What was the cut off for '70 GS production, or what would be the latest build date for the '70 model year? I have a tag that shows 06D which I believe is the fourth week of June '70?
I assume that cars could be built through the summer and into the fall, but the question is when did the production lines switch over for the new year? I know that early '70 model year cars were built in December of '69, so did 'the 70 model production go through November of '70? If so, who has the latest known build date? I always thought that the GSX cars were some of the later built cars (03 - 05), so how long did production continue after these dates?
Ryan, January is much earlier for GSX production than I thought. I was always under the impression that the GSX's didn't start production until March? My 10/10 car is 04 production, is yours a January car? So an 06D build date would be pretty late indeed for a '70 model GS?
I'm not 100% on all details of the 1970 GSXs but I would question a 06D build being a 1970 GSX but again I'm not sure when the last one came off the line for 1970. Many other members could give facts. Duane H , Jim Lore , Rich Johns all are far more knowledgable than I am and would have dates and facts.
I thought the model year typically ran from August 1 to July 31, so for 1970 that would be 8/1/1969 to 7/31/1970. Here is a tag for a car with a 08B build date and a body number of 13493. The build date and the body number seam to indicate the car was built at the beginning of production rather than the end. Also the VIN for that car is 446670H102299, with the last six digits starting at 100001 for V8 cars (excluding Riviera). 1970 model production at Flint was 251,062 for A-, B-, and C-body cars and 37,336 for Riviera. So the ending sequential number for Flint V8 (excluding Riviera) cars can't be higher than 351062, and probably closer to 348000. I don't know the I6 production numbers at Flint for 1970, but in 1969 it was about 4,000 and probably less in 1970. The highest body number I've seen for a 1970 Flint car is 294206 with a build date of 06C, so I'd expect the body number for the car with a 06D build date to have a body number slightly higher than that.
Interesting stuff. Ryan, this is not regarding a GSX specifically, but GS production in general. The car I have (not my GSX) is a GS 455 with a build date body tag of 06D. Was built in the Leeds plant so the body number is way different than the Flint cars - 089885. As this was the latest body tag I had ever, seen got me thinking what was the latest build date prior to shifting to '71 model production. I'll be going through the car more carefully in the following weeks for further information. Interesting thread.
Pointed Gauges, Yes. Black top coolant tank. Stage2 464 BBB with overdrive. My wife calls this car my big breasted blonde cruising the beach. I laugh at her.:laugh:
Hahaha. well cars are female for sure... I believe this would be an earlier '70 model year production car, hence the pointed gauge lenses.
I do not believe they built 71 models until August. The earliest car I have ever seen from the era was August. July they were still making 70 models. I owned a Mid July built 70 Olds 442. My guess is the 70 models were built until the end of July and then there was a week or two changeoever period and the next year started being built in mid August. The very lowest VIN cars I have heard of were August. j
I gotta agree with this. There was always at least a 2 week shutdown in early August. If for no other reason than vacation time and also line maintenance.
Ok, this starts to make more sense that they would need some downtime to retool for the new model year, etc. and there would likely be a break in there somewhere. 07B is pretty darn late for sure and would be the latest I've seen to date.
Would a build sheet give you info on day of week built? Is anyone doing reproduction build sheets? I would like to have one for my GS.
Earliest built '70 GS? May I ask then what is the earliest 1970 GS 455 built or should I start a separate thread? I recently looked at a very early built 1970 GS 455 with 08C build date and a body # 00009. Likely not the 1st but I suspect one of the first few made. Comments?