Some great dialogue going on here! Keep it up!
kmccabe56:
Thanks for the clarification on the SG-30s. I wondered if they were telling the whole story. When I get a chance, I will modify the production numbers statements to clarify US production only. You would of thought that Chrysler would have kept track of export numbers also – go figure.
For total production numbers, I used all car types to err on the high side. I was not sure if Chrysler used (total) production when it computed its option percentages in the Advanced Information Brochures, or if they actually split out the 2-door production to get their numbers. As I document more sunroof cars, this should become clearer. Also, after 1971, the sunroof was available on 4-door hardtops – which usually had much higher total production numbers than the 2-door models.
Mr C:
I went back through the dealership data books on the 71-73 Monacos and Polaras, and I did not see the factory sunroof option as available on those models. That being said, the factory sunroof was not supposed to be available on the 72 Fury Suburbans – yet one exists – supposedly with full documentation. As always with Ma Mopar – never say never.
polara71: How solid is the documentation on the export 72 Monaco with sunroof? I know those crazy Europeans loved sunroofs on their cars. Does it have a VON that supports a factory sunroof install? Buildsheet? Any pics?
tallhair: Does 68Coronetrt share? Some collectors can’t or don’t collaborate much. Sometimes they have confidentiality agreements with the owners.
Scott.
SG30s refer to the number of cars SOLD, not the number BUILT. There is a production report that lists actual production, by carline, by engineering model code for body styles, but goes no farther. SG30 reports came in several flavours depending on who requested the information. Some are very vague and list installation rates for all cars from a carline regardless of trim level or body style. Others are quite good, going down to the model and body style.
When Chrysler was making a hasty exit from Europe in the summer of 1979, I did manage to track down the fellow who would have had the SG30s for export, but my conversation with him was very short "I'm trying to shut down European operations, I don't have time to look for what you'r asking about", so whatever export reports may have existed have very likely all been trashed. Also, I was told that cars built for engineering use, cars built for executive lease and cars sold through military PXs were never tracked. When I asked why the PX cars weren't tracked, the laughing reply was "Do you know how many cars we sell through military PXs in a year?, Hell, we lose more cars than that!"
Now having said all of that, having the U.S. and Canadian SG30s does do something really useful. When you add up the number of cars sold in both markets and compare that number to the total number built, it often works out to anywhere from the low 90% to occasionally 100% of the cars built. By collecting the numbers of a particular option and taking what percentage that number represents, it allows you to mathematically theorize what the total number of cars built would be. I've only done this on a few occasions, and the one that sticks out most involved '70 Challenger convertibles with a hemi. The "rule of thumb" is that Canada gets 10% of what the U.S. market does, but in the case of high performance and some oddball cars, Canada often did quite a bit better. In the case of these cars, 9 were sold in the U.S. 3 were sold in Canada (33% instead of 10% which would have been 1 car) and when I did the math projection against the total number of Challenger R/T convertibles built, it suggested that there should have been a 13th car. Lo and behold, a fellow I was helping out at the time, had the pull to have the computer center in Highland Park re-run the master tape from Hamtramck looking for JS27R cars. And they found 13. The nine sold in the U.S., the 3 sold in Canada and the 13th car was sold through a military PX in Germany.
Speaking of sunroofs, I do recall that the late 90s FWD Cbody cars were not initially offered with a sunroof, because the kit that was fabbed up allow for too much flex in the roof panel and this too much flex in the whole structure of the body. It took several months of redoing the inner supports to allow a sunroof to function properly and not have the car flex and wiggle going down the road.
