drooman

I'm trying to find as many data points as possible to calculate the approximate production dates by VIN for 1979 R.o.W. cars (which have no production dates on them)

The data currently publicly available is:
the VIN ranges and total numbers of USA, R.o.W., and Japan cars.
The date range of 1979 model production (Aug 1 1978 to July 31 1979)
The calendar dates the the factory was open (closed weekends, holidays)

As most of you know there are stickers in the door jamb with VIN and MONTH/YEAR stamps on USA delivered cars. in addition ALL cars were delivered with a production number that was hand written in red marker on a piece of tape on the underside of the glovebox (see pic) This unique number represents the order of production as cars went down the line (regardless of market)

So the basic concept here is to gather as many data points as possible of :

VINs with dates (USA cars, door jamb sticker)
VINs with dates AND production numbers (USA cars)
VINs with production numbers (R.o.W. cars)

and with some data points combined with the publicly available information be able to narrow down dates of production on R.o.W. cars. With enough data I think it could be estimated down to the week and even the day of production.

As with all data modeling, it will never be perfect. Gaps in the data, the limited data on Japan cars (only 113 built) swapped glove boxes, "unknown unknowns" etc all have their effects.

I welcome any data the community can provide. I have no interest in making or adding to current "registry" data (owners, locations, etc) so you can PM me the data if you don't want to publicly post it here. I Also welcome suggestions on the methodology. I'll post my findings depending on how much data I get.

Thanks 79 owners!

Guy

Vin 928200919. Production date is 12/78. Production number 2330.

Funny, never noticed the tape on the bottom of the glove box. Very cool!

Thanks for taking this project on!

Guy

drooman

Thanks!

Kiwi'79

Vin 9289101584 (Row, ex UK)

I am about to order COA so as yet I do not know prod date, I too did not know about tape under glove box.

I also found the tape ( almost a replica of the photo you posted!!!) but alas, it looks as though it has been "wiped over" with a chemical (amourall I expect!!!) there is an outline of something there so when I have time I will carefully remove it and see if I can decipher what was written. Very cool though to find this.

Good work BTW

dicreamio

Hi Folks,

Here's my 1979 (RoW ex UK)

VIN 9289101856

Will check the tape under the glove box when I get home and update this post.

Regards
Michael

VanD

The 'tape' is one of the first things I usually check on my cars just for '***** and g!ggles', but I never checked on the red '79, unfortunately only 1/2 the tape is there, but I think it's the 'important' 1/2 at least...


The Euro (VIN '1979' - how cool is that!) and the mocha US car are in deep storage next to the ark of the covenant for the next few weeks until I get closed and moved into the new warehouse so will let you know when I lay eyes on my babies again...

potdog

VIN 928200894



waiting for cert of authenticity from pcgb

dicreamio

[QUOTE=dicreamio;13599433]Hi Folks,

Here's my 1979 (RoW ex UK)

VIN 9289101856

Will check the tape under the glove box when I get home and update this post... here you go





Regards
Michael

drooman

Thanks to all for the replies..keep them coming! The photos are cool but not really required, so if you want to save a few mins just post the numbers and dates. I completely spaced off COA data in my original post..that may be even better.

dicreamio

Sorry for the big picture, got excited when I found that sticker :-)

drooman

The more of these I see the more I think one guy did them for a long time..kind of a distinctive "font"

8what

Here's my row Aus Delivery 9289102684,
They've gone from red texter to black

dicreamio

Hmm same handwriting I was wondering was the 1 a 7 on mine but yours has cleared it up, I'm 3051 and our Porsche factory dude had to get a new marker :-)

Ad0911

I think most of us like the pictures so much! So here is mine, glovebox #1942.
VIN #9289101100

i_ellis

The tape number on mine is very large and in green although the VIN date is 10/78....doesn't seem right since Van's red 79 has a VIN date of 9/78 and his number is still in red.

Replacement glove box on mine maybe?