1969 camaro cowl tag/vin decode

[Jbyer8]

Does this vin 124379N657438 line up with below cowl tag?

[69Z28-RS]

The VIN corresponds to 'mid June' production; the production date on the tag is 06A, so that is fine.  The Body Number is almost 100,000 higher than 'uniform' distribution, but I suspect that *might* be possible for a customer ordered/SOLD car.. as they move up in the production cycle...  Someone else might have a better idea?  I didn't notice anything that would get my attention...   Why do you suspect this tag/vin combination??

[JohnZ]

The VIN is 51,000 units after my 02D car, but the body number is 85,000 units later. 

[william]

There is no direct relationship between the two numbers. The BDY number was generated when Central Office confirmed the dealer order; the VIN was assigned when the car was in production. There were far more BDY numbers generated than cars built. The BDY numbers were reset when 1970 production technically began; the highest number I recall is about 376000. They began at 100001 so that's 276,000 confirmed orders. At that point about 170,000 Camaros had been built at Norwood, 31,500 at Van Nuys. Around 75,000 confirmed orders were cancelled. How cars were scheduled for production involved several factors, when they were ordered was probably not first among equals.

[69Z28-RS]

that's very interesting William.   I had been curious, and had asked previously (although no one responded) re the *highest* BDY NBR prior to resetting the number to 100000 on August 1, 69.  It would be interesting to hear folks chime in with their BDY NBR if they have one near to 376,000 so we might get a better idea of how high it reached.

I think I understand that BDY NBR were assigned by Chevrolet, without respect to production plants, so that the BDY NBR were sequential on assignment, and were then assigned to the production plant thru whatever criteria they used?  If that is true, then the total production from both plants at the end of July was actually (169,119 - Norwood, and 31,163 - VN/LOS), so the total production prior to resetting the BDY NBR was the sum of those two counts (200,282 total cars produced (versus the 276,xxx BDY NBR assigned) during the *normal* model year (thru July 31, 1969).  The BDY NBR was *reset* for Norwood production on August 1, 1969... so I have a question:

Question:   What happened to the *orders* corresponding to those additional 76,000 or so Bodies assigned?   Only 42,803 additional cars were built during the extended production at Norwood..  Were the BDY NBRs modified on August 1 for the remaining cars to be built?   I'm assuming that very few, if any, customer orders for '69's were accepted after that point, so were those remaining *orders* internally generated numbers to maintain the parts pipeline given the apparently known issues with the upcoming '70 production??   Maybe JohnZ has some memory or information about what happened at that time?

[x77-69z28]

I believe all June Norwood cars were dated 06A.

[william]

Question:   What happened to the *orders* corresponding to those additional 76,000 or so Bodies assigned?   Only 42,803 additional cars were built during the extended production at Norwood..   Were the BDY NBRs modified on August 1 for the remaining cars to be built?   I'm assuming that very few, if any, customer orders for '69's were accepted after that point, so were those remaining *orders* internally generated numbers to maintain the parts pipeline given the apparently known issues with the upcoming '70 production??   Maybe JohnZ has some memory or information about what happened at that time?

They weren't built. John DeLorean wrote a book about GM in the '70s and had a lot to say about Chevy when he took over as GM Feb 1969. Dealers typically ordered far more hot-sellers than the plants could build. Chevy stopped taking Z/28 orders for a time in November '68. About that time they just cancelled thousands of Camaro orders. No idea what went into the decision process but large volume dealers had a lot of clout. He also stated that many dealer orders had errors and some may have been cancelled for that reason.

Chevy re-set the BDY numbers to 100001 when '70 production started. I'm sure the normal customer/stock/fleet order process remained in place an order for a short time, maybe into to early October '69.   

[69Z28]

I think his tag looks fine based on the VIN. Here's mine with a 653104 VIN

[jdv69z]

Weren't Impalas built in Van Nuys also ordered using the same numbers, ie body number 100xxx could be a Camaro, and 100xx1 could be an Impala?

[vtfb68]

Van Nuys was a GM plant, Pontiacs were also built there. perhaps others.
  and yes the the numbers will be mixed.
     VT

[william]

For '69 Camaro orders were on the same confirmation process for both plants. The confirmation process is largely component availability. It cannot be mixed with other car lines.

[crobjones2]

lines up close to my 06A with a vin of 657283 but my body number is later 350535
guessing yours was ordered before mine, but finished after
I'm interested in the motor code?