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Mine was built in sept. The earliest I can find is sept. Multiple say sept. I did find ONE green 98 someone said was august but they weren't for sure or any proof. Someone else said there 97 lt1 was built August so I believe that means sept was the first month. I just want to verify
I believe that '98 HT T/A was used for promotional purposes and was probably an early "pilot" car built months in advance of the regular production units. I don't know if "pilot" cars are ever sold to the general public or not (I have my doubts, as they may be of inferior build quality..........that is the purpose of their existance is to get the production "bugs" out). In my ASC# listing for the '98s, there were a few 30th T/A "pilot" cars built before the end of the '98 production run in July '98. I don't think any of those cars surfaced amongst the regular production 30ths.
CompNine also showed a few '96 & '97 MY Camaros being equipped w/ RPO LS1 (instead of LT1), those were most assuredly test / development cars to work out the LS1 installation in the f-bod. The '96s may have also been used for durability testing of the LS1 prior to its intro in the '97 C5.
Last edited by JohnnyBs98WS6Rag; Jun 9, 2014 at 11:10 AM.
I believe that '98 HT T/A was used for promotional purposes and was probably an early "pilot" car built months in advance of the regular production units. I don't know if "pilot" cars are ever sold to the general public or not (I have my doubts, as they may be of inferior build quality..........that is the purpose of their existance is to get the production "bugs" out). In my ASC# listing for the '98s, there were a few 30th T/A "pilot" cars built before the end of the '98 production run in July '98. I don't think any of those cars surfaced amongst the regular production 30ths.
CompNine also showed a few '96 & '97 MY Camaros being equipped w/ RPO LS1 (instead of LT1), those were most assuredly test / development cars to work out the LS1 installation in the f-bod. The '96s may have also been used for durability testing of the LS1 prior to its intro in the '97 C5.
Interesting... so sept probably was the first month huh?
Interesting... so sept probably was the first month huh?
Well, if someone has a '97 that was built in Aug '97, and someone else has a '98 built in Sept '97, and considering that the production lines are usually shut-down for a few weeks to transition from one model year to the next, I think it would be safe to say that the first "regular production" '98 LS1 f-bods were built in Sept '97. Although, keep in mind that this transition doesn't always occur the same week/month of the year. Supplier delays and union strikes can push this transition around from year to year.
Also, as noted above, it is not uncommon for a "test" or pilot car to go through the line months ahead of the regular production cars. The '98 T/A HT that was built in 4/97 was not part of the regular production cars, even though it may have been later sold to the public.
Last edited by JohnnyBs98WS6Rag; Feb 28, 2018 at 11:36 AM.
I think the T/A hardtop S/N 002 had a build date of 4/97.
On this car....... it appears that there were two '98 T/A HTs built. Curiously, there were also two '98 T/As built w/ cloth interiors (one pewter, the other taupe). I suspect that since these were test/pilot cars sent down the line months ahead of the regular production cars, that these two HTs were the same cars that got the cloth interiors.
I know one of them was red (as was pictured in some promotional materials), I wonder what color the other one was?
I've yet to see either of these cars pop up for sale. I did see some time ago one of the two '98 WS6 Formula 'Verts was for sale.
Last edited by JohnnyBs98WS6Rag; Jan 19, 2015 at 11:25 AM.
I remember there being a 1998 at the Trans Am Nationals in August 1997. It was a nave blue metallic car that was on display with the other one-off cars that Pontiac had on display. Does anyone else remember that car? I have a picture of it sitting next to the Pontiac Banchee. I'll try to find those pictures and post it here for the heck of it. I'm guessing it was one of the first 1998 Firebird made, but no idea what the build date would have been. Sorry I know this is a little off the subject.
Update to the question as to what month in 1997 were the first LS1 Camaros built... this picture is from a '98 for sale in Colorado now and it shows that it was built in 8/97 with a VIN of 104394.
Talking to Scott Settlemire ( The F-Body Father) some years ago he said that my 2002 Z28 was an early model. He noted that production usually started on June 1st for the following production year. Mines was built on May 23, 2001. They started production on May 15th of 2001 for the final year. My 2002 Z28 vert is #624. I call it the "Preemie" because it was born early. I hope this helps with production start dates.
