DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

[Ron R.]

I know the approximate date the big tank was offered to the public as option N03, but I would like to know when was the first one.

[Dick W.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

After viewing a video of pilot line assembly, looks like there was at least one of those cars built as a tanker. VIN would be under 20? Jerry Bramlett is the resident expert on the pilot line cars, as he owns/has owned several of them

[Sydney G.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

I know the approximate date the big tank was offered to the public as option N03, but I would like to know when was the first one.

Hi Ron,

The earliest non Z06 Tanker that I know of is #17,307 or mid June.
What was the approximate date option N03 was available separately in 1963?

Syd

[Ron R.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

I believe it was late December, based on Noland Adams book.

[Ron R.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

After viewing a video of pilot line assembly, looks like there was at least one of those cars built as a tanker. VIN would be under 20? Jerry Bramlett is the resident expert on the pilot line cars, as he owns/has owned several of them

Did I understand that right, did you say within the first month of production? or was that per thousand?

[Sydney G.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

I believe it was late December, based on Noland Adams book.

Forgot about that. It was discussed at length here a few times and I seem to remember that the Z06 package was unbundled around January or so.

Ron, have you found a tanker??

Syd

[Dick W.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

The car I am referencing was a pilot line car, probably under VIN #20. Quite a few of these cars were released to the public. Jerry has owned several of them.

I made a goof. You asked about non Z06. Oops! I would have to ass/u/me the pilot car was a Z-06

[Ron R.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

Forgot about that. It was discussed at length here a few times and I seem to remember that the Z06 package was unbundled around January or so.

Ron, have you found a tanker??

Syd

From all indications it appears to be, the $64,000 question is, is it original......

[Sydney G.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

From all indications it appears to be, the $64,000 question is, is it original......

That's pretty neat.
Now, looking at the '63 option list from the Corvette Black Book it lists just 63 cars ordered with the N03 option but there were 199 Z06's.

I guess there's no way of knowing how many non Z06 Tanker cars were built in 1963??

Syd

[Mike M.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

That's pretty neat.
Now, looking at the '63 option list from the Corvette Black Book it lists just 63 cars ordered with the N03 option but there were 199 Z06's.

I guess there's no way of knowing how many non Z06 Tanker cars were built in 1963??

Syd

about 75 of the ZO6's were tankers. mike

[Sydney G.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

about 75 of the ZO6's were tankers. mike

Does that mean that the 63 tanker total listed for 1963 under the N03 option were ordered and thus accounted for only after the Z06 package was unbundled around Dec. '62 ?

So the actual total of '63 tankers would be about 75 Z06's plus an unknown number of non Z06 tanker cars.

Syd

[Michael H.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

A letter was sent to dealers announcing the availability of the N03 36.5 gal fuel tank as a separate option. The letter is dated late December 1962. I'll see if I can dig it out and scan/post it.

I would guess that at least a month or two passed before any N03 cars rolled out the door at St Louis. Possibly longer.

The #17,307 car is an A/C car with N03, one of two such cars known to exist.

[Ron R.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

I would love to see a copy of that letter. As I've stated before, my car is a very early November car.

[Joe R.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

A letter was sent to dealers announcing the availability of the N03 36.5 gal fuel tank as a separate option. The letter is dated late December 1962. I'll see if I can dig it out and scan/post it.

I would guess that at least a month or two passed before any N03 cars rolled out the door at St Louis. Possibly longer.

The #17,307 car is an A/C car with N03, one of two such cars known to exist.

Michael,

Was that the Sebring Car from Alabama??? Via Arkansas, Virginia, Illinois?

JR

[Duke W.]

Re: DOCUMENTED 1ST 63 TANKER(non Z06)

When I ordered my SWC on 2-28-63 from Alan Green Chevrolet in Seattle N-O3 was available, and I considered ordering it until I realized that it took up most of the luggage compartment.

I also wanted to order P-48, but was told that it was not released, and it would delay the order indefinitely because there was no estimated release date, so I dropped KOs off the order.

My salesman was Don Campbell who was Jerry Grant's co-driver at Sebring a couple of weeks later in Alan Green's Z-06, which was one of the original "batch" of Z-06 options built in September.

The unbundling of N-03 and P-48 from Z-06 was announced in Corvette News Vol. 6 No. 3, which probably would have arrived in customer's mail boxes in the January time frame. This issue also announced the new AM/FM radio.

The January to March time frame was also the period that both the AM Signal Seeking and AM/FM radio were concurrently available. I could have ordered the AM/FM, but ordered the AM (There wasn't much of interest to me on FM back then.) and got it.

I believe there was a period beginning in late March to April where if you ordered the AM, you got the AM/FM because the stock of the AM radios was exhausted.

The actual build date of my car from the dealer copy of the production order was March 19.

Duke