1975 production delay

[Barry L.]

In researching the 1975 model year, I notice that there was a 2 month production delay. The 1975 model year appears that production did not start until October of 1974. What happen to August & September.

[Michael D.]

Re: 1975 production delay

There was a strike during the summer of 1974 which disrupted the 74 production run. 75 production did not ramp up until the 74s were completed.

[Barry L.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Seem like the same situation that happen in 1969. Except the 1970 model was delayed all the way into January 1970.

[William C.]

Re: 1975 production delay

'75 could only be delayed for so long as the emissions standards changed dramatically between '74 and '75.

[Nicholas K.]

Re: 1975 production delay

'75 could only be delayed for so long as the emissions standards changed dramatically between '74 and '75.

Didn't those emissions help save it a few horses from being one of the lowest ever made for the car since the early C1s?

[William C.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Well, as I recall, '75 was the first year to use the catalytic Converter system, which met emissions regs but required the use of a steel floorpan as well as other modifications to manage the heat of the converter. The converter was described by engineers as "like putting a cork in the exhaust pipe" as far as performance was concerned. Somewhere in that timeframe they went to Advertising Net HP vs Previous Gross HP, which rendered a direct comparision of ratings nearly impossible. Suffice to say the 'early versions were likely the worst cars from a performance standpoint, with subsequent improvements from better convertors, and ultimately Computerized controls and Electronic Fuel Injection. I'm not an expert on these years, but the engineers I worked with generally considered the first catalytic converter equipped setups as real problems from a performance standpoint, most powertrain engineering focus was on meeting emissions standards and general driveability in the mid-late70's.

[Mike E.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Catalytic Converter were '75 along with HEI, I'm pretty sure steel floor pans were not until the next model year (1976). SAE NET hp came was in 1972 a 454 in 1971 was 365 HP then in 1972 was rated at 270 HP for the same engine. The mid/late 1970's were pretty dismal years for perfomance indeed. But hey...They were still a Corvette which make them special in any case.

Mike

[Terry M.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Seem like the same situation that happen in 1969. Except the 1970 model was delayed all the way into January 1970.

Barry,

I have heard that claim repeatedly, and I will make the same challenge to you that I have made to others -- If you have any documentation to support your assertion the the 1969 strike was the reason for the delay in 1970 Corvette & Camaro introduction please share it. I am still looking for that proof, and I have been doing this for more than thirty years. I would be happy if you can be the first.

[Barry L.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Hello Terry

Are you saying there was no strike in 1969? Or the '69s model was not extended tilt the end of December of '69? Not sure what you're getting at. Help me out here.

[George C.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Those workers at St Louis didn't care about emissions. LOL. They would have stayed on strike till froze over if they didn't get what they were asking for. (Issues of work assignments, seniority, workers protective clothing, and recall rights after layoffs.) I was selling Corvette back then and had alot of pissed customers waiting for their ordered Corvettes. I never thought the strike would last from June 28,1974 to September 3,1974. We paid other Chevrolet Dealers sometimes retail price to buy any remaining inventories. They treated the workers at St Louis like slaves. More, more, more. A St Louis worker was at Palmyra Motors visiting his relatives in the area and I asked him about the bad quaility of paint and fit ? "He asked me if I had a garage ?" He told me you could paint a Corvette better in my garage than at the plant.

[Paul B.]

Re: 1975 production delay

....there is also an "anomally" at the end of the '75 run too. All the manuals and books I've looked at shows '75 production ended July 31 of 1975, however I have a few "last day" '75 Corvettes in my L-82 survey that have trim tag body build dates of K07(August of '75).

[Terry M.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Hello Terry

Are you saying there was no strike in 1969? Or the '69s model was not extended tilt the end of December of '69? Not sure what you're getting at. Help me out here.

Not at all Barry. I am seizing the chance to turn up some new information. I am looking for the reason for that delay in 1970 model year introduction.

