Greetings All,
On this page, I have uploaded a condensed version of the sorted VIN list from a previous page.  As the Superbird VINs tend to follow a series of "runs", most VIN numbers do not present any issue when one is trying to determine the actual total production quantity of Superbirds.  So, I have cut out all the well-behaved VINs that fall nicely inside runs and come up with a list of only the problem VINs and potential problem VINs.  This makes the list much more manageable and comprehensible.  When seen in this format, many of the solutions to these anomalies become quite obvious (although obvious solutions can still be incorrect).  To the left of the list you will find a variety of speculations on how errors could have occurred.  If anyone out there has personal knowledge of how the cars were documented, or has additional information and insight, please contact me.

COLOR CODING 
OK, the color coding of the data on this page is the same as found on previous pages with one exception.
THE YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED NUMBERS are the VIN numbers that would fall just before the beginning of a run and just after the conclusion of a run.  These runs are still the number sequences that appear when the NASCAR serial number list is sorted consecutively by VIN.  I have no evidence that any of the yellow highlighted VINs represent real Superbirds.  I have only included them because it is possible that one of them could represent a missing car from a run but we would not be able to discern this from the NASCAR list.  When a VIN is missing from inside a run it is very obvious.  If the NASCAR list accidentally mis-recorded the beginning or ending VIN, we would have no evidence for it.
THE NUMBERS IN RED still have a ? for a car number and are still those VINs that; 1) are not found in the NASCAR list but, 2) logically one would expect to be Superbirds as they fall inside a run of Superbird VINs.
THE NUMBERS IN VIOLET still represent duplicated VIN numbers found in the NASCAR list.
THE NUMBERS IN GREEN still represent confirmation of an actual car not found on the NASCAR list.  Some of these fall perfectly inside a run and others fall between runs.
THE NUMBERS IN BLACK are non-problematic numbers.  Most are included just to show the beginning or ending of runs.
THE BLUE COMMENTS are speculation on the resolution of the VINs in question.

APPARENT MISTAKES

I prefer to start from the premise that Plymouth, initially, intended to build 1925 Superbirds.  I base this on the fact that the NASCAR list, when sorted by VIN, appears to describe 29 "runs" of numbers.  The total number of VINs in these apparent runs is 1925.  Also, we know that NASCAR required 1920 cars be built to satisfy their definition of a 'production' vehicle.  We know from previous examples of similar vehicles, that when Chrysler was required to build a street version of a specialty race car, they sometimes built an extra 5 cars.  With these ideas in mind, I choose to believe that the originally intended number of cars was 1925.  I suspect that, like anything in the real world, circumstances arose that required the building of more than were originally intended.

The "mistakes" in the NASCAR list, if they are mistakes, are often easily explained.  Anyone who has tried to type the NASCAR list into a spreadsheet, or tried to work with someone else to verbally announce and record long numbers will nod their head in recognition when I say that it is very easy to get the numbers wrong.  517 becomes 571 or 617 or ???  This is especially true after about 45 minutes of working with these numbers.  At some point, one's brain just becomes mush and the numbers blur into 091956529348603625blahblahblah...

Keep in mind that the NASCAR list was compiled in 1969.  There were, for practical purposes, no personal computers back then.  The NASCAR list looks like it was manually typed into a preprinted form/page.  Well I am reasonably certain that someone wasn't outside during a Midwestern winter with a typewriter recording these numbers.  Someone had to be recording them by writing them on paper.  And that someone had to be at the Clairpointe Sub-assembly plant.  We know this because the NASCAR list includes the date of arrival at Clairpointe and the date of departure from the Clairpointe plant.

Whomever recorded the arrival of the car at Clairpointe may have done so in the comfort of the plant while the car was receiving final assembly.  But whomever recorded the departure would have had to do so in conjunction with the loading of the cars.

If, as I suspect, the VIN recording process included at least one transfer of the data from the car to paper by an individual using a pen/pencil, then many of the mistakes are easily explained.  Just for fun, try reading your own VIN tag through the windshield and writing it down.  See how long and how much effort it takes to get it right.  Even worse are the door tag VINs.  You practically have to stand on your head to read them.  When you add in the possibility of mis-reading the VIN and the tendency to transpose digits when writing them down, it is ASTONISHING that the list is even vaguely accurate.  I am amazed that it is not 50% mistakes.  Especially when you consider that this had to only be half of the recording process.  Now, a clerical worker would have to try to read someone else's handwriting of the VINs and type it into the forms.  Well, that clerical worker faces the same recognition/comprehension and transposition error potentials that the original recorder of the VIN faces.  Now we have twice as many chances for errors.  Again, I am amazed that we have as few apparent errors as we do.

 

MISTAKES DUE TO LEGIBILITY

If you have ever tried to read VIN numbers on the dash tag, door tag or fender tag, you know how easy it is to get the numbers wrong.  The fonts make many numbers look very similar to other numbers.  The dash and fender tag numbers don't have a different colored background to distinguish them.  3s look like 8s.  5s look like 6s.  In fact, almost any number can be mistaken for any other if you are in a hurry.

