Hey Guys’s need a little help. Am now the proud owner of a 99 Coupe Black with Light Grey interior! I’ll post pics soon. My question is how do I tell if I own a early model 99 or a late model? Please help if you can.

Thanks in advance!

Steve

 

the last 5 digits of the VIN are the sequence numbers - 00001 would have been the first one made in 99

 

Thanks.. so where would you put Last 5 number of 09809 Would that be early or late? Not sure how many they made.

Steve

 

Contact Sponge Vette here on the forum. PM him your VIN and he'll send you the GM history about your car, or any GM product, inc. build date etc.

 

Look on the drivers door jam. There is a white information lable, it should have the month and year it was bulit printed on it.

 

GM made 33,270 Corvettes in 1999.....http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...99/99prod.html...

atilla...

 

09809 most likely would have been built sometime during the October 1998 time frame.

Any GM dealer can inquire the GM Vehicle Inquiry System (VIS) for your car's service history and build information, if you can just get them to. (You might find it best to ask someone in the dealer's service department.) The build information portion of the VIS inquiry will show your car's actual build date. Also, several members here on the Forum have access to the to GM's VIS. If you can't get your local dealer do this, start a new post requesting a GM VIS history/build info inquiry for your car and include your VIN in the post. Hopefully one of these members will come along shortly and run this for you.

HTH and Good Luck!

 

You guys are dead on! The car was built on October 10th 1998 and delivered October 18th 1998 to its first owner with a whoopin 5 miles on it. It has been recalled 3 times for various things. very interesting.

Would it be considered early or late model 99 being built in October?

Steve

 

No. According to the following, VIN# 100057 would have been the first car to come off the 1999 model year production line. Model year 1999 VINs 100001 through 100056 were containment, pilot or prototype vehicles that would have been built during a previous model year production run:

Special RPO Codes

While VINs for each of the model years are supposed to be assigned in order, the VIN is an identification number and not a plant sequence number. Keep in mind that during each of the C5 production years, a number of containment, prototype and pilot vehicles for the upcoming model years were built on the assembly line alongside with the current model year cars. These containment, prototype and pilot vehicles were assigned a VIN for their respective model year and a number of these cars were later made into saleable vehicles. James Schefter wrote about this in his book, "All Corvettes Are Red."

I read an interesting letter on this subject that was sent to the editor of Corvette Enthusiast Magazine several years ago. The letter's author did not provide his credentials, but it was obvious that he was quite knowledgeable of the assembly plant's build and sequencing processes. He spoke briefly about how differently cars are built today versus back in the St. Louis days and the use of Job Numbers or Sequence Number as they appear on the C5's build sheet. He went on to state that the VIN is an Identification Number and not a "plant sequence number." He went on to say, "That is why VIN 00001 for 2005 can be built on the 2004 assembly line and have that ID number attached." He finished by saying, "So, plant sequence number or job sequence number has everything to do with the car assembly process and nothing to do with the VIN other than the two have a relationship, but do not match." You may be able to find a copy of this issue of Corvette Enthusiast at one of your local libraries. (See "Those Crazy VINs", in the "Enthusiast Notes" department, Corvette Enthusiast Magazine, October 2004, page 10.)

HTH

 

Information I've seen shows that 1999 model year C5 production began on the morning of June 16, 1998 with Job or Sequence Number 000001 and VIN 100057. If correct, this would put your car's build about 4 months into the 1999 model year production run.

 

Wow I love this site! So much information!

Thanks!
Steve