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It is followed by 33-11 which is the sales zone and the number of the dealer that ordered the car. In essence, what is explained here to the assembly line worker is the build number of the car, S25 at the top.
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Sheets became more complicated as options and styles increased. This 1951 Buick Special sedan build sheet shows how simple letter and number codes handles the majority of the car's build instructions. The type is simple and mysterious to the uninitiated. Age has weathered the paper to a orange and sepia tone hue. As you can see, this sheet is about the size of a furnace oil bill, about one third of an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet. Let's examine a 1951 Buick Special Deluxe build sheet as an example of this post war technology. General Motors retooled their plants after they finished using dressed up 1942 cars to sell after the war ended in 1945. We start seeing evidence of build sheets in usage as early as 1950. It was a completely different approach to car building and the twain didn't meet until after the war through the miracle of early computers. The important technical specs had all been settled long before production started and were stored on blueprints at the engineering department. After that part was completed, it didn't matter which chassis the body used. The addition of colors other than black required a few notations on the firewall to make sure the right paint was used. Most of the important details for a specific car were noted right on the body itself as it went down the assembly line. There was one chassis, one engine and about three bodies in all. With mass production companies such as Ford and Chevrolet, the bodies offered during the 1920s and '30s were limited and simple. Most have vanished due to the companies going out of business after the war. These were in effect, the "build sheets of the 1920s and '30s luxury cars. This prevented shrinkage from humidity changes that occurred with manila. Frequently large sheets of alloy metal were used and coated with lacquer. Tracings could be made off these and rolled up for convenient storage.
Bmw build sheet vin full size#
They were reproduced full size on 16 feet manila board. This along with draftsmen's drawings helped builders assemble the car to custom order.ĭraftsmen produced layouts of the body called the body draft. The sketches were handed over to the artist for a color rendering which is basically a brochure-like illustration of the car for the customer.Ī customer specifications sheet listed all the details of the car's construction from chassis to body and interior. Any changes in specs were added and the sketch given a revision number. When the customer selected a design, that particular drawing was used for development. Once the chassis dimensions were laid out, sketches for the interior and body were done to scale and were numbered for showing the customer. At the other end of the scale, Rolls Royce and American luxury models usually specified the highest angled steering column for long term driving comfort and this was called the 'A position.' The cut down, sporty jobs had a low raking steering column which was called 'D position' in the blueprints. The lower the angle of the steering column, the more rakish profile you could design for a sleek appearance which was desirable for a torpedo or boat tail speedster body. The D post was the angle of your steering column the height of which determined how low cut you could design the cowl for a sporting look. Factory blue prints of the chassis were consulted to determine important factors such as axle kick up, location of steering wheel, and most important to the body builder: the D post. Scale drawings of proposed designs were made usually on a scale of 1 inch to one foot. He had real world experience with the attributes of certain designs and drive trains and this usually affected the selection of chassis.Ī meeting with one or more custom builders was the next step, either at the coach builder's office or at the dealer show room. This man was in charge of the regular maintenance and driving duties of the car. Another person of importance during this process was the chauffeur. The senior salesmen usually had a rapport between their clients and the coachbuilders and it was through this network that a custom body order would be completed. Most often these orders came from the dealerships of various luxury cars. Sometimes the buyer would leave it up to the coach builder to suggest a suitable chassis for the body but most often the chassis was purchased and sent to the coachbuilders.