Hi Bernd, sorry, I wouldn`t know that they were specially marked in the VIN. Like the french counterparts they would have a tag that tells you where they were finished, it`s a possibility that they all where build, then knocked down in Flint (mine too). I had contact to a guy in the french part of Switzerland who was working at GM Biel in the 60ties. He has a real good knowledge about these things, maybe I can get in contact with him again. Jens
some more on production figures: only makes and not models unfortunately: http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/chevytalk/GMhistory/assemblyplants.html http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/chevytalk/GMhistory/gmsuisse.html http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/chevytalk/GMhistory/antwerp4.html
I guess that's one 59 Buick I'll never get a chance to look at...oh well. It just reduces the chances of finding a half decent one that holds water out all that much more difficult; - most of the ones I've seen around here are like Swiss cheese... Americans going after US cars in Europe? Why not? Generally everything that's still running over there is maintained to a much higher standard than here simply because the rules to maintain a car are so much stricter there. (At least in Germany, not sure about Switzerland) It would surprise you all to know that the largest market and picking ground for Mercedes cars is in the US;- a lot of Germans are buying their 50s vintage Mercedes' in the US because none exist over there anymore. Those same regulations legislated them off the roads when they weren't in demand and too costly to fix up, but now people who are looking for them and want to restore them have to come to North America to get them.
I agree. Even more, as I'm watching the common sites such as craigslist, ebay and so on, it seems to me that the US are almost sold out of american cars in decent condition at least to meet european standards. This used to be different some 10 years ago, but in the meantime... So a re-import is not unimaginable. Btw. rules are really strict here in Germany (as far as I know even worse in Switzerland) to get a registration as a historic vehicle to save taxes, this means a certain (mainly original) condition. Historic is 190€ (270$) a year, a normal registration would be calculated by c.i. displacement. So, for my Electra, don't know, about 4000$ a year...
