I know my car is a 73 model, but is there any way of finding out what date it was built? Here in England if your car was built in 1972 you pay $380 less tax than you would for a car built in 1973. VIN number 4H57H3H104789
I found the tag, date code 08E and build sequence number from VIN is 104789, there were 71712 Century Luxus built for 1973
08E = Built the 5th week of August 1972. The Alfred P Sloan Museum here will have the records also. Sloan Museum 1221 E. Kearsley Street Flint, MI 48503 Telephone: (810) 237-3450 Fax: (810) 237-3451 Email: sloan@sloanlongway.org Hours: Weekdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Weekends noon to 5 p.m. Buick Gallery and Research Center/Perry Archives 303 Walnut Street Flint, MI 48503 Telephone: (810) 237-3440 Fax: (810) 237-3433 The Sloan Museum and the Buick Gallery & Research Center are on the campus of the Flint Cultural Center.
The GM model year starts in August of the year next preceding the car's model year. The plants changed over for the next model year usually in July. So 1973 model year cars would in general be bullt from August 1972 until the first part of July 1973. A 5th week of August 1973 build date was for 1974 models.
I have Mailed Sloan museum regarding a VIN report, thank you so much for your help, must go to bed now its midnight
I contacted Jeff Taylor at Sloan he said my car was invoiced on the 21 September 1972, on the strength of the information I have received from various sources I applied for an age verification certificate so I can get historic tax on my car. This is the reply I got, this guy is either very clever or is talking out of his butt. I thought they started building 73 model in August 72, anyone know?
the cowl tag reads 08E, ie last week of August. The letter suggests that the 73 model was produced from September 21 1972. Who can confirm which of these dates are correct? ou:
Mr Lynn is confused as to the relative dates of manufacturing convention versus model year dates followed here in the US. There is no manufacturing year on the cowl tag ---just the manufacturing month and week( August, 5th week). Specifically he does not understand the 08E has no year on the tag attached to it. You have to dervie the year by knowing that the model or style date 73 means that production began in August 1972 and ended about the end of June 1973 or the beginning of July 1973. Therefore you know that the 5th week of August (08E ) has to refer to the calendar year 1972.
Mr. Lore is correct, and Mr. Lynn does not seem to understand the way product date coding was (and is, in many cases) implemented, specifically when/where Calendar Year was/is utilized rather than Model Year. For the sake of example, there's just been a launch for a 2009 Model Year vehicle as of June 23rd. Since this event was considered Start of Production (SOP or Job1) and not a prototype or pilot build event, the End of Production (EOP or JobLast) of the 2008MY product came about and '08MY production was ceased the week of June 16. i.e., they're building 2009's in late June '08. So anything date coded July 2008 cannot possibly be a 2008MY product. The problem is that without knowing & demonstrating Buick's SOP/EOP dates in this case, it may be difficult to change Mr. Lynn's mind. Devon P.S. Sounds fancy with all those silly abbreviations, doesn't it?
I need to find out SOP / EOP dates for this year, does any one know how to find this information out? If Mr Lynn is an expert he should be receptive to new information that would improve his expertise:Smarty:
Here is a list of the beginning and ending VINs for the 1973 model year. You can see that your car VIN is 104789 very near the beginning of the model year VIN numbers (100001). If September was the beginning of the model year your car would have a VIN very close to the ending VIN shown on this sheet (271386) since it was built in August. So, logic would prove that September could not have been the beginning of the model year :Comp:
Order date on the Sloan Document shows 9/21. Even if the cars were first sent to the dealer in September than the order date would prove the car was ordered in 1972. If the date was 9/21/73 and the model year starts in September of the previous year, than the car would have been a 1974 model year. Since it was a 1973 by the VIN then the car was ordered in september of 1972. Hope that is not too confusing. Mark
The exact begiining and end dates are not important. The plants shut down in the July - August period each year order to change over the production line to the next model year. So when you see a cowl tag for August all familiar with the US process understand that such a car has to be for the next model year which is one year ahead of the then August calendar year. So the cowl tag saying St 1973 means "Style 1973" = 1973 model year even though it was made in the August 1972 calendar year. Mr. Lynn owes you an apology. He does not undestand the US cowl tags.
Mike Trom's document shows September 19, 1973 - a sales report run after the conclusion of the 1973 model year. Send this document as well to 'Mr Lynn' to further document your build date. If all else fails, point him here :beer
Thats a great document from Mike, a similar document with end of production date would be the icing on the cake. Thanks guys for all your valued input. Pete
