1967 Production Date

[Neal K.]

According to the NCRS Shipping Data Report which I received a few months ago the official production date for my car with a VIN ending in 179 is September 6,1966.
Today I began working on the restoration of the interior of the car and removed the original door panels. On the inside card board the date of Sept 6, 1966 was stamped on both left and right panels.
Is this possible that the production date and the date stamped on the back of the door panels is the same? Didn't seem possible to me. I have owned the car for 42 years and know the panels to be original.
Any insight is welcomed.
Neal

[Robert G.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

What is the date on the trim tag, and is it an AO Smith body?

[Neal K.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

The body production date is August 18 1966.
Body S0081
Not AO Smith
Thanks for your interest.
Neal

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

The body production date is August 18 1966.
Body S0081
Not AO Smith
Thanks for your interest.
Neal

Hi Neal,

It's always interesting to learn about the earliest model year cars. Your shipping data report conflicts slightly with the approximate dates in the Corvette Birthday book, which shows production began on September 1st and shows VIN #00201 as completed on Friday September 2nd. Monday the 5th was off for Labor Day, and according to the estimates in the Birthday book, VIN #00301 was to have been completed on Tuesday September 6th. Your car seems to prove that 1967 production must have begun on Friday September 2nd instead of the 1st.

The door panels on my car are dated August 22, 1966 (LH) and September 14, 1966 (RH). The shipping data report shows the car was built January 11, 1967, and the Trim Tag shows the same date (F11).

[Larry M.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

The body production date is August 18 1966.
Body S0081
Not AO Smith
Thanks for your interest.
Neal

I have never seen a 1967 model with a body build date that early. Very early cars that I have seen have body build dates of around August 28-29.

It could be that your car's complete build was held up due to the lack of a specific color interior or door panel......and as soon as the panel(s) arrived at St Louis, the car assembly was re-scheduled and completed. Sort of like "just in time" inventory control. Nothing else makes sense.

DISCLAIMER: I am assuming that the interior color of your car matches the TRIM PLATE interior color code, and that a Chevrolet dealer or first owner did not change the interior trim color to satisify a personal choice after the car was built and delivered.

Larry

[Neal K.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Scott,
Interestingly enough, I had been told for many years, by those who had access to the Corvette Birthday book, that the production date for my car was Sept 2nd 1966.It was not until I received the NCRS Shipping Data Report that I was informed of the September 6 1966 production date.
It just doesn't seem possible that the door panels and the production date would be the same. I think the door panel date definitely confirm that the Sept 2nd production date was highly unlikely and the Sept 6 date curious. I supposeone an explanation could be that something happened after the car was assigned a VIN number(like final inspection/quality control rejected something) which resulted in a delay due to a last minute replacement of parts.
Thanks for your input.
Neal

[Neal K.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Larry,
I purchased the car in 1969 and was the 3rd owner. I can't say what the first owner or dealer may have done but according to the second owner, who I have known for 45 years, he didn't do anything to the car while he had it. The trim plate codes match the interior color. The color is saddle
Thanks for your input.
Neal

[John H.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

I'd suspect a date-stamping error on the door trim panels; they were just about the last parts installed on the car just before it was shipped (after roll-test, water test, mechanical repair, and paint repair), but it's highly unlikely that they were produced at the supplier in Ohio and installed the same day in St. Louis.

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Today I began working on the restoration of the interior of the car and removed the original door panels. On the inside card board the date of Sept 6, 1966 was stamped on both left and right panels.

Are either of your door panels double date-stamped? My RH door panel is date-stamped twice, in two different date formats. If yours were double stamped and both are the same date, that would seem to lessen the possibility of an incorrect date-stamp. Do you have pictures of the date stamps on each of your panels that you could post?

In the pictures below of my RH door panel, one date is stamped "SEP 14 '66" (circled in red on the second picture). Just below and to the left, upside down, it is stamped "MB SEP 14 1966" (circled in blue on the 2nd picture).

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Scott,
Interestingly enough, I had been told for many years, by those who had access to the Corvette Birthday book, that the production date for my car was Sept 2nd 1966. It was not until I received the NCRS Shipping Data Report that I was informed of the September 6 1966 production date.

