1976-1980 Monza/Starfire Passenger Option Shipments Reports

[marco_1978_spyder]

Hi Bryan.

Yeah, I think a trip with a tour would be super cool.

If you ever go to the plant you'll notice a silver chute that connects 2 buildings.

These cars were really being assembled in 2 separate assembly plants.

The first plant Fisher 'Body' made the 'Bodies' , H bodys and Van Bodies. Evrything that was welded up to become the car, was welded there. Right from Freshly stamped body and frame unit panels.
They did some more stuff to , but that gives you the idea.
Like Wendy's, they made them to pre-established orders. From Dealers and Customers.

So my theory then is.. they had a few different H07 configurations, to meet the needs of the final trim the car was going to get on the GM final assembly line.....once welded up it went through the 'chute' mentioned above.
This is where the bodies passed into the final assembly line to get either Buick Chevy Olds or Pontiac trim and associated Drivetrain.
This plant was the GM final assembly plant.

Back at the They may have been able to assemble most of the '07' hatchback assembly and stock pile them.(all exterior quarterpanels and dimensions were identical) Then as order's rolled in, the units could be selected for an order in rapid fashion, and receive the necessary final welds.. Be it an M, E, R, S, D, or T version. Body's went through multiple quality checks and could be held back, if one needed an adjustment here or there.

This explains how some of the body unit numbers can jump around, while the vin# only increases.

Then Fisher Painted, added Glass, and interior trim, as ordered then..
Then on to final assembly.


Things are done in a much more modular fashion these days.

The old assembly line has been replaced 3 times over. It would be cool to see if the original elpo paint dip equipement is still around.

[stage169]

Brian....The BiCent. edition is the Heritage option. The Vega that you are talking about with the Flag on the fender should be a Spirit of America car which was a 74. They were all white with red/blue pinstriping as well as the flag on the side.

I'm lost, aren't these two different options? RPO B2W Vega/Monza Spirit "76" - 41,504 Vega / 24,646 Monza totals. RPO O7H 1776 Heritage knit cloth bucket Vega 2,620 total. This is on the 76 Chevy report. The total number of Spirit "76" cars you would think there would be more info out there. If there were 24k Monza's with the Heritage interior you would think there would be several of them in the garage would have it. Here is what the owner of an original Spirit "76" Vega told me.

Yah my car was different from spirit of america option.I can only tell you "rumors " about my spirit of 76 from different people.I own one.Funny is my car had black interior,probably ordered.The red was very ugly on the america car.Guesing is that the guy who ordered the car seen it originally in the america car.My car had Aluminum slots with waving flag badged center caps.Still got em.There was also Flag badge decals on each front fender where the GT markings would go.No vinyl putrid top either.I'm 3rd owner.The original owner never drove it.He was very fat and hated getting in and out.The second owner drove it her from California.It now has 97,000kmi Thats all I know.

This badge was on ebay. The Spirit "76" Chevy truck has the same badge on the interior door. That is all I know. Brian

[Len]

I think the Spirit "76" and the Heritage interior are different options. I've talked to a guy who owns an original Spirit "76" Vega and he said there was an American flag badge on the fenders where the GT emblem would go an also the same design on the center caps for the wheels. His original interior was black. The Chevy reports don't show how many Monza's or Chevette's were made with the Heritage interior just the Vega? Honestly I think these reports are missing a lot of options. They only show the Cabriolet option for 76 and its not the same RPO on Bryan's site. I thought Ken's Spyder with the C06 roof would be on it or the White stripe deluxe Spyder Marco was talking about but I don't see them.

Is the Nomad a 1HVD5 Vega Panel Express? 1,525 were made in 76. RPO 07H for the 1776 Heritage Knit Cloth Bucket had 2,620 Vega's with it. I haven't seen any RPO combinations on the Chevy reports.

I asked Ben to check his cowl tag on his 79 & 80 Hawks. His 80 is an "S" Hawk. It does have 4HT07 on the cowl tag. I know the 76 that was in my drive for a year was an "S" Hawk and I copied down the cowl tag and it had 4HS07 on it. Maybe it changed in 79? Anyway it would be nice to see an older "S" Hawk's cowl tag and know for sure.

Brian

Here you go Brian

Last Roll - 6.jpg

Len

[stage169]

Len thanks but what I'm looking for is an "S" model Skyhawk 78 or older. I believe the Cowl tag will show 4HS07 and the VIN will be 4T07. Your VIN should be 4S07 on your car since its a Skyhawk not a Skyhawk S (your steering wheel, bright edges on the side window louvers - these tell me your car is not an S Hawk). This kind of goes along with RPO WC6 (HT07) meaning the S Hawk was an option and not a different model. But then I think that all changed in 79 and they called both different models. Kind of like kicking a dead horse and who knows why but I think its correct and I'm just looking for proof. Brian

[stage169]

Another dead horse to kick. About the RPO B2W Spirit "76". It is odd that the description for this RPO in the report is Vega/Monza Spirit "76" yet the RPO 07H 1776 Heritage Knit Cloth Buck is only for the Vega? The total vehicles made with the RPO B2W is 41,504 Vega's (26%) and 24,646 Monza's (30%). I'm surprised we don't have some in the garage be it a badge or interior?

RPO 07H shows only 2,620 Vega's made with the Heritage interior but it doesn't list the Monza?

RPO ZL9 is a 76 only Monza RPO. Its description is "Special Custom Interior" and only 2,523 Monza's were made with it. Could this be the Heritage interior for the Monza?

Brian

[starfirejoe]

I used to have a sprit of 76 vega in 79 or 80, had white seats red carpet and black dash w/wood grain insert " GT" . thought It was odd a 74 model year to celabrate bicent.
still have my 79 starfire sx that I bought in 82 ,my build sheet says SX option is WJ8, M20 4spd.

[stage169]

Starfirejoe, I just got these car reports from GM Heritage on Chevy and Olds H bodies. The Chevy report that has the Spirit "76" option is for 1976. The 74 Vega you describe should be the Spirit of America option. The Spirit "76" option was available on the Vega and Monza. I knew nothing about either till I started looking through the reports and I really don't know much more now. Just getting bits and pieces to this question I'm sure at some point there will be a definitive answer. Its crazy so many were made and we don't know??? If its an interior option or just exterior badging I think there would be more examples out there? There have been cars show up with the Heritage interior but not like the total numbers for the Spirit "76" option list (30% of all Monza's made for 76 had this option). Going by the numbers for the Vega Heritage interior option I think the Monza RPO code ZL9 could be the Heritage interior for the Monza.

I should stick to Buicks. Brian