Talking to Scott Settlemire ( The F-Body Father) some years ago he said that my 2002 Z28 was an early model. He noted that production usually started on June 1st for the following production year. Mines was built on May 23, 2001. They started production on May 15th of 2001 for the final year. My 2002 Z28 vert is #624. I call it the "Preemie" because it was born early. I hope this helps with production start dates.
I know this is a very old thread, but it was linked in another recent thread and I wanted to correct a portion of the information above for future reference.
June 1st is not the typical start date for a new model year. Traditionally (though there are, of course, exceptions), July or August is the earliest month for new model year production. However, you are correct about the 2002 F-body models starting production in May of '01; this was the only year within the LS1 4th gens that production was started so early. For other years of LS1 F-body, a June built car would still be part of previous year production (e.g. 06/98 builds are still 1998 cars, etc.)
As mentioned above, there are sometimes exceptions regarding the cut-off date (early OR late). For example, I have a D-body Fleetwood that was built in 11/96, but is still titled as a 1996 car (I believe there were some '96 D and/or B bodies built as late as 12/96 - this was the last model year for these full-sized cars and there was a work stoppage earlier in the year which delayed production).
I know this is a very old thread, but it was linked in another recent thread and I wanted to correct a portion of the information above for future reference.
June 1st is not the typical start date for a new model year. Traditionally (though there are, of course, exceptions), July or August is the earliest month for new model year production. However, you are correct about the 2002 F-body models starting production in May of '01; this was the only year within the LS1 4th gens that production was started so early. For other years of LS1 F-body, a June built car would still be part of previous year production (e.g. 06/98 builds are still 1998 cars, etc.)
As mentioned above, there are sometimes exceptions regarding the cut-off date (early OR late). For example, I have a D-body Fleetwood that was built in 11/96, but is still titled as a 1996 car (I believe there were some '96 D and/or B bodies built as late as 12/96 - this was the last model year for these full-sized cars and there was a work stoppage earlier in the year which delayed production).
I know this is a very old thread...
I am looking at a 98 z28 with a build date of 6/98. That got to be one of the latest then.
I know this is a very old thread...
I am looking at a 98 z28 with a build date of 6/98. That got to be one of the latest then.
Yes, that would be a relatively late '98 car and, unfortunately, that would also mean that it's one of the few '98s which is subject to the bubbling roof condition. The earliest "bubblers" seem to have been built in May (98), but not all May cars have proven to be affected. With that in mind, it's a pretty sure bet (but not 100%) that any June car will likely experience this problem. I think I might have come across an 07/98 built 1998 car as well, but I could be mistaken. It's been a while since I was closely tracking the '98 build dates for purposes of the bubbling roof issue (I wasn't exactly tracking the end date of '98 production because all that really matters is when the problem started, as the problem then continued until the end of F-body production in 08/2002).
Delivered 29 August 1997 to Seaview Chevrolet. Supposedly the 2nd ragtop LS Camaro on the West Coast for general sale.
Dad ordered in May, 1997 thru GM Employee program (Hughes Aircraft) - Seaview screwed up and missed the deadline so a 1998 was ordered. Seaview wanted to keep the car over the weekend for customer test drives (delivered Friday night, needed dealer prep). The look my father gave them... He took it home Saturday morning - refusing to leave until the car was done as he wisely thought some sales puke would wreck it.
Yes, that would be a relatively late '98 car and, unfortunately, that would also mean that it's one of the few '98s which is subject to the bubbling roof condition. The earliest "bubblers" seem to have been built in May (98), but not all May cars have proven to be affected. With that in mind, it's a pretty sure bet (but not 100%) that any June car will likely experience this problem. I think I might have come across an 07/98 built 1998 car as well, but I could be mistaken. It's been a while since I was closely tracking the '98 build dates for purposes of the bubbling roof issue (I wasn't exactly tracking the end date of '98 production because all that really matters is when the problem started, as the problem then continued until the end of F-body production in 08/2002).
My ‘98 is a June car and has the slightest bubbling.
