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Hi, I've come across a 69 coupe VIN .....S707277 with a November 68 Build Month. It has a complete 1970 body. The current owner has been in touch with both earlier owners and they confirm the car was like that from new and have photos from back in the day. The story they tell is that this was a GM test mule to try out the 1970 styling. Currently black but was Riverside Gold. Unfortunately no useful documentation.
Has anyone heard of anything like this happening before?
Joe
Hey Joe, It's been a while brother, (15 years ago I sold you a '77 body to rebuild the Cali-1 car)hope all is good with you This is an odd one alright. Nov. '68 sounds pretty early to me for a test run of the next body style. Because of the extra long run of the '69 model year, I'd think if the car was built in Nov. '69 it would have a better chance of being some type of mule, but even then it would be extremely rare. So the car has different front fender louvers, different grill, front and rear fender flares and different exhaust panel? If the car has only had 3 owners since new and there is photo evidence to back this up, I think this car would be very, very interesting. My gut feeling though, is that it has probably had a re-body at some point in it's life.
I'm interested to hear more about it.
Cheers, Greg
Good to hear from you again, still remember the visit to Palm Springs and the Gold 70 or 71 vert you found for my friend Ken.
I have not yet seen the pictures of the 69 yet, but like you, I thought it was too early (Nov 68) to be a test car. I've seen the car in person and it certainly looks like a 70 in exterior. My first reaction was a rebody too! I'll see what I can find out.
So are you aware of GM doing test runs of new body styles and any of those cars ending up with customers?
Hi,
I'm getting more info and photos. Looks like original owner worked for NASA. The car has 69 front grilles and round indicators. Has the smaller side markers like a 69, but the side vents and front and rear flares are 70 style as is the rectangular rear exhaust. I'm told fiberglass is all original. Will post some photos soon. Hope to inspect it in person.
Hmmmm?
NASA was linked with Corvette many times, so if there was something special about this particular car then the NASA connection could make sense.
I think I would start by running the serial number through the NCRS and get the Shipping Data Report (unfortunately that can only be done by the registered owner). I would be very anxious to see what that says. That may shed some light on things. Many different Dealer Codes and Zones could show up for many different reasons but if it comes up as a Zone 0 car then you know it was some type of special, or GM executive order. Of course it could have been delivered by a regular dealer in Coco Beach as well. All speculation at this point but certainly worth following up.
To answer your question Joe, I've never come across (or heard of) an advance body design of any type ending up in the regular public domain from GM.
Was Ken's car the big block convertible we flew over to Houston for and drove back to the coast?
Greg
if this is authentic, the 70-only parts will be one-off and not identical to what is found on production 70 cars. start with the louvres. part number cast in them that matches 70-71 cars? casting date?
Adding the 70 up flairs to 68-69's, was a pretty common modification in the 70's. More than a few owners did, just to save the paint on the fenders. A friend of mine has a 68 his father bought new, and added the 70 flares to in 71. I will say that it's a little surprising that it has the 70-72 exhaust panel though. If you used a complete 70 rear quarter, then you would need the 70 exhaust panel, but if you were just adding flares to 69 fenders, then the rear of the fender would still have the small, rounder 69 opening.
I don't know that the VIN would make much difference. It's quite possible that a car that ended up being used as a styling exercise by GM Design, may very well have been a car that was floating around GM for some time. Cars that were used for the press pool or by engineering, were sometimes sold to the public, but I would assume that sometimes they were held onto, and used by other departments within GM. Also, considering the lead time needed for developing new parts, and putting them into production, a year doesn't seem out of line at all. 70 production didn't begin until January 70, but the pilot line cars were probably completed 3 or 4 months earlier, and shown to dealers and the press in September 69.
You said the panels are all original, does that mean they're press molded? From my experience, factory prototype parts were usually hand laid glass. I'm familiar with 3 pilot line cars, a 61, 65 and 68, and all have some hand laid glass pieces. Of course, aftermarket parts would likely be hand laid also.
Thank you for all of your replies and the tip about casting numbers etc on louvres. See this poor but intriguing photo. Why would someone rebodying the car go to the trouble of grafting in the smaller side markers?
I'll keep you posted, particularly after I've seen the car!
I bought a 69 T top in 1974. It had the fender flairs added and was repainted in Warbonnet Yellow. I didn't know enough then to check the trim tag for the original color. 427 390 HP speed. I sure miss that car!
Mules are all about documentation. Build order with GM or Chevrolet division as selling dealer is a start.
NASA and Corvettes. Once the Astronauts started getting C2 Corvettes, having a Corvette was a "Rite of Passage" particularly for young people working at NASA at the time. A friend worked at NASA Langley during Gemini-Apollo there were lots of Corvettes. She said "You had to drive what the Astronauts drive" atleast until you had kids.
I'm sure other NASA facilities had the same situation.
1969 Mule ??
