<VV> What NOS means, and oldy but goody

[Dennis Pleau]

Here is an article by Bording Ostergaard, back in the dark ages of the VVs.




NOS Means "Not Originally Supplied".



For example, when you see someone advertising a vehicle with an NOS engine

or interior or with "lots of NOS parts", it likely means this car was

originally shipped from the factory with this equipment missing. Sometimes

this caused only a minor nuisance for the customer as the missing parts were

easily installed and at minor cost such as headlights. On larger items like

engines, wheels, seats, etc., the dealer would often have to pay for and

install these parts themselves in order to make the car saleable. Often

these vehicles would instead simply be offered at a discount and sold "as

is". It is therefore not unheard of to find that some people after

purchasing a new Corvair would find out when they got it delivered to their

home that it had so much NOS equipment that it was actually cheaper just to

go and buy another complete car. Of course because the cars were sold "as

is" many of these vehicles ended up sitting in peoples garages completely

unused. Today, if you are fortunate enough to still find one they typically

have very few miles on them. A word of caution though, when buying an NOS

vehicle make a careful inventory of what it needs as few NOS equipped

vehicles are the same. Some can be very expensive to complete.



Of course when adding the missing parts you will also want to be sure to use

true "NOS" parts otherwise you car will not be a 'numbers' car. This will

significantly reduce its collector status and hence it's resale value.

Fortunately there is still quite a good inventory of NOS parts to be had.

This came about because when GM finished building the Corvair they

discovered that they had a lot of leftover parts. Yes, you guessed it, all

the parts that were not included on the vehicles that had been shipped NOS

were now sitting in the factories without any cars left on which to install

them on. Then, because the dealers had sold off most all of the NOS cars 'as

is', there was no obligation on the part of GM to get these missing parts

out to the cars that needed them. Instead these parts simple went into

excess inventory and then eventually ended up in private hands, where today,

they are offered for sale as NOS.



Over the years the use of the NOS has become somewhat blurred so you first

need to verify if NOS means the part is missing or if the part is included.

One person could say they had a car with an NOS engine which likely means

the engine was missing from the factory and probably still is, while someone

else can be advertising an NOS engine which means they probably have the

engine the other guy is missing. Occasionally these people do meet up but

not often.



It can be very confusing at times and if you are buying NOS parts by mail it

is very important to determine in advance if you are buying something that

is in fact missing (such as and engine with NOS pistons), or if you are

instead acquiring an actual originally missing part. You need to be careful

as it can get very expensive trying to figure this all out after the fact

and I can speak from knowledgeable experience. I have honestly heard of

people sending away money in good faith and then just receiving back an

empty box. When they contacted the seller to find out what happened they

were told that this was how the seller themselves bought the part, NOS, or

'as is', which of course meant that it was originally 'missing'. While the

seller is not being dishonest and while this does qualify as a true NOS part

under the original and technically-correct definition of the term, it hardly

does you any good if you were actually expecting something for your money.

Needless to say it is important to clearly understand and define just what

NOS means in advance of sending any cash.



In closing, I hope this helps you out but more importantly, saves you the

cost of 'buying' your Corvair restoration education. Just remember that NOS

can mean two completely different things so the first and last thing to do

is ask! ask! ask!.



As an additional note, it is often safer to buy from known vendors as they

are more easily located if you have problems, and often because they are in

a commercial business tend to use nicer boxes. This way when they sell you a

'true' NOS part you at least have a nice box. I know that Larry's Corvair

Parts advertises a lot of NOS stuff so you might try there first. Larry is a

very pleasant guy to talk with and I can vouch for the fine quality of his

boxes.



There is also one final comment that should be made, and that fact is that

NOS parts as mentioned immediately above do tend to come with a much lower

cost of shipping. This can be enhanced by also specifying at the time you

order to use the smallest box available. It will save you real $$$.