Date of last 74 Challenger produced???

[Alaskan_TA]

The cars were not built sequentially by the VIN number.

[72bluNblu]

My bad. I thought the numbers were sequential for the plant.

[Alaskan_TA]

Well..........

They are. They were assigned sequentially.

The cars were not built sequentially though.

This is especially true for the Hamtramck plant since it had two assembly lines. For each car to leave the plant in the order of it's VIN number would be nearly impossible.

Think of it this way if you will?

If they wanted it to work that way, assembly line 1 could have made all the odd number cars & assembly line 2 all the even number cars.

Great idea, very simple.

Until one line has a hiccup and the other line moves faster. Then what? Hold up the production on one line so the other line can catch up? Not gonna happen.......

There are also cases where cars with some options were "held back" and not produced when they were hoped to have been built.

The broadcast sheet sequence number seems to have much more to do with what cars were built together than either the SPD or the VIN number.

It is a very keen intrest of mine, I am looking into it more & more as data comes in..............

[360 'CUDA]

So as far as you know that Challenger with the pole through the roof that was in MCG about 15 years ago is not the last one built??

[Alaskan_TA]

I am not familiar with the car, or the story. 

Knowing if any certain car of its kind is the "last one" made would require only one thing though.......

100% complete records from the assembly plant.

Barring that, anything else is speculation. All we can do is note the highest example seen so far since "complete" records do not seem to exist.

[Roppa440]

Thank you Barry. I was starting to feel "on my own" here.

[Alaskan_TA]

No one is every truly alone here. 

This thread does give me an idea for a new article to write for HH though...........

[Roppa440]

I think we need some good reference that details the actual steps taken, from walking into a dealership to order a car, to the keys being handed to the customer. Because there seems to still, after all these years, some confusion about the process. And with this sort of information felt as being "important" in the Mopar hobby I think greater strides need to be taken to ensure everyone in this hobby knows how these cars were made.

We need more information on things like;
At what points were the VIN and sequence numbers created and when exactly were the fender and dash tags made? When was the scheduled build date for a car created? When were the cars with particular scheduled build dates most likely actually built and did it depend on what options the cars came with? Etc.

Some sort of reference like that would be a big help to the hobby. And if anyone can do it it is you Barry.

[Alaskan_TA]

I am working on it Dave, I am as fascinated by the process as you are. I have a lot of questions with no answers yet, but I am working on it. 

The military order information you sent me provided a valuable glimpse into that aspect of car ordering, I refer to it all the time. 

[Roppa440]

The military order information you sent me provided a valuable glimpse into that aspect of car ordering, I refer to it all the time. 

I must sit down and actually read that sometime.

[trublu]

Does anyone know the "highest number so far"? Or the "latest (scheduled?)build date so far"?

[Alaskan_TA]

The highest SPD for 1974 models built at Hamtramck that I have seen so far is 726 - July 26th.

But, supposedly they stopped producing E-Bodies well prior to that. 

[trublu]

Hmmm... Seems a little strange that, according to one source I have, Chrysler decided to pull the plug on the Cuda & Challenger in March of '74, another says "...on April 1, 1974, Chrysler shut down the production lines for the Barracuda and Challenger, 10 years to the day from the start of Barracuda production.", but still scheduled them to be built on July 26th!!?? Could you give us some more info on this 7-26 car you saw, such as where & when you spotted it, where you saw that date, the car's VIN, state of condition, color, 318 or 360, etc., etc. I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to more about it.

[Alaskan_TA]

I said it was the highest SPD I knew of for 1974 at Hamtramck, not that it was for an E-Body. 

I have heard that E-Body production did stop sometime in the spring, but I do not have any paperwork on it.

[trublu]

   Thanks for the clarification Barry. Since this topic was about the end of Challenger production, I assumed that's all we were discussing. I'm new here-I'll learn the ropes!!
   Since you're the "Go To Guy", let me clarify my question from Oct. 15th. What is the highest VIN/latest build date you (or anyone else) has seen on a '74 Challenger?