ALC 68A
Donation Time
The VIN on the Alpine in the Nebraska scrapyard, pictured in the "Discoveries" section, is unfortunately illegible, but the SAL number 252128 is clear. Checking against the Series 3 list in the Registry shows an Alpine with an SAL 252130 (VIN B9200657 - coincidentally also Autumn Gold like the scrap car), so perhaps the two cars were within a few chassis numbers of each other (but perhaps not! - see below).
My Series 3 B9203246, built week commencing 17 June 1963, is SAL 253333 and the nearest car with a recorded SAL is B9203215 (SAL 253318), which is roughly in the same ball park. But how does B9200657 which is more than 2,500 chassis numbers earlier than mine, have an SAL only 1,200 numbers earlier? I can appreciate that body shells are likely to have been built up more quickly than finished cars, leading to a certain amount of stockpiling and complete cars with VINs out of sequence with SALs, but this would suggest that shells would have been stored for months prior to completion. That doesn't seem to indicate efficient stock control or production processes and while such things were considered less important back in the 1960's, surely no company could allow things to get that slack?
Also, why are some SALs recorded as five figure numbers and some as six? The two different number sequences are scattered randomly through the Registry entries, so it can't be due to production dates. Were there two different number sets operating in the factory at the same time, perhaps to indicate different sources for the body shells? I thought that all Rootes panels came from British Light Steel Pressings in Acton, but perhaps there were others.
Steve G
My Series 3 B9203246, built week commencing 17 June 1963, is SAL 253333 and the nearest car with a recorded SAL is B9203215 (SAL 253318), which is roughly in the same ball park. But how does B9200657 which is more than 2,500 chassis numbers earlier than mine, have an SAL only 1,200 numbers earlier? I can appreciate that body shells are likely to have been built up more quickly than finished cars, leading to a certain amount of stockpiling and complete cars with VINs out of sequence with SALs, but this would suggest that shells would have been stored for months prior to completion. That doesn't seem to indicate efficient stock control or production processes and while such things were considered less important back in the 1960's, surely no company could allow things to get that slack?
Also, why are some SALs recorded as five figure numbers and some as six? The two different number sequences are scattered randomly through the Registry entries, so it can't be due to production dates. Were there two different number sets operating in the factory at the same time, perhaps to indicate different sources for the body shells? I thought that all Rootes panels came from British Light Steel Pressings in Acton, but perhaps there were others.
Steve G
