why are american cars referred to just by year

[Trustmeimadoctor]

on things like gas monkey and desert car kings etc do they just say hey thats a nice 32 ford or 78 chevy great now i know what year it was made but what the chuff is it ! i used to find scooby owners always used to reffer to them by manufactured year too

anyone have any ideas ?

[anonymous-user]

Traditionally in the states they used to facelift or completely overhaul each model every year, so the model years are very specific to each vehicle.

[300bhp/ton]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

on things like gas monkey and desert car kings etc do they just say hey thats a nice 32 ford or 78 chevy great now i know what year it was made but what the chuff is it ! i used to find scooby owners always used to reffer to them by manufactured year too

anyone have any ideas ?

Such naming isn't really used as it's too vague. Chevy for instance built many different cars in 1978, so there is no single '78 Chevy model.

That said there is a trend in the US to update or facelift cars far more frequently than in the UK. So a 1932 Ford does indeed look different to a 1934 one, despite being the same basic car and aimed at the same market. Adding a year identifier in helps narrow this down.

For example the "General Lee" from Dukes and Hazzard was a 1969 Dodge Charger. The Charger was built for many years, but the 68 and 70 models both look different to the 1969 one.

[Bear Phils]

Rat_Fink_67 said:

Traditionally in the states they used to facelift or completely overhaul each model every year, so the model years are very specific to each vehicle.

This pretty much, watch Desert car kings, you'll see the various differences in parts between the model years.

[Hugo a Gogo]

in the old days, up to the mid-60s, all the big US manufacturers used to pretty much make one car each, with variations like sedans, coupes, station wagons, hardttops and convertibles etc and change the look of them every year

[steveo3002]

strangley next years model will be for sale now , so expect to see a 2014 whatever avail during 2013 lol

[Hugo a Gogo]

they traditionally changed 'model years' around July/August for manufacture, with the cars on sale in September or October

[Trustmeimadoctor]

hmm that must be it

i have a dream of a b body roadrunner with 426 hemi in plum crazy

[Cledus Snow]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

i have a dream of a b body roadrunner with 426 hemi in plum crazy

But which year?

[aeropilot]

Not just native American cars, but there is a legal requiremnt I believe, that imported cars must also be identifiable by model year.
BMW VIN numbers for example on cars for the USA market have a unique MY identifying digit in the VIN, which doesn't appear on the same car destined for EU or other worldwide markets.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Cledus Snow said:

But which year?

i dont know

[Cledus Snow]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Cledus Snow said:

But which year?

i dont know

If it's a B Body you want it'll be a '70 or '71. and it'll be 'In violet' rather than Plum crazy (Same colour, Plum Crazy is a Dodge colour) The Hi impact colours were only available from '70 onwards and the Hemi was canned at the end of '71.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

basically this bar the wheels and the fact this is a gtx

[aeropilot]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

basically this bar the wheels and the fact this is a gtx

'71 ..... horrible shape

Roadrunner is too basic anyway, GTX is a bit plusher

[Trustmeimadoctor]

pah plush means heavy and its heavy enough as it is :P

[Cledus Snow]

Ill handling, badly made and taxi grade interiors. Hemis are over rated too.

[anonymous-user]

Hugo a Gogo said:

they traditionally changed 'model years' around July/August for manufacture, with the cars on sale in September or October

Yup, that's the way it works. Typically the factories shut down in summer for the tooling change-over then they start building the next year model of cars. A few weeks production builds up enough stock for the cars to go on sale in about September.

In a few days time GM will launch the new Corvette C7 at the Detroit Auto Show. It will be the 2014 Corvette, on sale later this year,

"Arguably the most-anticipated debut is one of the most iconic American cars in U.S. history, the Chevrolet Corvette. General Motors will debut the vehicle at a special event prior to the show, but the seventh-generation, two-seater sports car is expected to be the belle of the ball, according to analysts.

“It’s a big deal,” Brauer said. “Even people who don’t know cars know the Corvette. If you have a nameplate that has broken out beyond car people … then you’ve got a very powerful nameplate.”

[aeropilot]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

pah plush means heavy and its heavy enough as it is :P

They only made 59 Hemi Roadrunner's in 1971 so, you'll be needing a BIG bank account to get a real one

[Crafty_]

Rat_Fink_67 said:

Traditionally in the states they used to facelift or completely overhaul each model every year, so the model years are very specific to each vehicle.

The whole idea was to sell cars, so the cars were different each year. It must of cost a fortune in tooling because typically they changed trim and body panels.

In the 50s the chevy "tri year" cars were massively popular, in '57 they outsold Ford 3:1 or something like that.
The chassis under these cars is basically the same. Engine options changed, as did other stuff like power brakes etc.

They are still desirable cars and attract a premium over other cars of the same era, even though there are loads left and pretty much every single part is available new.

The 50s were all about choice. In '55 there were 8 bodies:
2 door post
4 door post
2 door hardtop
4 door hardtop
2 door station wagon (handyman)
4 door station wagon (beauville or townsman)
Nomad
Convertible

three trim levels: 150, 210, Bel Air
4 engines and 3 transmissions.

Then we can look at paint - 14 colours and 23 two tone options. For the interior the colours depended on the trim level, but never less than three to choose from, the higher models had a choice of six.

Take a look here: http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/ interesting to see how they sold cars then, especially the upmarket stuff (Caddys, Lincolns, Oldsmobiles etc)
'55


'56


'57

Edited by Crafty_ on Wednesday 9th January 22:17

[JonnyVTEC]

What would you call a 57 plate BMW if it didnt have a 57 number plate on... ?

Thats the situation in US states, many allow whatever plate aslong as its not already taken for a standard fee.