Any '71 Challenger owners that can help with month of production?

[Rickster]

My 71 Challenger came to me without a fender tag and broadcast sheet. Based on the sequence number, can anyone check their own sequence number and see what your manufacture month was? If I get several responses from you guys, this may help me narrow down the production month. I've tried a couple of other sources like the Hamtramck Registry site but they were unable to help.

From the VIN plate: JH23...B225915. Of course B referring to the Hamtramck assembly plant.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[kissalien]

Cars weren't built in VIN sequence. There's no door sticker either?

[Rickster]

No, there is no door sticker either.

Anyone with ideas on finding production month if sequence number was not done in order?

[Beekeeper]

I would think you could get it down to an approximate month if you found other cars around the same serial number built at that plant in that year. They may not have built them in exact VIN sequence but it's not like they were rolling out 335000 on day one and 000001 on the last day. I have owned many 1970 Mopars from different plants and every one of them had serial numbers that were reasonably consistent with their months of production. 

You may find that several other Challengers with numbers very close to yours were all built in say March or April. It would not be a guarantee that yours was also built around the same time but it probably was (give or take a couple weeks).

[Beekeeper]

So after posting, I got bored and searched the Internet for 1971 challenger fender tags from the same plant as yours. I found tons of them. I quickly noticed a pattern that typical run of the mill Challengers with serial numbers close to yours were built around January-February. I found a couple rare cars (hemis and Trans ams) that had numbers close to yours but were built in late March. This made me consider that maybe special orders sat around before they were filled and therefore took a little longer to get produced.

I found no cars with numbers close to yours that came from months you wouldn't expect like September 70 or May 71.

Vehicle Order Numbers varied widely but that's to be expected since the individual dealerships were sent order books corresponding to their dealerships.

What I found is only anecdotal evidence so you can never really be certain of its accuracy. While you can be reasonably sure your car was produced in January or February of 1971. You will never be able to determine the day or week built or the V.O.N. without a fender tag or build sheet.

[Rickster]

Well, at least that narrows it down to probably Jan or Feb. I'll check out the fender tag sources you looked at at see which month seems like the "best guess."

Thanks for doing that search and getting me a little closer to an answer!

[Beekeeper]

No problem. Good luck!

[Culvers]

I have fender tags with sequence 225773 and 225788 in my records, both have SPD B24 (24th October)

[Rickster]

Thanks for the reply, Culvers!

[Beekeeper]

I have fender tags with sequence 225773 and 225788 in my records, both have SPD B24 (24th October)

I thought B was sometimes used for February. I saw very few with month dates using letters, most were numbers only. The ones I did see were A, B, and C, no other letters. If I am wrong about B being February and it's actually the second month of production, then wouldn't it be September? A being August when production began and B being September?

[Beekeeper]

Looks like I was wrong. Just found this and thought it might help muddy things up for you.

[Culvers]

I have fender tags with sequence 225773 and 225788 in my records, both have SPD B24 (24th October)

A little mistake: B means November (not October)

[Beekeeper]

Still earlier than I would predicted so my theory kinda goes out the window.

[Rickster]

Yes, I saw the same decoder you posted. Based on Culver's input, looks like mine was probably produced around the end of October 1970.

[Beekeeper]

Yes, I saw the same decoder you posted. Based on Culver's input, looks like mine was probably produced around the end of October 1970.

Culver's input may be more correct. Here's another tag I found which supports Culver's build in late November. This one is early November and the serial number is marginally lower.