Original dealer info for 1st gens is available

[69Z28-RS]

Roy,

Please 'sit on it' as long as you can as long as there's a possibility of getting more firm information.  The update you could provide today would not greatly increase what I already have (except for correcting the Zone# from 21 to 31).

I'm trying to get in touch with my friend there, who had told me yesterday that the original zone number was 31, in order to find out if he has documentation (of any kind?), or how he knew that zone number (since it changed to zone 8 a long while ago)..  He was out when I called so I left a message.  

The current owner of the dealership (Bryan Clayton) is the son of the original owner (Joe V Clayton), but the son is only 53 now, ( a youngster) who was only around 8 yrs old in 1969... but I will inquire with him as well...

Gary

I got a call back from my friend, parts mgr at Clayton Chevrolet, and we were able to speak for quite a while.   He's been a parts man for 4-5 Chevrolet dealerships over almost 40 years in Huntsville,Albertville, and Arab Alabama, and he explained what he could about 'Zone Numbers'.  
1) The Zone number references the primary warehouse that supplies the dealership with parts (among possibly other things).  ie.   typically the entire number code is:    '5' (for Chevrolet), 'Zone number' (for the warehouse supplier), 'dealer number'.   so 5-08-73 as an example (currently for Clayton Chevrolet).
2)  GM/Chevrolet shifts their warehouse locations around at times; fairly recently the warehouse for Clayton shifted from Atlanta (zone to someplace in Mississippi (Zone ?).  Ft Worth is now zone 41; Memphis is zone 92, etc.
3)  Apparently the zone number/dealer number which is set up for a new dealership (or owner?) remains the same, even if the warehouse (and it's zone number shifts locations).  
4)  Apparently the only time GM reassigns the Zone#/Dealer# for a dealer is when it is new or when the dealership changes hands.

All this makes it VERY CONFUSING when we're trying to reconstruct the old zone/dealer numbers after 45 yrs, and many many GM warehouse moves, and dealership changes.   Just the dealership here in Huntsville has had six different names through the years ... Hill 1967 (5-31-255), Royal 1969-72 (5-31-340), Larry Savage 1982 (5-31-436, Landmark 1987-88 (5-08-304), Bill Heard (5-08-302/304), and Landers-McLarty 2009 (5-1-145)...
Given all that,  my friend (Clay Smith) knew that the Royal Chevrolet dealership in Huntsville, AL was ZONE 31 in the late '60's and '70's.  That dealership changed hands from Hill Chevrolet (5-31-255) to Royal Chevrolet in 1967 (5-31-340).   Clayton Chevrolet 1987-2002 (5-08-73) took over for Richard Kelley Chevrolet 1967 (5-31-???).  Richard Kelley was an uncle to Clayton, so I have no idea exactly how/when the ownership actually changed.

Note that NCRS database shows Richard Kelley Chevrolet as being zone 31 (which was the Birmingham, AL warehouse at that time), but Clayton Chevrolet has since 1987 been 5-08-73).

I found a posting on Chevelles.com, posted by an old friend of mine from York, PA .. Stan Falenski (a diehard Chevy musclecar guy who has owned some fantastic Chevy muscle cars)...  he posted a long list of 'Zone numbers'...
Post #12 from:
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43413
 
which included the following zone numbers, confirming what Clay just told me...
08 - Atlanta (GA)
31 - Birmingham (AL)

Stan also posted a lot of dealer/zone numbers with dealer names/locations at that same link (a later post).. so you guys should check that one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the Birmingham warehouse being #31 in the late sixties, and on the other information I have, I am coming to the conclusion that in the '69 timeframe, Clayton Chevrolet WAS assigned Zone 31 (Birmingham) and Dealer 73, and only sometime between then and 1987 did their zone change to 08 (Atlanta).  I believe that the warehouses serving the north Alabama region (including Huntsville and Arab) changed from Birmingham (31) to Atlanta (08) sometime between 1982 and 1987 based on the evidence that exists...

What do you think Roy??  

[rsinor]

What do you think Roy?? 

I think that zone 31 dealer 073 is the dealer that was invoiced by Chevrolet for Gary's car. I do think Stan is a great guy, I was fortunate enough to be able to use him as a national team leader while I was the national judging chairman for NCRS.

[xandf]

Roy,
Just got my refund for 9N707541. I've been glued to this thread since it started. I appreciate all the efforts by yourself
and others to accomplish this task. My question is, did I just get lucky to be one of the missing (random) or does it seem that other October 1969 build cars will also be missing? I guess my real question is whether mine might still have some hope to be found? Thanks again.

[rsinor]

Roy,
Just got my refund for 9N707541. I've been glued to this thread since it started. I appreciate all the efforts by yourself
and others to accomplish this task. My question is, did I just get lucky to be one of the missing (random) or does it seem that other October 1969 build cars will also be missing? I guess my real question is whether mine might still have some hope to be found? Thanks again.

I can't answer your question about other cars missing in the same VIN area at this point. We miss about 7% of the cars we check, just the way it is. We have found batches that for some reason did not sort correctly, we have found pages that got missed in the digitization. The important thing to realize is we have kept a record of every car we missed and it is flagged as missed so if we do uncover a group of numbers we will recheck the missed cars against them and notify anyone that it affects.

