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I used IBM 1403 font (10 pitch) in making up the window sticker for my 1962. I created the blank sticker from scratch and sized it accordingly - next to a genuine original 1962 sticker it's pretty damned close.
Is there a data base that lists what dealer a C1 was delivered to by serial number?
The answer is "maybe"...from late '62 through '75. NCRS has a data base...a quote from their site:
"With permission granted by the General Motors Heritage Center, the National Corvette Restorers Society is pleased to announce that it can now offer solely to its members, certain information for 1962 after number 6000 and through 1975 (with some exceptions (missing data) due to damage to the records) Corvette Shipping Reports."
Of the three window stickers shown the OP doesn’t resemble the other two. I to would love to find my original dealership, supposedly in Toledo, Ohio. I don’t think NCRS goes back to early 61. I have spoken with all owners except the guy that ordered it. Time is about up. Good luck with your font determination. (Honduras Maroon and Fawn Beige it just don’t get no better)
As far as I know GM would have printed window stickers using a line printer like an IBM 1403 or 3211. They used hammers that pressed the keys through a cloth ribbon kind of like an old typewriter.
Laser printers were not in use (or exist) at that time, so any image that has solid characters does not look original. The following is a copy of part of my original window sticker done in 1969.
I have been trying to copy the individual letters and numbers to try and make a font to print window stickers, but so far have not had much luck.
I do not plan on spending lots of money to Adobe or some other company to be able to print a couple of window stickers.
I have copied my window sticker form and theoretically could copy letters one at a time to make a window sticker, but that would take a huge amount of time. I have other Corvette issues to waste my time on, cleaning, polishing, etc.
I do not plan on spending lots of money to Adobe or some other company to be able to print a couple of window stickers.
If you want to recreate the visual characteristics of the originals, using a program – like Adobe Illustrator – that provides precise control over kerning (letter spacing), line spacing, masking, etc, is the only way to go. But I certainly understand your lack of motivation to fork over $$$ for limited uses. You can buy subscriptions to Adobe products but the learning curve is kinda steep and will use up a bit of time.
I know I could do it with Adobe Illustrator, but the price of it starts at $23 a month. If you have a business then I guess you can write that off, but for a hobbyist that is crazy money.
I am still using Photoshop CS3 which Adobe stopped supporting a number of years ago and then you couldn't use it. People screamed that they had bought the program and Adobe didn't have the right to cancel its use.
Adobe finally gave us a one-time license that did not have to be renewed. It works just fine for the things that I do. Don't have the Cloud version, but a friend of mine does and he hates it, but he uses it for commercial uses and has to have it.
I will still fiddle around with this and perhaps I will find a way to print with the characters from my window sticker.
Responding to a few of these comments:
Comment #2:
The reproduction WS looks like it was fashioned after the window stickers sold online, more like this one: https://www.opgi.com/decals/miscella...t-dc00808.html which is completely wrong and was never used. The fonts in 1962 were not the IBM 1403 printer font. Attached is an original 1962 to compare. The font style also changed as did some other features during the 1962 production year. Comment #6, that is not a 1959 window sticker, the format in 59 was completely different, see attached original and also completely different than a 1960. The window sticker format changed each year and at times more than once a year. The verbiage and font style also changed on numerous occasions. Pricing also changed as many as 3 times in one year, so when someone uses online sources or the Corvette black book there are many issues with pricing as prices for only one period of the production year are posted. Then the toughest part are the ECL codes but that's an entirely different story as is the addition of Perm Anti Freeze based on year and month of production. So although some of these samples may look good to the untrained eye, none are even close to correct. Hope this helps, Paul
The window sticker shown in comment 2 (mine) was NOT fashioned after the window stickers sold online. It was created from scratch to replicate as closely as possible the original window sticker that came on the car, which unfortunately is too tattered, stained and torn to use for display. It does that very well.
