<VV> Body Tags of Pilot Cars
Steven J. Serenska
corvair@serenska.com
Tue, 23 Mar 2004 14:23:49 -0500
VVers:
I enjoyed the thread on Corvair body tags a little while ago. I just
stumbled onto a photo of an interesting body tag, the likes of which I
hadn't seen before. Instead of the 1st group, 2nd Group, etc. notation
(e.g., like "E2ES" on my Corsa), the car's actual RPO numbers (e.g.,
L87) are stamped on the tag.
If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the following web page,
you'll see the body tag from a "Pilot Car":
http://www.autoarchives.org/corvair/carfind.asp?vinumber=107676W100016
The webpage's author says: "Pilot cars were built to test component fit,
assembly methods, fixtures, timed operations etc. Many had serial
numbers so they could be sold. They were often put into company service,
served as show jobs or PR cars, or be dolled up as special XP cars at
Styling. Others met their fates as test cars at the Proving Grounds,
engineering test cars and as crash test cars. So pilot cars were
production cars, but often have previous-year parts when the new items
weren't yet available....Pilot cars have a special Fisher body
tag....The actual option codes are used on a pilot car body tag."
Steven "learns something new every day" Serenska
P.S. 6" of snow last week....18 degrees this morning....Will salt season
ever end?