slight production change or could it mean it's matched to a SOLID WHITE car or a car with an AUX top?? POSITRACTION AXLE 675H; rear axle ratio or production change.

Any help would be appreciated, particularly if there is a chart somewhere that I missed in the archives.
Always my thanks,

Bill

[John H.]

Re: C-1 '62 RPO Alpha Suffix Codes

Bill -

I'd expect that the single alpha character suffixes used in '61-'62 were the predecessor to the 2-character ECL code Engineering Releasing System introduced in 1963. Those codes enabled the computer to generate a detailed parts list for each car, depending on what other options were on the car that affected the configuration of the coded option.

For instance, each different rear axle ratio required a different speedo driven gear, and some ratios required a different speedo drive gear on the output shaft, which called for a different part number for the transmission assembly.

The suffix didn't relate directly to the primary option part - they told the computer which option parts to add and which "base car" parts to delete as the computer built the parts list for THAT car; that computer parts list drove the procurement system for the parts.

[Bill O.]

Re: C-1 '62 RPO Alpha Suffix Codes

John -

One might conclude then that even the single digit suffixes in '61-'62 had some but limited utility in creating a partial "pick list" for each unit to be assembled. Maybe the details are lost to the ages, but I guess we have to assume that the dealerships who floor planed these car or processed customer orders knew/used RPO numbers only and "wrote-in" rear end ratios or checked a box (as an example)....that the suffixes were the purview of St. Louis/Detroit alone.

The car I bought had been ordered for a customer who failed to take delivery. The dealership had no other way to prove to me that the R/E ordered (3:70) was what Chevrolet sent them except to climb under the car an look at the differential tag. So we guess that the suffix on the window sticker for PRO 675 meant nothing to the dealerships in the field...or at least my dealer.

Thanks for shedding some light on this.

Bill

[John H.]

Re: C-1 '62 RPO Alpha Suffix Codes

So we guess that the suffix on the window sticker for PRO 675 meant nothing to the dealerships in the field...or at least my dealer.

That's correct - the suffixes only meant something to the Production Control computer that developed the Bill of Material for each car.