Interesting date on the Trim Tag

[bertfam]

Okay guys, I realize it's not Camaro related, but I figured the CRG might be interested in this anyway...

I just purchased a 69 Corvair Monza Convertible (1 of only 521 manufactured) and the trim tag has me stumped! Note the "12AD" assembly date!! Okay, so what gives???

Any ideas?

Ed

[JohnZ]

Ed - Can't explain the date code, but as a matter of interest, we built all the '69 Corvairs off the main line, in a Pilot Area in the back corner of the plant, by hand. When the volume dropped below 5 per hour in late '68 (thanks to our buddy, Ralph Nader), we knew the car was dying, and moved the Chevrolet final assembly operations off-line at three per hour until the car was finally cancelled.

[bertfam]

John,

Yes, I read that on the 1969 CORVAIR GROUP page. Interesting reading...

One of the guys on the CORVAIR CENTER web site said there may have been a problem with the body initially (that "A" week), and sent back for some reason, then released again during the 4th ("D") week. That doesn't sound plausable because if that were true, they would have had to remove the tag to stamp the "D". I'm assuming they never did this and it's just a fluke. We've seen lots of mistakes over the years on trim tags, my 68 Camaro included. I'll just chalk it up to that.

Ed

[bertfam]

Well guys, I was directed to Mark Ellis of the 1969 CORVAIR GROUP and he stated that basically, the "D" is an indicator of the Interior Paint Color. On the Trim Tag (I'll use mine as an example), you have an Exterior Color Code ("53" Glacier Blue), an Exterior Soft Top Color ("A" White), an Interior Fabric Type and Color ("704" Metallic Dark Blue Coated Fabric) and the Interior Paint Code ("D" Blue). This told the Fisher Body workers what color to paint not only the outside of the car, but the inside. So mystery solved, my car was assembled the 1st week of December, 1968.

After Mark and I talked, I found another site called CORVAIRKID that shows this exact information for the 66 model year!

Ed

[JohnZ]

I started my GM career at Willow Run in 1964 as a Production Foreman, when we were building the Corvair and Chevy II together on the same line (50-50 mix) at 65 per hour; left in 1966 for the Chevrolet Pilot Line in Flint.