Defaced trim tag

[chuck13]

How would that even remotely be a legitimate source:

AVENT - Allied Vaughn

www.alliedvaughn.com

They send you an invoice of the options that particular car shipped with.

Good morning,

Thanks again for your interest in the GM Media Archive. Please see attached vehicle invoice for your 1981 Chevrolet Camaro. As noted in the previous email there are no build records archived for Chevrolet vehicles, only vehicle invoices. Also attached is your credit card receipt. Please note your payment was processed by Allied Vaughn, tier 1 supplier for General Motors.

Feel free to click on the link below to download a pdf version of a vehicle information kit for 1981 Chevrolet Camaro. The vehicle information kit contains basic specifications, interior and exterior information.

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/do...rmation-kits/Camaro/1981-Chevrolet-Camaro.pdf

Legitimate?

 

[FS87LT]

Very odd and suspicious.

Does it have:

A 15" tire sticker in the driver's door?
Rear sway bars?
Proper Z28 exhaust?
350 Engine?
Aluminum blocks on the lower control arm bumpers?
Z28 hood and fender vents?
78 Z28 stripes?

There are a few other things specific to a Z28 but if the drive train has been swapped, it doesn't really matter if it's a Z28 as pretty much all of the rest can be changed (cloned).I believe

I believe that all Gen II-B Z/28s were all model designation "FQ87" (base model) with the Z/28 Option Package. Just as with the Gen II-A Z/28s. In the pre-IROC Z/28s, "Z/28" was an option package, NOT a separate model, which made them easier to clone. Which is why looking for the items listed in #3 above very important.

To add . . . Gen II-B Z/28s had the specific imitation "string wrapped" steering wheel. 4-spd cars had 3.73 rear axle ratio and the THM350 cars had 3.42 rear axle ratio. Wheels should be painted body color, if they still are the OEM steel wheels, but finned aluminums were optiional. A/C compressor clutch might also be the "large" diameter clutch pulley rather than the normal small diameter pulley.

FS87LT

 

[Bikefixr]

All you really know is that the defacement was 1) done prior to the tag going on the car, so the factory did it for some reason. 2) Someone went to the effort of removing the tag, defacing it, then reattaching it. This begs the question...why? If someone just wanted to remove the Z28, why not do it with the tag attached to the car? Why spend the time and effort? 3) Either way, you removed it, so whatever happened before is sorta a moot point, because once they are removed, everything becomes suspect. I have seen a couple of trim tags over the years that were factory defaced. I had a '74 Caprice Convertible 454 that I bought from the original owner who was the Newark, DE GM plant manager (and a family friend). Back in the day, Execs could get cars made to order at the model-year end/ line change. This car had a counter-order HP454, an interior color not factory-offered, a Pontiac paint color and all sorts of extra's. So the trim tag had - - in several places, and those were clearly hand-done as they didn't really align well with the other digit. GM did some odd things in the day that I'm sure made sense at the time.

 

[George Rohlinger]

All you really know is that the defacement was 1) done prior to the tag going on the car, so the factory did it for some reason. 2) Someone went to the effort of removing the tag, defacing it, then reattaching it. This begs the question...why? If someone just wanted to remove the Z28, why not do it with the tag attached to the car? Why spend the time and effort? 3) Either way, you removed it, so whatever happened before is sorta a moot point, because once they are removed, everything becomes suspect. I have seen a couple of trim tags over the years that were factory defaced. I had a '74 Caprice Convertible 454 that I bought from the original owner who was the Newark, DE GM plant manager (and a family friend). Back in the day, Execs could get cars made to order at the model-year end/ line change. This car had a counter-order HP454, an interior color not factory-offered, a Pontiac paint color and all sorts of extra's. So the trim tag had - - in several places, and those were clearly hand-done as they didn't really align well with the other digit. GM did some odd things in the day that I'm sure made sense at the time.