[vonroll]

The important thing to realize is we have kept a record of every car we missed and it is flagged as missed so if we do uncover a group of numbers we will recheck the missed cars against them and notify anyone that it affects.

This is fantastic news...so glad to hear this, as I'm missing.  Thanks Roy. 

[67rs/ss396]

Just received an email documents in the mail order #'s 256,257,258.
One is a 67 camaro Norwood and the other 2 are Los 67 camaros.


Tony

[69Z28-RS]

Good luck..

[77thor]

I got an email today that my document is on the way....

[68camaroz28]

What do you think Roy??  

I think that zone 31 dealer 073 is the dealer that was invoiced by Chevrolet for Gary's car. I do think Stan is a great guy, I was fortunate enough to be able to use him as a national team leader while I was the national judging chairman for NCRS.

Yes Sir Roy, Stan is a both a good person and has a lot of knowledge. He lives fairly close and we have been to each others garage and shared information and assistance. And thanks to the NCRS team and you Roy for getting this huge data base sharing accomplished. Today I received my letter stating "Your Chevy Muscle Docs Shipping Data Report, order number 554" has been mailed.

[LVN 67]

Got my e-mail today, documents sent # 455   

[xandf]

Thanks for the response, Roy. This is good insight into the sorting and locating process. I'll stay tuned

[JoeC]

have a question on the missing vins 1969 Camaro 9N508855 to 9N587275

Did GM Heritage check with the NICB to see if they have the shipping/dealer info on these missing vins?

I would think they can ask to borrow the NICB microfiche, have it digitized, then return it.

If the equipment is already set up to scan the old GM Heritage microfiche, they can scan the NICB microfiche to add to the data base.

GM gave the info to NICB back in the day so should be able to have access to it.

[Conquest396]

Roy,
Just got my refund for 9N707541. I've been glued to this thread since it started. I appreciate all the efforts by yourself
and others to accomplish this task. My question is, did I just get lucky to be one of the missing (random) or does it seem that other October 1969 build cars will also be missing? I guess my real question is whether mine might still have some hope to be found? Thanks again.

I can't answer your question about other cars missing in the same VIN area at this point. We miss about 7% of the cars we check, just the way it is. We have found batches that for some reason did not sort correctly, we have found pages that got missed in the digitization. The important thing to realize is we have kept a record of every car we missed and it is flagged as missed so if we do uncover a group of numbers we will recheck the missed cars against them and notify anyone that it affects.

I was one of the missing , got the denial. Roy Thank you for this! Following up should anything come up on our vins is great! Keep the $50! I will hold out hope that more will turn up as time goes on.

[z28z11]

Roy,
Just got my refund for 9N707541. I've been glued to this thread since it started. I appreciate all the efforts by yourself
and others to accomplish this task. My question is, did I just get lucky to be one of the missing (random) or does it seem that other October 1969 build cars will also be missing? I guess my real question is whether mine might still have some hope to be found? Thanks again.

I can't answer your question about other cars missing in the same VIN area at this point. We miss about 7% of the cars we check, just the way it is. We have found batches that for some reason did not sort correctly, we have found pages that got missed in the digitization. The important thing to realize is we have kept a record of every car we missed and it is flagged as missed so if we do uncover a group of numbers we will recheck the missed cars against them and notify anyone that it affects.

Roy,

I received my refund very (reluctantly) quickly - N553XXX, in the middle of the "lost" VIN's - please keep us posted on any discoveries. I do believe I would gladly double the fee to find this one, even with the documentation of the matching numbered engine that I have with the car. I was in the first day, in the first 100 to sign up, probably one of the first to get a refund, so I lost my place in line. Thanks again for all of your efforts -

Regards -

[rsinor]

Roy,
Just got my refund for 9N707541. I've been glued to this thread since it started. I appreciate all the efforts by yourself
and others to accomplish this task. My question is, did I just get lucky to be one of the missing (random) or does it seem that other October 1969 build cars will also be missing? I guess my real question is whether mine might still have some hope to be found? Thanks again.

I can't answer your question about other cars missing in the same VIN area at this point. We miss about 7% of the cars we check, just the way it is. We have found batches that for some reason did not sort correctly, we have found pages that got missed in the digitization. The important thing to realize is we have kept a record of every car we missed and it is flagged as missed so if we do uncover a group of numbers we will recheck the missed cars against them and notify anyone that it affects.

Roy,

I received my refund very (reluctantly) quickly - N553XXX, in the middle of the "lost" VIN's - please keep us posted on any discoveries. I do believe I would gladly double the fee to find this one, even with the documentation of the matching numbered engine that I have with the car. I was in the first day, in the first 100 to sign up, probably one of the first to get a refund, so I lost my place in line. Thanks again for all of your efforts -

Regards -

We will get caught up on the service and when that happens the turnaround time should not be to painful. It's truly a shame this large batch of early 69 Camaro's is missing. we have confirmed the same information is missing from the NICB file as well. In the Corvette world we did a similar thing keeping track of the VIN's we missed in the initial roll out, we were able to go back and respond to better than 20% of those we initially missed.  Hopefully we will have similar success in this project.  It is a lot more complicated in this project, 10 plus plants all using the same last 6 digits, different body styles, etc. the sort routines are confusing and sometimes less than desirable.  We had one plant, two bodies, no duplicate last six on the Corvette project. By the way this sites spell check does not like Camaro - thinks it should be Camry - go figure!