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1

Originality / Astro Ventilation Window Markings

« on: September 02, 2013, 03:28:25 AM »

All of the research I've come across  indicates that the Astro Ventilation markings on the  passenger and drivers side windows was discontinued part way through 1968. However, I recently looked at a 69 RS SS Convertible I'm considering buying that has the "Astro Ventilation" markings on the driver and passenger side windows. The car has 86000 original miles on it and has been parked by the current owner since 1983. She bought the car in 1972.  I grew up in the same town and remember the car well.  Everything about the car appears to be completely original and I have no doubt the current owner is telling me the truth when she says she has never had the windows replaced which might have explained why "Astro Ventilation" appears on the windows. The car, built in September of 1968 was sold through a dealer in Canada. Any help in figuring out this mystery would be appreciated. Even the codes don't make sense to me.  It's possible, the original owner might have had the windows replaced for some reason but that seems unlikely. The original owner bought the car new in the same town where the current owner lives. It's a smalll town and no one I've spoken to remembers anything ever happening to that car before the current owner bought it. If anyone could help with these codes I'd certainly appreciate it. The drivers side window is a Soft-Ray Solid Tempered Window with:  AS 2 ,  UX  and M55 stamped on it. The passenger side is also a Soft-Ray with AS 2, NX and M74 stamped on it. Any assistance in figuring out this mystery would be greatly appreciated. I have photos of the windows if that would help.

2

General Discussion / Floor shifter versus column shifter

« on: February 04, 2010, 01:24:42 PM »

Good day all, first off; I'm relatively new to this forum and I want to start out by saying how great it is. It's a fantastic site for a guy like me who's in the market for his dream car (69) and needs to learn all he can. I owned a 69 SS BB in my younger days and when I sold it I swore that one day I'd own another. That was 30 years ago and now that I think I'm getting close to making it happen, I'm doing all I can tore-educating myself. Of all the sites I've stumbled upon or from all the books I've been reading, this site is by far the best place to learn. It was a lot simpler back then. I think the only question I had then  was: "Does it go fast?". Today however, the market is crazy. It's getting extremely difficult to tell what's real and what's not, let alone what should be real.

 Anyway, I'm looking at a 69 SS 396-325hp. I'm assuming column shifters were relatively rare on these cars. If so, does anyone think that a column shift adds anything to the value of the car? I'm being told it does (by the seller of course) but I'm not so sure it does. It may be rare, but I can't see it adding anything to the value? In my mind, there's a reason it's rare, no one wanted it and I'm not so sure I do either.

Thanks everyone.