Production numbers again

[ChallengerHK]

I've been reading the posts on E-body production numbers, and I have two questions on that topic.

Back when I first bought my car, say late 70s/early 80s, the "in the know" MoPar guys said that the reason that there were no concrete production figures was that there had been a fire in the warehouse where Chrysler kept these records and that they had all burned up. Problem was that everybody who told me this had gotten it through some chain of communication, somebody told somebody, etc. (One guy even said that the records of the VINs for cars used in Vanishing Point had been lost in the same fire.) When I lived in Detroit, aside from making a sacred journey to the former site of Dodge Main, I tried to track down anyone who could confirm these rumors, but almost all of the relevant people were long gone. Does anybody here know if this is true, or know the real story?

Second thing: is there a registry for all e-bodies? I know there's a TA/AAR registry, but it seems like an overall registry would be a good way to at least try to infer how many e-bodies are left, and would also be a good way to connect owners to engine blocks and broadcast sheets.

[Killer_Mopar]

I heard the same stories about the fire that burned all the production info and I even remember reading about it in a Mopar magazine so I assumed it was true. I imagine someone like Barry would know if it was true, so lets wait for him to chime in.

is there a registry for all e-bodies?

The Hamtramk registry is the closest registry for all e-bodies because most Challenger and Cudas were built there. There isnt a registry for all of them because it is a huge undertaking for whomever does it and nobody has stepped up to even attempt it.

[ChallengerHK]

Thanks, Killer. I looked at the Hamtramck Registry site. Did I read it wrong, or is it only for 1970 model year?

[DMZ73]

I have heard the same thing....
Yes, it is a MASSIVE undertaking. We- as employees have tried to get a peek, but the rules are, if you are not an employee of the Chrysler Archival commitee, you are not allowed. Those records are sensitive. Yes, they also have drawings and spec sheets on file. You can contact the Chrysler Archives for more info. I will post the phone number later on.
As far as I know, Galen Govier, the foremost figurehead in Mopar documentation works hand in hand with the Archives, and probably has the most complete set of vin numbers in his records, aside from the Archives themselves.

There is no breakdown as to how many cars they made in certain colors. There are limits to the insanity...
I wish I had more to offer. I have brought this to the attention of many, and it falls on deaf ears. We just would not have the staff to keep up our historica archives the way the collectors would want to. Any volunteers??? Hahaha....

I'll post later.
dmz73

[ChallengerHK]

DMZ - I see you're right in the middle of Dream Cruise territory. That's one thing I'm going to miss. If you don't mind my asking, what do you do at Chrysler?

It sounds like (if I'm not misunderstanding things) people are considering a registry to be something that would track every conceivable variant. I admit that would be nice, but I'd be happy to just have a handle on VINs that remain.

[DMZ73]

I am a car designer. I get to play with crayons and pencils....haha

Yes, it's true.  I work in the Jeep design studio, bith concept vehicles and production.

The Woodward Cruise is the most surrealistiic display of HP you can EVER imagine. It is truly amazing. I would recommend checking it out at some point.

dmz73

[ChallengerHK]

DMZ -

Way cool; wish I knew about this site when I was living there. I would have loved to have linked up with you trying to get info from the Archives.  It sounds tough, but I did manage to talk the advertising group into giving me the original 4x5 transparencies of the Yellow Jacket 

I managed to make it to 4 Dream Cruises while I lived there, and I agree with your assessment. One of the weirdest things I ever saw was an Oldmosbile Tornado camper.

[74MOPAR]

 There is a breakdown of model colors per year. I'm thinking he probably has the sheets available for most year E-bodies.
 Call Galen Govier and order one of his  " options and accesory breakdown sheets "   for the specific year + model you want.

 I have purchased them in the past for 70 Charger R/T  +  73 Roadrunner . They cost about $15-20.
  It broke down how many Charger R/T's were built with each option.  For instance my R/T was one of 250 out of the roughly 10,000 made in FT6 Dark Tan Metallic , and one of 150 with the tan interior, one of xxx with the buddy seat, one of xxx with 3.23 rear, etc.

 I suppose if you want to cover every year of E-body it will get expensive.