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Do I really have a December 13, 1996 build date B4U caprice?

7K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  grandpas wagon 
#1 ·
I was curious and wanted to see the build month on my newley aquired caprice, to find out it was built in 12/96... upon running my vin with Compnine(not sure on accuracy of their service) it says that 94,594 caprices were built in 96, only 2 of them being optioned as is mine, but the biggest thing that jumped out to me was the build date of december 13, 1996... my vin sequence is 195005 sooo how does this add up if there were 94,594 made? Any insight would be appreciated, I think this is pretty neat!
 
#2 ·
GM ran the 96 B-body lines at Arlington TX into 1997 to use up all inventory and fill all orders. The plant was switched over to truck production. Normally the model run would end in June or July.
 
#4 ·
I don't understand, does anyone have the true prodcutions numbers of the 96 caprice?

Its wild that my car was made after the last impala ss
 
#5 ·
Last Caprices

I remember reading daily reports in 1996 from someone who reported daily on cars shipping from the plant; what was on the haulers...I remember the anticipation hoping that B-Bodies would somehow continue, and I sat on the edge of my chair reading the text only reports on the internet of old...The reports as I recall usually referenced Impalas and white 9C1's.

Alway wanted an Impala...I'm lucky I was finally able to get an LT1 wagon, but I had to wait a few years (2003, lol).
 
#6 ·
Josh, you pose an interesting question, which it may be pretty difficult to get an accurate answer for.

Model sequence numbers generally follow a format of year (TR = 1996 Arlington production) followed by the 6-digit "VIN" assigned to a particular vehicle, which would NORMALLY start with (1)00001--early numbers for a model are generally pilot build and media use cars that are not sold to the public. Compnine says a total of 94594 Chevy B-body cars were built, so it's most curious that a car with VIN (1)95005 exists--that's another 411 VIN's, at least, that would seem to be "un-accounted" for, even though it's in the Compnine data base.

Even the celebrated "Last Built" Impala SS has a VIN of (1)94809--215 VIN's beyond the data supplied in Compnine--and I do believe more cars were assembled after the final Impala, even if they were not WX3's. It isn't clear whether (or how many) more B-body Chevy's were built past Dec 13 1996, but it is safe to say that the vehicle with VIN 95005 was one of the very last built in the production run. The declaration at the time that celebrated the "last Impala SS" built on the same day as you car was not to declare the production line closed, to my knowledge--there are people on this Forum that were there, and they may have more to add on the subject.

There's a couple of other possible/plausible explanations--the Compnine database in incomplete and/or erroneous, or, for some unknown reason, a significant number of VIN's were "skipped" through the 96 production run.
 
#7 ·
I was curious and wanted to see the build month on my newley aquired caprice, to find out it was built in 12/96... upon running my vin with Compnine(not sure on accuracy of their service) it says that 94,594 caprices were built in 96, only 2 of them being optioned as is mine, but the biggest thing that jumped out to me was the build date of december 13, 1996... my vin sequence is 195005 sooo how does this add up if there were 94,594 made? Any insight would be appreciated, I think this is pretty neat!

go to your car passenger side. Remove upholstery under the cushin you should find your build sheet that will specify build date, option specification and hour of order!

hopes this helps !
 
#8 ·
Just curious, what's the color combo on your car, as well?

Sean
 
#9 ·
Remove upholstery under what cushion?

Also the car is bright white with bright white trim, and tan leather interior
 
#12 ·
Nice Caprice,Josh.
Look under your right front pass seat.I tilt the seat all the way up and back.There should be a white(or yellowed by now)8.5x11" paper tucked in between the seat spring and foam cushion.
Carefully pull down on the center area of the spring section and slowly work out the paper.It is newspaper thin and will tear easily! This sheet has much cool info about your Caprice.It is the "Schedule/Job" sheet from Arlington assembly plant.I hear alot of us refer to it as a build sheet.I wouldn't call it a "Build Sheet" though.The SPID label on our cars contains the RPO codes like a vintage GM build sheet would.Good luck pulling it out and post a picture of it! Jim
 
#13 ·
After fishing out the build sheet (was a little broken up in spots, I guess someone else maybe tried to remove, or it just crumbled upon people sitting on it over the years... any who, the date on the build sheet is December 11, 1996, at 15:10:11, doc number 5088 dp number 961136231.. weird that this vin is LATER than the last Impala but build sheet says two days earlier lol.
 
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