Tags were bolted on in some years, so very easy to remove.just a mystery why someone would go thru all that trouble to deface a trim tag, It's not like the car is worth millions

 

[FS87LT]

All you really know is that the defacement was 1) done prior to the tag going on the car, so the factory did it for some reason. 2) Someone went to the effort of removing the tag, defacing it, then reattaching it. This begs the question...why? If someone just wanted to remove the Z28, why not do it with the tag attached to the car? Why spend the time and effort? 3) Either way, you removed it, so whatever happened before is sorta a moot point, because once they are removed, everything becomes suspect. I have seen a couple of trim tags over the years that were factory defaced. I had a '74 Caprice Convertible 454 that I bought from the original owner who was the Newark, DE GM plant manager (and a family friend). Back in the day, Execs could get cars made to order at the model-year end/ line change. This car had a counter-order HP454, an interior color not factory-offered, a Pontiac paint color and all sorts of extra's. So the trim tag had - - in several places, and those were clearly hand-done as they didn't really align well with the other digit. GM did some odd things in the day that I'm sure made sense at the time.

Being that this person was the Plant Manager, he knew how to circumvent some systems, obviously. He ordered the car for HIM with a particular set of options and such, THEN orchestrated the arrival of "alternative items" for the car (interior items, paint, etc.) for installation in the place of the normal Chev items. Which would have explained the "re-stamped" trim plate. The orig trim plate was stamped for the "normal" car, but was re-stamped" to reflect what actually went into the car.

The re-stamping of the plate would also have had the respective plant employees on-line with the deal, too. But then, who would want to go against a Plant Manager whom they probably liked? No federal laws broken, so it all happened.

The only real issue would have been the paint, possibly, unless that same plant also built Pontiac which would have had that particular paint color just for Pontiacs. "Whoops! We just painted that Chevrolet in a Pontiac color!" OR that particular color was in the "Fleet Color Selection", which sometimes included potential colors for "next year's vehicles" in it too.

I saw a '90s Roadmaster Limo built in a GM plant (B/C-body) that was presented to the Plant Manager by the employees.

Just some observations,
FS87LT

 

[Charles Roseberry]

If you REALLY want to know,you can get a copy of the vehicle invoice.Pretty sure
they'd have em for a 78,was able to get one for my 1981,and the price isn't
unreasonable.Here's the email addy.Not a sponsor,just tryin to help a brother
Camaro addict out...

vehicleinvoice@alliedvaughn.com

I apologize. The alliedvaugn.com website and what it lands on is just very weird. I know people are apparently ordering from them, but I don't see why? Isn't it just a made up document with a list of options your car had by VIN? So IM wondering 1. Why anyone would pay 50.00 for that and 2. Why that information says GM, but is coming form that very weird source.

Shrug

 

[Charles Roseberry]

My uncle had been rebuilding old cars for a long time, maybe 40 years? I have seen cases where a trim tag/vin tag was defaced because someone tried to purport that what they were selling was not really what it was. So, they defaced the tag to make it look like something (In this case a Z) Then, when a reputable dealer of older vehicles verifies that this is the case, they once again deface the tag so it can't be used to pull a scam on the next unsuspecting person.

This is why I mention this was my guess. I've seen it happen before through my uncles trading and dealing with with old cars over the years.

 

[George Rohlinger]

My uncle had been rebuilding old cars for a long time, maybe 40 years? I have seen cases where a trim tag/vin tag was defaced because someone tried to purport that what they were selling was not really what it was. So, they defaced the tag to make it look like something (In this case a Z) Then, when a reputable dealer of older vehicles verifies that this is the case, they once again deface the tag so it can't be used to pull a scam on the next unsuspecting person.

This is why I mention this was my guess. I've seen it happen before through my uncles trading and dealing with with old cars over the years.

This makes sense... If you look closely you can make out a Z... So maybe someone was trying to stamp Z28, when actually not, so maybe next person purposely deface it so next buyer would know not buying a true Z28

 

[Twisted_Metal]

Something else odd about that trig tag:

On a Norwood Camaro, that interior code "CA1" code should have been "CAR", I believe.
That designated a Carmine dash and steering column, which aligned with the carmine vinyl interior "74R" code.

 

[George Rohlinger]

This makes sense... If you look closely you can make out a Z... So maybe someone was trying to stamp Z28, when actually not, so maybe next person purposely deface it so next buyer would know not buying a true Z28