[DeTomaso] Just the facts survey

gow2 at rc-tech.net gow2 at rc-tech.net
Thu Mar 1 18:00:28 EST 2012


The VIN identifier is a guide but not the bible.

I have a 1972 Pushbutton #1280.

The car was pulled off the assembly line, set aside, finished up in 1972
with many parts used in 1972 cars (such as uprights, exhaust, etc). The
car was initially sold to France. A piece of paper which decodes the VIN
says it should be a 1971.

DeTomaso sold it as a 1972
Italy titled it as a 1972
France accepted it as a 1972
Imported and registered in the US as  1972

Who am I to argue with DeTomas as to what year car he produced.


The DeTomaso.IT registry which doesn't seem to exist any more listed a
couple dozen early push buttons as 1972.

It has been argued that the continuing series cobras/Mustangs proves
otherwise but that is not a thought out argument because it proves my
point.

If Shelby builds a Cobra in 1990, regardless of when the body was built, AND:

Shelby and the DOT say it's a 196x then it is a 196x.

A piece of paper which shows the intended order or sequence is not enough
for the whole story.

To make label a car a year it is not changes the history of what was; and
what was was loose and from the hip.
Having an early pushbutton which was finished in 1972 with many later
model parts and sent to France (likely because it was not specked out
conform to US profile) is the history of who this car company was.


Gary





> Actually that's not that early at all. As I said in my earlier post;
> Manufacturers always introduce the new year model in the fall of the
> previous year. So a July build date (remember Europe virtually shuts down
> completely in aug) would be about right to Make it to the dealer floor by
> Sept. The changeover to 73 models was obviously delayed, as your numbers
> state, due to the sharp distinction between the pre L and L model but I'm
> sure Ford wasn't happy about it. The distinction between a 73 and 74 was
> much more subtle so Ford probably started calling everything that hit the
> lot after Sept. 1 a 74.
>
> Gray
>
> From: MikeLDrew at aol.com [mailto:MikeLDrew at aol.com]
> Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 1:05 PM
> To: grayjim at att.net; Gray Gregory; cmccann1972 at gmail.com;
> kermit at gabbagabbahey.net; garth_rodericks at yahoo.com; detomaso at realbig.com;
> spkorb at gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Just the facts survey
>
>
> In a message dated 3/1/12 10 14 46,
> grayjim at att.net<mailto:grayjim at att.net> writes:
>
>
>
> Mike,
>
> Do we know when the the first '74 was built and what the number was?
>
>
>>>>All that info is listed in the orange Ford parts book on Page 2, and
>>>> that information is copied over (complete with errors) into the De
>>>> Tomaso parts book that Wilkinson cooked up in the 80s and is still the
>>>> primary reference for ordering parts.
>
> Before #2293 -- 1971
>>From 2293 -- 1972
>>From 4269 -- 1972 1/2
>>From 4840 -- 1973
>>From 5900 -- 1974
>
> By looking up the VIN of 5900, we can see that it's THPNNA5900, which
> would make it a July '73 build date.  That's rather early, don't you
> think?  It just highlights the completely capricious nature of the model
> year changeover, which was apparently dictated by Ford.
>
> Again, these are completely arbitrary distinctions and have nothing to do
> specifically with differences in the cars themselves.  The cars evolved
> over time separately from the model years; for example, cars built in
> January and February of 1972 are actually built to the 1971
> specifications, generally.  This is repeated over and over as the details
> changed at random times.
>
> The L-model was a fairly sharp delineation between 'early' and 'late'
> cars, but the first 800-or-so L-models received the two-pod dash, and it
> wasn't until sometime in 1973 that they switched from the inside to the
> outside fuel filler, etc. etc. etc.
>
> Mike
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