Pulled all my RPO codes and found out that mine is a WD0 "containment" vehicle. One website says its an "alpha" or "beta" or "prototype" vechicle.

My build date is 11/96, and my vin says I'm #270 for 1997.

Is this something I should worry about? What in the world would "Containment" mean? Are the earliest of C5's prone to extra problems? Should this car have not been sold?

 

Clueless on this one. Never heard of containment vehicle before. Try here as well as what other members may be able to offer. Good luck and Welcome

http://www.idavette.net/

 

Yea that's the site that shows my WD0 code as containment. I've emailed him to see if he knows what that means.

 

There was another thread on here about a batch of "pilot" C5s which suggested there was an initial batch that was different in some way to a regular production car but no idea what it entailed.

 

I've read that the first 200 were all red, but other than that i can't find that thread you mentioned.

Thanks so far for input guys! Great crowd, i'm hoping to gain enough knowledge to someday help instead of "be" helped.

 

Who knows it might mean your car is worth more than everyone else's. Good luck with finding out what it all means a please let us know when you find out.

 

OK, let's shake out the historians.

Wasn't the C5 announced in Jan/97? If so then any vehicles made before that date would have been protected from public exposure until the announce, and would be destined to be in strategic locations for the announce. Maybe yours is part of that 'elite' fleet?

 

According to "All Corvettes are Red", there were a number of C5's (don't remember how many) built that first went to GM executives for evaluation before they started sending them to the dealers. That might explain "containment".

You might try getting Sponge Vette to run the VIN. If the first time it was titled is pretty high mileage (less than 10K), that will tell you. Those GM execs didn't get them titled. They drive them using the MSO.

 

OK, been researching all afternoon. This is from the c5registry:

These Production Codes are as follows:
Production Code [RPOWDO] WDO
The PROCESSING OPTION CODE for a new C5 BUILT FOR THE NEXT MODEL YEAR FOR TESTING and EVALUATION purposes. A [WDO] C5 would be a C5 being built during the current model year run of C5's, But is a FUTURE Model Year Vehicle. This Option Code is known (at the FACTORY) as a "CONTAINMENT VEHICLE" CODE. Which is the "IDENTIFICATION" of the START OF A NEW PLATFORM (i.e. NEW MODEL YEAR C5).

So it looks like mine was a test mule or something, not quite early enough to be a prototype or beta car. My guess is that it was a magazine beater, and nobody could release test information until the press date of jan/1997. God I hope not.

From my carfax:
1st owner:
03/06/1997 Michigan
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Warren, MI
Title #801H0650047
Title or registration issued
First owner reported
Registered as corporate fleet vehicle.

She's clean, all original and pretty much fully loaded for 97 options, runs great and drives straight, so hopefully I have nothing to really worry about.

I had a couple issues out of the box, but have been able to fix them all so far from reading the boards here.

Personal oddity: My car was built the same month my dad passed away. Talk about weird. He loved cars too.

 

Captured test fleet vehicle. Driven primarily by manufacturing and service engineers, not necessarily managers and usually not executives; except at plant manager or VP level. Car is driven on the streets to see if anything requires fixing for future manufacturing. If the vehicle has a salable VIN (a VIN without the EX as the last two digits), it must be brought up to the latest updates by factory techs; those with EX vins are donated, scrapped, used in car shows, or kept as factory or service vehicles.
Since it was registered in MI, it was probably shipped up to engineering at the Tech Center; probably the old STG garage (now known as service operations), and may have taken a few rides on the Milford Test Track. I don't believe the cars in BG are titled, since all those that come down to the Spring Hill Manufacturing site have KY dealer plates. Fleet vehicles in TN are not registered either, and they used to have TN dealer plates, until TN decided a few years ago to issued a special plate for Manufacturing and/or transportation.

This your vehicle? If so, what I stated above may be incorrect, it appears to have been a PEP vehicle which is driven by 8 level management or above or a show car vehicle (SPL), not a captured test vehicle.

VIN ******************270
VEHICLE BUILD
Merchandising Model : 1YY07 -1997 CORVETTE COUPE
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating : 1671 kg (3685 lb) Order Number : 91664W
Build Date : 11/25/1996 Build Plant : 1V5Y - BOWLING GREEN

Merchandising Model : 1YY07 -1997 CORVETTE COUPE Warranty Start Date : 03/27/1997
BARS Order Type : 10 - P.E.P./SPL EVENT
Delivering Dealer : N/A Selling Source : N/A
Site Code : N/A
Business Associate Code : N/A

INVOICE INFORMATION
Invoice Date : 02/25/1997
Site Address : NAO CVO - TECH CENTER REGION
7133 11 MILE ROAD
WARREN , MI 48092-2709
Selling Source : 13 - CHEVROLET
Site Code : 00502
Business Associate Code : 130851
SHIP-TO INFORMATION
Ship-To Date : 12/21/1996
Site Address : NAO C/O QUAL-EFFIC
7133 ELEVEN MILE ROAD
WARREN , MI 48092
Selling Source : 13 - CHEVROLET
Site Code : 70847
Business Associate Code : 137617

 

Yep, that's my car. So it was either driven by GM management or was a show car vehicle.

Thanks alot for all the work and help! At least I can have hope that it was not a magazine rag doll, that's what I've been worried about.

 

I realize its been a while but I came across this thread, how and where did you find out all this information on this car? I own a 1997 WD0, WD1 Black on Black z51 6 speed, car number 50 and I was curios about its life as a Pilot at GM. Do yo know how many containment vehicles there were, or how many Pilot? Or the combination. According to a Meccum Auction a while back there were only 45 containment vehicles, wondering if this is true.

 

i know it’s been a while but I found out that roughly 200 were pilot cars, my 97’s last five on the vin is 00099 everything that my dad and I have found on the car is that they were tested and if any issues were to arise they would take the car apart and rebuild it. The “pilot” cars were not meant for sale to the general public. The other thing is that we tried to get the build sheet from the museum and it took 3 years to find my car. They didn’t keep records of the first 250 cars built.