Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

[Chris G.]

My friends father is an original owner of his 1965 396 Big Block car. They had a very unfortunate fire in the garage with several other classic cars present inside, and it burnt to the ground. The 65 vette is a total loss. His father claims it was one of the top five 396's GM built! He has the orignal engine, it is melted on an engine stand. Is there information out there to confirm this? The production number from the VIN and stamp pad is 15964. I do have the full VIN number and stamp pad number. Is it OK to post this kind of information here? I think he is trying to determine any added value to possibly a rare early big block car. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Jody B.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

Chris,
I own 15702 and I certainly don't know anything about "first five" and I have a lot of documentation pertaining to my car.

JB

[Dick W.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

Hmmm. I smell an insurance claim here. From an appraisers stand point, anything but the first or last would appraise the same. There would be very little, if any, premium even for those cars.

[Carl N.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

Chris,

I agree with Dick on first vs last and everthing in between.

There are at least three L78's consigned to the Mecum Kissimmee Auction in January - you may wish to followup after the auction and see what sells.

There are two or three in the December Driveline - might be if they sell and you explain to the seller why you need the "actual" selling price they might help you.

Also there are a couple running on FeeBay and TMC has some listed on Classic Auto Trader.

Would suggest you do your homework before consulting with insurance company. Be prepared for the insurance adjuster for discount the value if the car was disassembled. You may want to explore if your/his homeowers policy will cover anything - worth a try.

Always sad to see these cars burn !

Merry Christmas !!

Carl

[Wayne M.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

.....His father claims it was one of the top five 396's GM built!......

Or maybe the father meant that in his opinion the '65 396 Corvette was one of the top five that GM made with that displacement engine, sharing company with a 396 Chevelle, etc.....

[Clem Z.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

My friends father is an original owner of his 1965 396 Big Block car. They had a very unfortunate fire in the garage with several other classic cars present inside, and it burnt to the ground. The 65 vette is a total loss. His father claims it was one of the top five 396's GM built! He has the orignal engine, it is melted on an engine stand. Is there information out there to confirm this? The production number from the VIN and stamp pad is 15964. I do have the full VIN number and stamp pad number. Is it OK to post this kind of information here? I think he is trying to determine any added value to possibly a rare early big block car. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

i have the paper work for my 65 396 and the vin is 114271 and it was factory pickup on 4/16/65. i was told by the plant manager mine was the first customer ordered car built. did not mean anything to me as all i wanted was the car !!

[Chris G.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

i have the paper work for my 65 396 and the vin is 114271 and it was factory pickup on 4/16/65. i was told by the plant manager mine was the first customer ordered car built. did not mean anything to me as all i wanted was the car !!

Ok this is what I am trying to find out for this 65 396 car. If Clems is the first 65 396 vette at VIN 14271, them this one I am trying to find out for at VIN 15964 could be shortly afterwards? I am not looking to purchase this car, or don't need to get into insurance issues here. I think my fathers friend is just trying to investigate/document what early order 395 car it could be. Nothing special about the first five, he just thinks it could have been ordered that early. When he ordered it from the dealer, I am sure they had conversations about whether any other 396's were ordered yet. Clem, is there any way to document yours being number one?

[Clem Z.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

Ok this is what I am trying to find out for this 65 396 car. If Clems is the first 65 396 vette at VIN 14271, them this one I am trying to find out for at VIN 15964 could be shortly afterwards? I am not looking to purchase this car, or don't need to get into insurance issues here. I think my fathers friend is just trying to investigate/document what early order 395 car it could be. Nothing special about the first five, he just thinks it could have been ordered that early. When he ordered it from the dealer, I am sure they had conversations about whether any other 396's were ordered yet. Clem, is there any way to document yours being number one?

all i know is what i was told when i picked it up that it was the first customer ordered car to be built. they did not say it was the first 396 built and they asked me how i knew to order it when i did.

[Bill W.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

Like Dick you have two values the first & last and everything else. I have been tracking 396 vin #s for about 32 years . I did not have your friends but I do have about 76 cars with earlier vins.out of a little over 300. I would study past auctions , driveline sales & retail sales .for a value....Bill

[Wayne M.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

Generally recognized that the first "production" 396 was VIN 12864, but buyer (Cliff Gottlob) had substantial GM connections. On average, from this first car to the end of '65 model year production, Chevy says they built 2157 L78's. Therefore, 1 in every 5 Covettes from March 19th to August 2nd was a 396. So, again using averages, your VIN 15964 would have been the 620th L78 built .
But in reality, production probably ramped-up slowly, (say 1 in 10 in the first six weeks), with more big block orders skewed to the end of production (say 1 in 4), as buyers became aware of its existence and impressed by its performance.

[Carl N.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

Chris:

You State:

"I think my fathers friend is just trying to investigate/document what early order 395 car it could be. Nothing special about the first five, he just thinks it could have been ordered that early"

If you address order vs actual build date - I offer the following - my L78 has a build date of June 14 - delivery date to selling dealer July 29 and order date at dealership of March 22, 1965 - So it is very possible that your fathers car was one of the first five orders received by St. Louis - but I doubt that there is any way to document that fact unless you can document the four orders previous to his and those that followed.

As suggested in previous thread orders with "connections" (Cliff's coupe) may have been given priority over orders from dealerships which only sold a handfull of corvettes each year.

I have all the documents from the original owner who was at the dealership almost every week beginning in April pestering them about the delivery of the car. He became so frustrated waiting on the '65 that when he found out that the 1966 models would have the 427 he ordered a 427/450 in August of '65 and took delivery in late September of the '66 selling the '65 to his next door neighbor from whom I purchased the car in 1970.

Even if you could prove that this car was one of the first 5 ordered, IMO I do not feel it would add any value.

Just my 5 cents worth on order date vs build date !

Best wishes for a MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Gotta go 'bout time to see the Jets lay a beating on the Giants as the 'Boys can't win on there own!

[Wayne M.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

....If you address order vs actual build date - I offer the following - my L78 has a build date of June 14 - delivery date to selling dealer July 29 and order date at dealership of March 22, 1965 ......

Carl -- here's another L78 example, dealer ordered on the same date as yours, March 22nd. This car is the 396 tanker with the M22 that is written up in an appendix to A. Colvin's Chev-by-the-Numbers '65-69.

Ordered by son of a "huge auto and hardware chain" in Canada, at probably the largest Candian dealer of Corvettes, Gorries, in Toronto, Ontario. Note on New Car Sales Agreement "Rush -- Competition Car -- see D. Young re Direct Order"

VIN is 18966 (birthday book 2nd June). Body build date (trim tag ?) the same. Arrival date, per GM Canada microfiche 17th June. Total of 86 days.

It's speculated that GM decided to install an M22 [P0415]; original dealer and GM Canada order forms requested M20 w/3.70, but Dealer Delivery transaction shows M22; this may have delayed production somewhat.

[Edward S.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

I just sold #120098 ordered in May and delivered on June 22 - have you tried looking in the 396 registry to see what's listed? Good luck.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

I just sold #120098 ordered in May and delivered on June 22 - have you tried looking in the 396 registry to see what's listed? Good luck.

And just where would one find this L78 registry ? I'm interested .

[Ronald L.]

Re: Need info on my friends 1965 first five 396 Big Block

If I read the first line correctly, the car burned to the ground, what's the point in chasing this then - make a car from parts and install the trim tags?