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I am trying to see if my 72 convertible came without the radio option. I noticed in photos from 2009 it had the delete plate. It has a aftermarket radio now. Are there any signs to look for? If no radio did it still have speakers in the dash?
Have you retrieved the build sheet either from top of the gas tank or (some) have one inside the dash. As far as I know that is the only way to find out about 72 models as I understand there was a fire at the St Louis factory and most of the records were destroyed. (that is unless you know the orginal owner)
Last edited by crawfish333; Feb 7, 2017 at 04:47 PM.
Hi Joey,
If the car didn't have a radio as an option it would not have had the parts of the radio, speakers, convector, and condensers.
It also would not have had the chrome radio shielding on the distributor and spark plug wiring.
It's interesting to see how the antenna hole in the rear deck was handled on a no radio car. (If one hasn't been placed there.)
Regards,
Alan
I have been researching previous owners but so far I am looking for Jeff Bjork from Michigan.He is 2 owners before me. He posted pictures of my car back in 2009 on c3 registry with pictures of the radio delete plate. No luck on the build sheet.
BTW, it looks like only 335 cars were sold in 1972 without radios. Since AM/FM radios and AM/FM Stereos were also optional, there were only 335 cars that had neither of these options. (According to the website I found, for what it is worth)
Last edited by crawfish333; Feb 7, 2017 at 04:56 PM.
Alan
The car has the shielding on the distributor and it did back in 2009 as well. I looked at the antenna and it looks like newer reproduction parts were added at one time. 1 of the parts has a Corvette America sticker on it.
Here is photo from 09. You can see the radio delete plate. I never noticed it until recently.
Last edited by Joe79Vette; Feb 7, 2017 at 05:45 PM.
Hi Joey,
I can understand a car being ordered without a radio, but wonder about a 72 car lasting all these years without one. (Unless it's a ZR1.)
Regards,
Alan
There really is no such RPO "radio delete". If a radio was not desired by the ordering dealer or purchaser, the RPO (U69 as an example) was simply not checked off.
Hi C,
Very interesting article, thanks for the link!
When you consider the fact that the Flint engine plant was assembling 5000 engines a day on just 2 lines, (one building an engine every 21 seconds, and the other one every 32 seconds), it becomes easier to understand that as time went by maintaining build records wasn't high on Chevrolet's list of things to do.
Who would have dreamed that 50 years later there would be people interested in those records.
Regards,
Alan
72 Corvette radio delete?
