Trim combo question

[Ron H.]

All tables I have read say that a rally Red 67 can only have black, red or white interior. Yet this tag shows Rally Red w/ Saddle leather ?

Anyone ever see a combination outside of the combo tables ? If not, whats the take on the trim tag ?

[Robert G.]

Re: Trim combo question

Non-standard color combinations could be ordered. I don't think the factory would build one for dealer stock, though.

[Page C.]

Re: Trim combo question

Hi Ron,
Don't know about the color combo, but the body build date of K05 and the body # A-2175 fits the pattern for a AO Smith coupe. The vin number for this trim tag should be in the low 21000 range
Page Campbell

[Ray G.]

Re: Trim combo question

All tables I have read say that a rally Red 67 can only have black, red or white interior. Yet this tag shows Rally Red w/ Saddle leather ?

Anyone ever see a combination outside of the combo tables ? If not, whats the take on the trim tag ?

Hello;
Where is this picture from ?
Ray

[Ron H.]

Re: Trim combo question

VIN is 22786

[Ray G.]

Re: Trim combo question

Hello Ron;
Do you have the NCRS publication
"Authentication Library
Volume One
GM Issued 1963-1967 Corvette Trim Tags"

Maybe it can answer your question.
Ray

[Chris E.]

Re: Trim combo question

My understanding is that red/tan was not a factory option. (according to the books you have seen) However, there were about 7 COPO cars built. I think most of them are known. (here's one => http://www.proteamcorvette.com/cars/346Y.htm)
Maybe someone on here is more knowledgeable on them than I am. I didn't remember any of them being red/tan.

If it is a car you are looking at buying, I'd have someone who knows trim tags check it out to help better understand its authenticity.

[Jack H.]

Re: Trim combo question

It's always been Chevy's policy to supply any combination of RPO colors/trim upon customer request. The recommended list for any model year is just that, 'recommended'...

I went through this with a fellow NCRS member from the UK when he wanted a 'Union Jack' color combo on a C5 for delivery in England. Everyone up/down the ladder in Europe told him the car he wanted couldn't be built (Electron blue paint, Torch red interior with a white soft top).

Fortunately, he'd been to the NCRS National Convention in Galveston that summer and met the Corvette Brand Manager. One email and 24 hours of elapsed time later and the Vauxhall dealership owner rang him up to apologize PROFUSELY, accept his downpayment, and place the order for the car.

It was NOT built on a COPO order. The only thing 'special' about the car was its trim/color combination fell outside the current recommended color list guidelines.

I've seen more than one 1971 Corvette with red paint and tan interior. That combination wasn't available in '71 but it WAS available in both '70 and '72. I don't know if these were processed back then as 'COPO' orders, but they WERE built/shipped...

[Ridge K.]

Re: Trim combo question

In 1980 I was ordering a new GM car (Buick). I just didn't quite like any of the then available paint color choices. I approached the dealer about a special order paint color.
He called an executive within GM Buick division, and within an hour got approval for a special paint color, as long as it was a paint code available within any GM line. As I remember, the upcharge was costly for the time ($700 to $800 or more). So, we're not just talking about a non-recommended color combo here, .....but a car company that wants to sell cars.

Many years later I attempted to order a 1995 Cadillac with the no longer available cloth seats (my 1993 Coupe Deville had them). The GM executves said no...

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Trim combo question

All tables I have read say that a rally Red 67 can only have black, red or white interior. Yet this tag shows Rally Red w/ Saddle leather ?

Anyone ever see a combination outside of the combo tables ? If not, whats the take on the trim tag ?

I know of 3. 1967 blue with red interior & white top. Friend ordered a 75 lime green with silver interior. I have my friends 85 that he bought new that was medium blue with silver leather interior it only takes a zone sign off.
KEN

[Terry M.]

Re: Trim combo question

I could tell you a lot of stories about non-recommended color and/or trim 1969 to 1972 Corvettes. I saw a number of them back when I was NTL and still they are coming out of barns and storage. Silver or gray with blue interior 1970 & 1971. Yellow with green interior (it is better looking than it sounds) 1970. There are more, but the mind boggles.

Ralph Spears had someone post some paperwork a few months back from his no-longer-existent 1969 that was, as I remember, yellow and saddle. Some of us had a vigorous discussion over whether his was a COPO car or not. I think it came down to the definition of “COPO car” is a lot like the definition of "numbers matching."

Then there were the black 1971 and 1972s. That will be a matter of some discussion later this year. In Canada from what I hear, but I would have to kill you if I told you the details. Stay tuned. There are a lot more details of how Chevrolet accounted for some of these cars. By 1972 there was a "Special Paint" category that shows up in the Spec Guide, but before that the accounting is harder to track.

More recently Dick Copela(SP?) has a C6 in dark blue with a red interior, and there is some "non-standard trim combination" or words to that effect available today. But try as I might I couldn't get them to make me a 2008 with a bright blue interior. I will have to do it myself -- some day.

I am not sure how any of that relates to the OP, however, except that these kinds of combinations may be more common than we think.

[William C.]

Re: Trim combo question

Back in late '73 I ordered a new Cutlass Salon, white with red interior. I didn't care for the red landau tops so I specified black. About 4 days later I got a call, direct to my desk at work, to verify if I wanted the "non Standard" color combo. I said yes, and the car was at the dealership about 7 days later (Oil embargo period) at that time anything "sold" was virtually an immediate build!

[Steven B.]

Re: Trim combo question

During and following the VN war a few guys ordered red-white-blue Corvettes. When I ordered my '77 in Aug. '76 chartreuse was still on the availability, before black was introduced. At that time I asked Bruce, the dealership owner jokingly if I could order chartreuse with a red interior. Bruce told me that I could and explained the process from his end. Simply it was selection of a nonrecommended color combination requiring a contract. I did not order chartreuse and red. There was one chartreuse built, I believe with black interior.