What I am saying is that in spite of all we may have read, there is no 1969 or 1970 contemporary documentation that I have ever seen that gives a reason, any reason, for the late introduction of the Corvette and Camaro for 1970. I have spent over twenty years, probably closer to thirty years, looking for any piece of paper from 1969 or 1970 that gives a reason for the delay. None of the newspapers of the time that I have seen, St Louis Post Dispatch, NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, or Wall Street Journal, or "buff" magazines, Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Car & Driver, or even Corvette News, give a reason but all announced the late introduction of the Corvette & Camaro. I have looked at 1969 and 1970 issues of all those publications, but I could have missed some publication, so I am always looking. I tried to get the Chevrolet press releases, but could only get the 1970 Corvette introduction press release, and that said nothing about the reason -- only that the new Corvette would be available mid-January 1970. Thus whenever I see someone post about that I ask for the supporting documentation. Any time a reference to that delay comes up I am looking for that information. I don't want to miss a chance to find that needle in a haystack.

When you read in any publication of the last decade or two that the reason for the late introduction of the 1970 MY was the 1969 strike, unless they have some documentation - they are only passing on what has become "common knowledge" because it has been repeated so many times by others. Historians call that "revisionist history." It is a part of human nature to believe what one hears repeated again and again. That is why we see and hear the same commercial repeated over and over again.

Just to offer some perspective there were work delays in the 1970 model year and also the 1971 model year. I haven't checked my data, but I believe both of those work stoppages were longer then the one in 1969 -- so why wasn't 1972 introduction delayed, or 1973 introduction delayed? Better yet, why wasn't 1970 full size Chevrolet production delayed, or 1970 truck introduction? I believe something else was the reason for the delay in Corvette and Camaro, but I have no supporting documentation for that idea either. The search goes on.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1975 production delay

The same is true of 1968 production. The initial Chevrolet information John Amgwert received showed 1968 production ending July 1068 with #28566. Field surveys found 1968s with trim tags M = August 1968. That is the reason the NCRS Corvette Specifications Guide shows no end of month production number for July 1968. We moved the final number to August and listed July as not available.

[Barry L.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Just a thought. Common knowledge would lead me to believe that there could have been a problem with the the body change. With the new Camaro body, could there have been a problem with body fitting? Maybe getting the body panels press and molded were a problem. With Corvette, since they were adding flares to the fenders and changing the vents on the fenders with the '70 models, could the company molding the body parts had a problem? I've read somewhere, and I will try to find it, that the strike in 1969 lasted 2 months and it had something to do the union and John Delorean, dealers were having fits because they where not getting their orders and customers were upset over the strike because they could not get the cars they ordered. That's why there was an extention of the '69 model to full fill all the orders. That the impression I got when I read the articles pertaining to the strike. Again, I may have misinterpreted the contents. In 1969 I was just a little kid and was not paying to much attention to the evening news. With the many conversation I had with Karl Ludvigsen regarding my LT1, he mention the strike and stated that '69 models were being built in December of '69. Anyway, there is nothing I can do now to change it. History is history. Terry did you get my email regarding my response?

[John H.]

Re: 1975 production delay

Just a thought. Common knowledge would lead me to believe that there could have been a problem with the the body change. With the new Camaro body, could there have been a problem with body fitting?

Barry -

I can't speak to the Corvette delay (I left St. Louis in early '68), but I CAN speak to the extended '69 model year for the Camaro, as I was personally involved with the Camaro program in 1969. The rear quarter panel draw dies for the '70 Camaro were delivered late, and the traditional Fisher Body die tryout program ran late as a result; wrinkles and splits occurred on both sides, and none of the usual Die Engineering "tricks" with the bolsters and draw beads could cure it. The quarter panel draw die punches had to be pulled and rebuilt very late in the program, which took almost four months - that's why '69 Camaro production was extended through the middle of November. You wouldn't believe the chaos that caused for '69 Camaro suppliers who were also suppliers of similar parts for the new '70 Camaro that utilized the same production facilities.

It was a huge black eye internally for Fisher Body Die Engineering (first time they were responsible for a Car Division missing a launch date), and the cause was never mentioned by GM; the publicity simply said that the new model would be available in January.