How can this car be an alleged "AACA Grand National Winner"?

[joe_padavano]

3 hours ago, 8E45E said:

I believe there were at least three copies made of every build sheet; one (or a master) for Oldsmobile Division's records to keep the IRS happy and placed in their files, a second for the comptroller's office, and third for the assembly line.  If the assembly line copy in Lansing got discarded, where did the other two end up?

 

Craig

Unfortunately much of that documentation from the 1960s and early 70s was simply thrown out. Olds was in the business of selling new cars, not paying to store documents for restorers half a century later. These were pretty much all paper documents and there was no reason to save them after the warranty period ended. Pontiac was about to discard all their documentation when it was saved at the last minute by one of the founders of PHS.

[8E45E]

52 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

Unfortunately much of that documentation from the 1960s and early 70s was simply thrown out. Olds was in the business of selling new cars, not paying to store documents for restorers half a century later. These were pretty much all paper documents and there was no reason to save them after the warranty period ended. Pontiac was about to discard all their documentation when it was saved at the last minute by one of the founders of PHS.

If only more people kept their Window Stickers!!

 

[Bhigdog]

Biting my tongue here...........Bob

[prewarnut]

Holy crap that's expensive. What's the King Ranch edition up to?

[8E45E]

12 hours ago, joe_padavano said:

I personally have no idea if it was painted this color from the factory or not, but Oldsmobile DID have a process and RPO codes for getting cars painted special colors from the factory, so at least it COULD have been. That's how cars got painted Mary Kay pink or Yellow Cab orange, for example. Unfortunately the only thing on the cowl tag would be a "- -" instead of the paint code, so other paperwork would be needed to prove the actual color that left the factory.

One good thing about Studebaker Production Orders, is the majority of them are still available from the Studebaker National Museum.  Besides what was installed at the factory, or left in the trunk for dealer installation, interior and exterior colors were on it, including 'special order' colors.  The only colors that had a number were Government Service Agency vehicles which were assigned a 'Federal Paint Spec. 595C' designation.

 

[3macboys]

3 hours ago, prewarnut said:

Holy crap that's expensive. What's the King Ranch edition up to?

Just remember that is Canadian dollar and today our dollar is about 73.5 cents to the US dollar.  

[8E45E]

17 hours ago, rocketraider said:

I found the IBM broadcast card in a Lansing-built 1974 Hurst/Olds, and build sheets in one Linden and one KC built 70s full-size Olds. Other than those, never in a Lansing car.

Does Hurst themselves have any documentation?   Their relationship with Oldsmobile went back to 1964.  And there were a lot of 'Hurst-Olds' cars made in those 10+ years.

 

Craig 

[Bhigdog]

9 hours ago, 3macboys said:

Just remember that is Canadian dollar and today our dollar is about 73.5 cents to the US dollar.  

Maybe not. Truck was made in USA by a USA company and they would expect to be paid in $ just as the amount due says. Canadian amounts are usually marked C$..............Bob

[3macboys]

55 minutes ago, Bhigdog said:

Maybe not. Truck was made in USA by a USA company and they would expect to be paid in $ just as the amount due says. Canadian amounts are usually marked C$..............Bob

Window stickers are made for the destination country, not where the assembly plant is located.  Vehicles assembled in Mexico don't arrive in the US with stickers in Peso's and the Dodge Hellcat that is assembled just down the road from me that is shipped to the US has a US price and sticker.  The one shown for the truck above even states that it is not intended for sale or registration in the US.   The comparable US dollar amount would be $52 800 which makes you realize the pain that we feel up here when it comes to buying parts for our antique cars.   More than a little off topic but it does make me wonder the value of window stickers from older cars - I had a 1990 Dodge Daytona that I bought new that I dealer installed cruise control and AM/FM Cassette added, those wouldn't have been covered by the sticker or build sheet but were definitely as delivered to me.  

 

As to the subject car I'm curious would it even be streetable in it's current form if it really does have the W31 Engine?  Not an Olds guy at all but very interesting following the thread

[joe_padavano]

58 minutes ago, 3macboys said:

As to the subject car I'm curious would it even be streetable in it's current form if it really does have the W31 Engine?  Not an Olds guy at all but very interesting following the thread

These cars were on the ragged edge of being streetable in stock form. The biggest problem is that if the car really does have a correct W31 engine with the 308/308 degree cam, manifold vacuum will be low and uneven at idle. As an example, from the factory these cars used a unique version of the Quadrajet carb that did not use the normal vacuum-operated power piston to regulate the primary metering rods that control fuel to the primary bores. The low and fluctuating vacuum would have caused the power piston and metering rods to bounce up and down at idle, causing erratic fuel metering. Instead these carbs used unique primary jets that were fixed and did not rely on the vacuum-operated metering rods to adjust fuel flow. What that means is that the vacuum would not be sufficient to reliably operate either the power brake booster or the vacuum-operated actuators in the A/C system. Factory W31s came with manual disc brakes and heater that used control cables to operate the various mode doors in the HVAC box.

Edited May 25, 2023 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

A 20 year old car, eligible for AACA judging in the near future, today's information is readily available. This sticker was $15 in .pdf format and the CarFax tracked it from its origin. Only had three options and you know how you get treated with those "strip jobs".

 

 

 

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

Only had three options and you know how you get treated with those "strip jobs".

Probably only 5 or 6 options were ever offered on this particular 760Li.    Otherwise, one would order the BMW "Individual" package to personalize it more, including a non-stock exterior and/or interior color combination.

 

Craig

Edited May 25, 2023 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

It is good to have that kind of digital documentation on the newer cars as they age. I remember when I first bought my '64 Riviera and the ten years to reach that 25 mark seemed so far away. That's gone and over 30 more. I have had my '60 Electra for  22 years  out of its 62 year life. I should document its history. And '86 Park Avenue, 12 years already. My thing is the clean newer ones and aging with them.

 

The BMW was a great car I considered keeping for the long run but it was too demanding and took time away from the other cars. I had it for 3 years and it cost me $3,000 to own. I bought computerized engine diagnostic tools and learned a lot, enough to not be afraid of most modern stuff so it was a real positive experience.

 

More to the topic, I consider official judging, whether AACA or 400 point as the best standard for appraising a purchase. It is worth it to get a car out on the field and have it judged if resale is ever going to be considered.