Re: 1964 Plymouth fender tag

[Bill Watson <chrycoman@xxxxxxxxx>]

Must remember the build records were not kept for restorers, but the
owners of the cars when they were new and a few years after.  Parts
books used to have notes advising dealers to quote the vehicle's
serial number when ordering interior trim or painted body parts.  The
parts warehouse people could then ship the correct interior fabrics
and paint parts the correct colour.

The norm was to keep the build records for about six years as by then
the mentioned materials were usually all used up.

Chrysler in the US had people like Cliff Lockwood who went around
collecting and storing historical documents.  Ford of Canada had
Herman L. Smith and AMC had John Conde.  GM of Canada had a long
history dating back to the founding of the McLaughlin Carriage Company
in 1867, so there was some historical background.  Same holds for Ford
in the U.S., even if Henry Ford I claimed history was bunk.

Not sure how far back GM of Canada build records go, but they have
nothing before WW II.  Same with Ford of Canada.  Chrysler records are
gone as the six year period was up long ago.  Studebaker of Canada
also kept six years records, and the last six years, 1960 to 1966, are
at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, IN.  The museum also has
American records from the mid-1930's to the end of South Bend
production in December, 1963.

GM of Canada not only has Canadian-built Chevrolet information, but
also Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Acadian, Beaumont, and GMC.

American Motors Canada apparently kept nothing.  John Conde, head of
AM Historical in Detroit, once asked Brampton for any historical
documents.  He received a box of brochures from the previous decade
and little else.  No build records, no production information.  When
Hudson of Canada moved its assembly operations from the Chatco Steel
Products plant in Tilbury, ON, to the Nash plant in Toronto late in
1954, the Hudson staff shipped a load of information to Toronto.
Apparently the Nash staff took one look at it all and had it hauled
off to the dump.  That attitude seems to have existed through to the
Chrysler takeover and thus nothing from AM Canada survives.

Bill
Toronto, ON


On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 11:14 AM, Jim Altemose <jaltemoose@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Probably hit or miss on the IBM card.  I've had two done and both came
> out OK, but one was more clear than the other.  The official write up
> sheet was valuable to me.  IMHO it's worth doing if you care about the
> car's history and getting as much documentation as you can. In fact
> sending the email about this earlier motivated myself and I sent away
> for one for my 63 Polara 500 (383), which I hadn't gotten around to
> doing.  I'll let you know what I get and how it looks.  It occurs to
> me that this service is unique and may not be around forever and is
> probably worth doing sooner than later if you're planning to do it.
>
> As a tangent taboo side note, back in the days before I saw the Mopar
> light, I had a 72 SS Chevelle that happened to be built in Canada.  GM
> destroyed all the U.S. records sometime back, but the Canadian records
> still exist.  If you have an old Chevy that was built in Canada, you
> can get a similar package which was quite nice to have.
>
> - Jim
> Jim Altemose, Long Island, NY
> '63 Polara 500 (Max Wedge)
> '63 Polara 500 (383)
> '65 Belvedere I (Street Wedge)
> '71 Bronco
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 6:40 AM, Donald Gallimore <dongallimore@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I had mine done years ago and the copy of the IBM punch card was almost
>> illegilble.  Is that the standard situation or did I just get a careless worker?
>>
>> Akron Don Gallimore
>>
>>

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