I don't doubt the Shipping Data Report, I was just figuring that car #00179 must have been built the second day of production, since the Birthday book shows 100 completed cars on day 1 production. If they built 179+ the first day, then the Birthday book would be pretty far off the mark.

Your Shipping Data Report says #00179 was built Tuesday September 6th. Car #00179 would have been built on day 2 of production. If September 6th was the second day of production, then the first day of production (units 00001 - 00100) must necessarily have been Friday September 2nd, the most recent previous work day.

However, the estimate or approximation in the Birthday book shows Thursday September 1st as Day One production (100 units), that is the discrepancy.

Much easier to explain with a visual reference.

[Page C.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Scott,
The brithday book was just the best guess at the time it was made. They assumed that since a total of 2110 cars were produced at the end of September that meant that roughy 100 to 102 cars per day based on the work days available. That might not have been the case at all. They could have started with maybe 40 cars the first day and 75 the next day. That would change the day to day production firgures shown in the birthday book.
Now thanks to the NCRS efforts, we have accurate data to work from. Over time we will be able to plot more accurately the day to day production.
Regards
Page Campbell

[Neal K.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Scott,
The door panels only have one date stamp which is Sep 6 1966. The script is much like that in the lower left of your 2nd photo in your post.
If I can figure out how to post a picture I will do it.
Is it possible since Monday was Labor Day that production shut down early on Friday?
Do you know what the source of information is for the Shipping Data Report? Why wouldn't that date match the date in the Birthday book?
While I agree with John that it is illogical that the door panels were produced on the same date as the production date of the car as determined from the VIN, could it be that the car was finished except for the interior which arrived and was installed a day or two later. I am concluding that it is going to be impossible for me to get to the bottom of some of the incongruities with the car.
Neal

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Scott,
The brithday book was just the best guess at the time it was made. They assumed that since a total of 2110 cars were produced at the end of September that meant that roughy 100 to 102 cars per day based on the work days available. That might not have been the case at all. They could have started with maybe 40 cars the first day and 75 the next day. That would change the day to day production firgures shown in the birthday book.
Now thanks to the NCRS efforts, we have accurate data to work from. Over time we will be able to plot more accurately the day to day production.
Regards
Page Campbell

Hi Page,

Thank you for the explanation. I understand the original 'best guess' nature of the birthday book, and the average daily production figures based on monthly totals. Being the 6th edition, I was under the impression that it had been revised with additional data with each succeeding edition, such that it should be reasonably close at this point. It was right on the money (January 11th) for my car's production date, which reinforced that impression. I realize now that was a fluke, and I was mistaken

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

Scott,
The door panels only have one date stamp which is Sep 6 1966. The script is much like that in the lower left of your 2nd photo in your post.
If I can figure out how to post a picture I will do it.

From a post of mine the other day: "There are a couple ways to attach pictures. If you want to upload them to the forum so they appear as thumbnails (the way mine did above) this is the process.

1. On the screen where you normally type in your posts, scroll down below the "Submit Reply" button until you see the "Manage Attachments" button. Click on the "Manage Attachments".

2. To upload a picture file from your computer, click "Browse" in the "Manage Attachments" pop-up box, then search through your files until you find the picture you want to upload.

3. Double-click on the picture you want, which should automatically insert the File Path in the correct space of the "Manage Attachments" pop-up box.

4. Click "Upload", and wait about 30 seconds or longer, depending on the speed of your Internet connection, until the pop-up box shows that the picture file has been accepted.

I think that's it. If you click "Preview Post", you should be able to see whether your picture loaded properly."

Is it possible since Monday was Labor Day that production shut down early on Friday?

I don't know, but I would guess that General Motors did not shut down early the weekend before a holiday, or any other time.

Do you know what the source of information is for the Shipping Data Report? Why wouldn't that date match the date in the Birthday book?

It is my understanding that official GM documents are supposed to be the source of information in the Shipping Data Reports, but I have not found much information available on specifics. It is my current understanding that the "Birthday Book" used official GM monthly production data, but that the daily production figures were simply the monthly total divided by the number of work days in the month.

[Larry M.]

Re: 1967 Production Date

It is my current understanding that the "Birthday Book" used official GM monthly production data, but that the daily production figures were simply the monthly total divided by the number of work days in the month.

The Birthday Book was an early APPROXIMATION for Corvette production. It will get you close, but it is not always correct or absolute.

Larry