mountainears

OK, only a few people besides myself even thought or knew there was any sort of mystery around this car, so you may not even care. But this was some fun detective work and I think I'm closing the case on this one, since it was a bit of leg work I thought it would be fun to share (and I'll link this in the sticky thread for the GSCE's as well).

So, what's the mystery?

Car 0001 in the series was first shown in Geneva. There is a YouTube video in the GSCE sticky thread and in the video you can clearly see the dash plate that shows this car is #0001. The car clearly is a Automatic Coupe.

Fast forward to the Barrett-Jackson auctions where car 0001 was auctioned off to benefit a cancer charity. Lots of pictures from that auction, car shown in the pictures is an Automatic Coupe. They reference in the article a dash plaque of #0001 but could not get a picture.

One could assume the car from Geneva is the same as the car at the B-J auction.

Based on what I saw in these pictures I updated the registry to show car #0001 as an Automatic Coupe.

Now we get to the mystery part of this. Through two sources, which will remain nameless, as part of my work on collecting data for the registry I come to find out that the VIN for #0001 shows this car is a Convertible, not a Coupe. This seemed strange to me because of the other photographic evidence.

This is why I reached out to the forums asking if anyone had contact with the owner of the car from auction so we could verify.

Thanks to some work by forum member and GSCE #0279 owner eamespm, we come to find out that car 0001 is indeed a Convertible.

So, how do we explain what was shown at auction and in Geneva?

Well, thanks to photos that were taken at the auction on the above mentioned website, there is a picture of the windshield VIN tag of the car that was on display (see below). Decoding this VIN, the 10th digit, F, indicates that this car is a 2015 Model Year vehicle. The 5th digit indicates that it is a 2LT Stingray w/Z51 engine. And the big piece is the EX at the end of that VIN, which means this is a prototype vehicle, can't be sold and will likely eventually be destroyed.

This prototype is probably the first or an early prototype of this series and was given a dash plaque of #0001 which caused the confusion.

It also probably explains the different sill plate that it has, which never made it to the production vehicles.

So from my perspective, I think I'm calling this case closed!

Rooster OG

Lol, great job! Sounds like you had some fun figuring this out!

///ADMAN

Nice job

Russbruns

I can make them, just need to know size.

Russbruns

Also.... anyone interested in swapping out GT seats for competition seats? I will throw in $750.

bobby1999c5

I just converted by GT seats to competition seats and have the covers for sale - not sure if anyone needs/wants them, but thought I would post here instead of just in the for sale section as this seems to be for a very targeted audience.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...0-shipped.html

Thanks,
Bobby

GS511

I just bought '17 GS Collector Edition #511. 49 miles on odometer. NEW with great discount from dealer motivated to move if off the lot. Please add me to the registry! Excited because this is my first Corvette... and first sports car! Wow, it's a MeToo time (HaHa)

DWS44

You might want to post up in the main sticky GSCE-specific thread with your post: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...rs-thread.html

Steve Garrett

Good detective work.

davepl

I don't about modern Corvettes but back in the olden days, sequence numbers were by body style and engine sometimes. So you could have a 6-cyl Biscayne and a 427 Impala SS convertible with the same sequence number. Because the body style (also in the VIN) is different, the VIN is different. So anything that changes the VIN allows them to reset the sequence numbers.

I don't think that's the case here (unless convertibles have their own sequence number) just throwing it out as trivia I learned!

GS511

Random thoughts from first time Vette owner: one week new. bought with 49 miles. Now have 350 miles! 19.4 MPG, Thinking of getting a personalized Lic. Plate? Is that corner stupid... or brilliant? Man! Southern California is cooking hot this week! More heat coming! Tires needs air today, too. It's been parked in the garage, but I had to go to gas station for air. Needed an excuse to drive her!! Thinking to get a new car detail done with polymer sealant. $280. Clay bar, etc. Lavaggio in Agoura Hills, Ca.

mountainears

I might suggest posting in the Collector Edition master thread.... https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...rs-thread.html

Personalized plates, I like mine :-) And I think the black CA plates look great on our cars.

I had mine wrapped in XPel and am happy with it, but it is unfortunately way more expensive than that detail you're talking about. Sounds very cheap, I might be a little worried about that.

GS511

Thanks for the advice. Detail prive is more likely $350. I appreciate your previous comments.
Patrick

bobby1999c5

I just converted by GT seats to competition seats and have the covers for sale - not sure if anyone needs/wants them, but thought I would post here instead of just in the for sale section as this seems to be for a very targeted audience.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...0-shipped.html

Thanks,
Bobby

2500 hd

I received my visor decals, looks great.
Thanks Russ.

Avanti

I've been down similar investigative roads with other brand vehicles and find there are often/usually manufacturer idiosyncrasies that eventually solve such cases.

asby69

New vanity plate for #555

JackSlice

There were 2 Collector Editions sitting in my local so cal dealership, 1 Convertible and 1 Coupe.

They have been sitting there for too long because the dealership wasn't offering any significant discounts until now. But just yesterday someone bought the coupe as it is no longer at the lot or website. The sticker price was a little above $91,000 and discounted for $68,888 (I know because I was browsing the new cars while getting my GSCE engine oil changed).

Since it is almost the end of 2018, hopefully the person negotiated a bit more of a discount. But what is concerning is that the Coupe had none of the aero parts on it, such as the plastic lip and 3/4 carbon flash sideskirt.

I hope that person is on the forums and got their parts!