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Unusual option code on 70 DVC

Started by wrefakis, August 12, 2020, 02:44:43 PM

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wrefakis

Hi here is one 1970 body tag that aside from being as sharp a car that could have ever been built, body tag shows an "H" as one option. we know it is not trumpet horn for sure as i have a 70 dvc with trumpet horn and no h.
this was a special car, any ideas for "H"

Tom Hall 7485

#1
Mr. Refakis, you are right.  Option code "H" on a Fisher Body ID plate could not be a trumpet horn,
because the trumpet horn was not attached to the body. 

"H" must be about something that Fisher Body Division installed at the Fleetwood Plant ("FWD" in the
second line of embossing) before the body was sent over to Clark Avenue.  (This was at a time when the
codes that Fisher Fleetwood embossed were starting to diverge from those in the data book.  That plant
was far more detailed about body options than Plant 21, maker of Fleetwood 75 bodies.)

"H" is unusual on a 1970 FWD body plate.

Does the car with "H" have a right side rear-view mirror? 
Tom Hall, CLC Member 7485, Lifetime member since the mid-1990s.

Cadillac Fleetwood

#2
As the owner of a 1970 Fleetwood Brougham for over 30 years, and trolling the southern California salvage yards for decades, I have NEVER seen a 1970 Cadillac data plate with H  on it. Bill's is the first one I have seen. I have over two dozen body plates from cars I have encountered, and zilch! No H!

It is not likely to be for the RH mirror, since the RH mirror in 1970 (and 1968 and 1969) was a dealer-installed item, even if the car was ordered. The mirror was shipped in its carton in the trunk of the car. My '70 has the RH mirror, and there is no code on the plate for it.

Charles Fares
Forty-Five Years of Continuous Cadillac Ownership
1970 Fleetwood Brougham
1969 DeVille Convertible
1989 Fleetwood

"The splendor of the most special occasion is rivaled only by the pleasure of journeying there in a Cadillac"

Tom Hall 7485

Mr. Fares, if you are sure that the Fisher Fleetwood Plant did not code for right side rear-view mirrors
in May 1970, then I have another theory:

"H" is very unusual because it stands for "heater", and few 1970 Cadillacs were equipped with just a
heater, and those of us here in southern California are not going to see many of them in wrecking yards. 
I'll bet that Mr. Refakis knows of one or two 1970 Cadillacs with no Climate Control, though.

On an FWD body plate for 1970 cars, the "H" code should appear in basically the same position every time
it was embossed.

If "H" stands for "heater" as of May 1970, then it should not appear on a plate that also indicates that
Climate Control was installed. So, I have to wonder if "H" is a mistake in coding.
Tom Hall, CLC Member 7485, Lifetime member since the mid-1990s.

wrefakis

I have owned and inspected 70 DVC with no AC and tag has no "H"
I think in that this car had almost every option and 60/40 dual power seats with contrasting laces that it  was a Maximum leather car

chrisntam

H stands for let's Hassle people in the future if they try to figure out what all this means.

;)
1970 Deville Convertible 
Dallas, Texas

Tom Hall 7485

Okay, thanks for that, Mr. Refakis.  There should not be an option code on a body ID plate
when the thing has been standard equipment for years, so the "H" that had meant "heater"
in prior decades doesn't work for a standard equipment heater in a 1970 DVC.

I think the special request upholstery items, such as contrasting seam laces and maximum leather,
should have been represented vaguely and collectively on the third line, following "TR". 
Tom Hall, CLC Member 7485, Lifetime member since the mid-1990s.

Cadillac Fleetwood

#7
Quote from: Tom Hall 7485 on August 21, 2020, 11:59:14 PM
I think the special request upholstery items, such as contrasting seam laces and maximum leather,
should have been represented vaguely and collectively on the third line, following "TR".
Any special interior option including (1) maximum leather; (2) contrasting seaming laces; (3) maximum contrasting dark tone in a white leather interior; and (4) say, Fleetwood cloth in a DeVille, resulted in the TR space on the body plate reading "000" accompanied with a piece of cardstock stapled to the bottom edge of the body plate. The cardstock contained a description of the option. The  cardstock is seldom found intact; if the portion covered by the plate has survived, it is always covered with mildew and unreadable. But the presence of the staples always indicates something special in trim and/or paint.

I can confirm from the non-A/C cars I have seen, that there is no H, and there is no K either.

At first I thought that the H on Bill's plate might signify the rear window defogger in the convertible (B in closed cars) but his plate has B on it, so that's not it. And it would not be for a sunroof, because Bill's body plate is from a convertible.

Charles Fares
Forty-Five Years of Continuous Cadillac Ownership
1970 Fleetwood Brougham
1969 DeVille Convertible
1989 Fleetwood

"The splendor of the most special occasion is rivaled only by the pleasure of journeying there in a Cadillac"

cadillacmike68

Well, then it must belong to another, rare or obscure, option.

Why don't you list out all the options on the car that do not have an already recognized option code and then the rest of us can check things further?
Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

wrefakis

Contrasting laces in 1970 were RPO = regular production option denoted on tag as S them trim code in this case S352S indicating contrasting laces and 60/40 seats
I owned one with white bench and red laces code S354
Maximum leather was a special order
As an aside a non 70 paint would also not produce the 00 or 000 it was only a - in the paint code spot have inspected a yellow 70  DVC

Tom Hall 7485

Okay, thank you Mr. Refakis.  I could not read the first character after "TR", and I am relieved to
see that it is "S". 

That first "S" jibes with a 1975 CDV with a special request interior coded S79G (the 79G alone
being nothing special for a '75 CDV, Rosewood Manhattan Cloth. The special request was for
Rosewood Monticello Cloth, a Brougham fabric, 79D!).

That first "S" covers a lot of ground for upholstery special requests.  There would be no need to
indicate other upholstery special requests on the fourth line.

To clarify, you are saying that the second "S" of the trim code S352S indicates the 60/40 front seat in
that DVC. 

Except for the tag you're showing us, I haven't seen "H" on any of 60+ body ID plates for 1970-76
Cadillacs.  I can't decipher it, but I can tell you that whatever it is, or whatever was deleted at special
request, it was done before the body went to Clark Avenue. 



Tom Hall, CLC Member 7485, Lifetime member since the mid-1990s.

D.Smith

Interesting for sure.  It's too bad that these body tag codes in the seventies are so poorly documented in the factroy book.  I would doubt it was for a trumpet horn.      Besides, a trumpet horn was a common dealer installed item, so if a car does or doesn't have one really wouldn't have been accurately determined by the tag.

H might be for some obscure option that isn't shown like Heavy Duty shocks or cooling.  Maybe a trailering package that included those.     

wrefakis

not trumpet horn for sure
no chassis option
S prefix would  cover seaming laces and or non standard carpet, yes I have inspected one 9k miles red leather with black carpet
maxmum leather would have to show on trim tag have had few with contrasting laces, have never found one with max leather, and build sheets for 70 shown nothing

cadillacmike68

Bill, why don't yo list the options that the car has that don't have a trim tag identifier? Maybe then people can compare those with other 70s.
Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

wrefakis

I can not find any option other than Maximum Leather that would be a body option
here are
Special Paint tag with -- as code
and no AC loaded DVC

wrefakis

special paint tag