Protectoplate options question

[sabino56]

Hi,
I have a 68 327 base model coupe.  The L37 210hp, 2bbl, 3 spd manual. It's all original.
I bought it from the first owner in high school - 1975. I mowed his yard for years and when he was selling it - I got it and have had it ever since.
I hadn't looked in the folder for this car for 20-30 years but got in the other day.
I have the owner's manual, protector-plate, new vehicle inspection checklist, packet/holder.  Also a bunch of old service rcpts and an Ancient Age bourbon fishing guide...

It has factory air and a center console with a clock. The protectoplate only lists the radio as an option. I'm curious why.
The original owners name is embossed in plate, not something stuck on as described in the info here so I assume the dealer made the whole plate?
If so, is it common all the options are not listed on the protectoplate?
Just found the site and was reading about all the numbers, decode and found it very interesting.
Thanks
Ed

[bertfam]

There are a few cars in the database with this type of POP, but the consensus is they're some kind of dealer replacement POP. They certainly weren't supplied by the factory because there's no way the factory would know the buyer!

In your case, only the U63 AM radio is shown, so either the dealer forgot to add the code for the A/C (Position E, code 1) or the car didn't originally come with A/C (doubtful if the car has all the indications of A/C). (Note that the clock nor the console are listed on the POP.)

Ed

[KurtS]

I think it was a replacement for a lost POP. And I think the zone may have made it.

[bertfam]

That actually make more sense. The dealer wouldn't have access to an address-o-graph but the zone probably would. However, note the lack of the Chevrolet "bow tie" under the month of build on this one!

Ed

[sabino56]

Thanks for responses.
a newbie question - what is the "zone"?

My console has a clock but I don't have tach or oil/amp gages - just idiot lights for oil/amp in dash.  I believe the console option is D55 but I don't see it on the POP definition page so I assumed the clock was standard in the "standard console" and it wasn't  a listed option on the protectoplate.  Is this correct or ?

[Randy Mitton]

My protector plate is plastic.  Canadian car Randy

[bertfam]

What's a "zone"?

Well, the short answer is the country is divided up into several "zones", with each zone having a main office called the "Zone Office". In that zone there are a number of dealers. When a dealer ordered a car, it went through the zone office for approval before being sent to the central office in Detroit, then, if they approved it, it was sent to the manufacturing plant for scheduling.

Zone offices basically took some of the work load off the central office.

The console was an option that's not listed on the POP. The clock is also an option that's not listed on the POP, but it wasn't included when you purchased the console. You had to purchase the clock separately. As a matter of fact, you could even get the clock without ordering the console. If you got the clock but not the console, it was mounted on the transmission hump as shown in the (1967 example) below.

Ed

[sabino56]

Thanks! Interesting. 

[69Z28-RS]

What I found out above 'zones' while researching my NCRS data is that GM changes their ZONE #, whenever they change the location of their parts distribution warehouses.  Since 1969 when my car was produced, the 'zone' servicing north Alabama dealers have changed several times as they moved the 'zone hq' from Birmingham, to Atlanta, to Dallas, and now to Jackson, MS.   Each time the zone 'moves', the zone # also changes for all the dealers served by that zone. 

[z28z11]

That actually make more sense. The dealer wouldn't have access to an address-o-graph but the zone probably would. However, note the lack of the Chevrolet "bow tie" under the month of build on this one!

Ed

Ed,

Jim Reed Chevrolet in Nashville (since closed) had an Addressograph - I witnessed it in use myself, at least twice - when my dad bought a '65 SS Impala, and a '68 Impala Custom Coupe. Watched the guy type the info into it, impressive machine to say the least. I only ever observed two Adressographs here locally, one was Reed's, the other was the Black and Decker factory service center in Nashville, late 70's.

Regards,
Steve

[sabino56]

Well, it's a little more confusing for me now.
I looked thru the protection plan booklet. There was no indication it had ever been used, no writing on pages or stamps for 12, 24 month reports, etc. except for the last page facing the protecto-plate.  There was a imprint of the original protector-plate, I assume. It has the bow tie in last position on the C line. No owner's name or address. It only shows the radio option also.
The car has factory air-conditioning as far as I can tell.

[bertfam]

The missing option was probably a factory mistake (rare, but they did happen) that was carried over by the zone office when they made the replacement.

Ed

[KurtS]

Looks like just the plate was lost and that's the original booklet.