Some thing you definitely don't see very often - second one i've seen, heard of a few others, they are marked glove box copy - i would think they did go as far dealer, or distribution center?? Another thing you dont see very often in the big Buicks ,besides build sheet (still dont have a riv example) is the production order body - copy of 73 riv one in guide below , and a larger one on that rivs member page Bob Brumbaughs 3H416466 ( sorry guys this link will only work for signed in Boattail Registry members). Another document I have never seen, but read about is the import sheet that went with cars exported from US. <center> </center> Documentation Decoding and Vehicle Matching Guide
Here's how I found it: I was attempting to snatch up the back seat's seatbelt buckles which were stuffed down behind the bottom of the back seat. They were so far down there that I coundn't reach them without removing the back seat bottom. When I pulled the bottom out I found the card. It seems like it ended up down there by accident. It wasn't waayyy down there. It was as if it was placed on the back seat and it just slipped between the crack; you know, where all your change disappears to. That is my guess. I work at a Dodge dealership and I've seen porters lose whole window stickers in new cars why they are being detailed for delivery. Who knows, maybe thats how it got there.
Yep, IBM 80 column punch cards. Mark Macoubrie helped me figure out most of the “GM key code”, and then through cross referencing the cards that I had, I figured out the rest. Back in the day, before Wayne Roberts found the 70 microfilm, I used to decode these and prove a car’s authenticity. (I think I do these for the 69-72 cars, maybe 68’s too. I would have to check.) It was another way, besides the “build sheets”, to prove a car. I remember decoding one card that had been completely soaked by antifreeze. It was found under the passenger side carpet and got wet when the heater core gave up. Because the punches are “location smart” I was able to decode it, even though it did not have a lick of writing left on it. It proved the car was a Stage 1 and that decode really increased the value of the car. ,,,,,,and yes, the Buick dealers were supposed to send these cards back to the factory. The info on them would help the factory warrantee the cars, as they would know exactly which internal engine/trans/rear parts they were using at the time the car was built. Duane
I have two card that Reynolds gave me. One that was to go with car and another that was supposed to stay with the dealership
Duane, Dont have a card in front of me at the moment but in the mid `60`s cars I seem to remember text on the card itself which specifically applied to the shipper, ie, "shipper: place card in glovebox" or something to that effect. I also remember finding that these cards were supposed to be used by the dealers to double check that the factory built the cars as ordered? Although, I would think that was done at the factory by quality control? It`s been more than a few years since I visited the IBM cards... Not questioning your statement as I`m sure you are well researched, but it doesnt make sense to me that the dealership would send the card back to the factory? Wouldnt the factory already have this information? Or did the dealership use the card on their paperwork when applying for warranty? Would that be when the dealership sent the card back, when the dealership applied for warranty? Tom Mooney
Some of the Buick cards were labeled” Buick Location Cards, and I believe these were to go back to the factory. I don’t know what they were tracking, maybe like you said it could have been the warranty start date. Another thing to consider is this, in today’s world all kinds of computers are linked together. If you go to a store today and give them your phone number all type of info pops up. That was certainly not the case back then. Maybe the warranty division had their own systems. I know accounting was separate, and the “microfilm” we know of today was used to pay their taxes. Duane
...you don't need to decode card if printing is legible, it's all there, plus a 4 position "Date Produced" field which wasn't punched. If you want to decode card, be aware that IBM's 39 character code set included 3 special characters, one of which is where character "S" logically should be. In row 0, position 01 is special character forward slash (/), and position 02 i "S"...