For example: 160637 is a VIN number from the NASCAR list that falls between runs.  Right below it is the missing number 160687 in the middle of a run.  The obvious, but potentially erroneous, explanation is that the 8 was mistaken to be a 3 when the number was recorded.  This could have happened when someone was recording the number off the car, OR, it could have happened when someone was trying to read someone else's handwriting and typing the number into the pre-printed form.

Many of the potential errors in the list can be easily explained when one thinks about how similar one number looks to another.

ERRORS DUE TO TRANSPOSITION OF DIGITS

I have not found many REALLY obvious examples of this such as a 527 being recorded as 572.  161558 is recorded twice.  Right below it is the missing VIN 161585.  It seems pretty obvious that the duplicate offsets the missing number.  When reading these numbers, they have the same effect on the brain as 'tongue twisters'.  "The Sheik's sixth sheep is sick" becomes a mess of vowel and consonant sounds if one gets in a hurry.  The same thing is true of long runs of numbers.  As I look through the data further, something may come up that is less obvious.  The easy examples to find would be if two of the last three digits were swapped.  Then the correct VIN would be nearby and obvious.  If the second and third digits were swapped such as 167 and 176, however, the answer would not be as easy to find.

MISTAKES DUE TO BRAIN-LOCK

Well, these are potentially everywhere.  All you have to do is look at a car from the NASCAR list that falls between runs and look for a similar duplicate or missing VIN in the runs.  There are any number of posibilities where someone could have put in 588 for 585 or 855 or 558 or ???

The real stumpers here are the known cars that fall between runs AND are not on the NASCAR list.  Those are the most problematic as they are cars that have been confirmed to exist from sources other than the NASCAR list.  We know these cars are real (unless a mistake was made in recording the VIN).

MISTAKES DUE TO LOT STORAGE OR SHIPPING

I have done some assembly line retrofitting work on a large number of vehicles.  It is very easy to lose track of whether you have inspected any specific vehicle when you are looking at a field of 50 of them.  It would not surprise me if a few of the mistakes were simply due to overlooking a vehicle or checking the same vehicle twice.  Recording a VIN twice by accidentally re-checking a vehicle already checked is certainly a plausible error.  Missing a vehicle altogether seems a bit more odd.  Especially since there is an in date and out date.  The vehicle would have to have been missed twice.  Unless of course the in date was just written on the windshield or something like that.  And then later the data was recorded only when the vehicle was shipped.

I had hopes that the side notes on the list might clear up some questions.  Several dozen cars have a note mentioning it either being returned to Lynch Road or to Clairpointe.  I thought that these cars may have been some that were recorded twice by accident.  No such luck, however.  None of the multiple trip cars had VINs that matched the problem VINs.


0DateDateVINRunning
0VINRecShippedRunTotal
0
149788
1RM23V0A14978917-OctFri19-DecFriRun 111
149790
149851
51RM23V0A1498526-Nov13-Nov
?RM23?0A149855Unknown car, No
23RM23V0A1498615-NovWed11-NovRun 21011
149862
155773
334RM23R0A15577414-Nov19-Nov
14RM23U0A1557794-Nov11-NovThere are two duplicate
6RM23V0A1557793-NovMon14-Novvins and two missing
9RM23U0A1557803-Nov13-Novsequential vins in this sequence
82RM23U0A1557807-Nov12-NovOffset each other?
?RM23?0A155781Joe Ward list
?RM23?0A155791Unknown Car
86RM23V0A1558037-Nov14-NovRun 33041
155804
158576
120RM23R0A15857710-Nov10-Nov
?RM23?0A158629Unknown Car
911RM23U0A15863626-Nov28-NovRun 460101
158637
?RM23U0A158744Joe Ward listKnown car101
280RM23U0A16063713-Nov14-NovUnknown car
This is probably the missing 160687 below.
160685
85RM23U0A1606867-Nov12-Nov
?RM23?0A160687Car 280?Probably recorded as 160637
?RM23U0A160688Joe Ward listCar 199?
396RM23R0A16071214-Nov18-Nov
397RM23U0A16071214-Nov17-Nov
?RM23?0A160729Unknown Car
?RM23U0A160730Joe Ward list
115RM23U0A16074610-Nov11-NovRun 561162
160747
161554
170RM23U0A16155511-Nov12-Nov
178RM23U0A16155811-Nov12-NovOne of these is most likely the
43RM23V0A1615586-Nov11-Novmissing 161585 or 161588
?RM23U0A161585Either 178 or 43 
?RM23U0A161588Joe Ward ListEither 178 or 43
216RM23U0A16160512-Nov13-NovRun 651213
161606
162274
245RM23R0A16227513-Nov13-Nov
?RM23V0A162304Joe Ward List
?RM23R0A162308Joe Ward List
164RM23V0A16232211-Nov12-Nov
165RM23V0A16232211-Nov12-Nov
213RM23V0A16233912-Nov13-Nov
214RM23V0A16233912-Nov13-Nov
388RM23V0A16238214-Nov19-NovRun 7108321
162383
725RM23U0A16341521-Nov25-NovUnknown car321
163446
426RM23U0A16344717-Nov17-Nov
207RM23U0A16345812-Nov13-Nov
225RM23U0A16345812-Nov13-Nov
252RM23U0A16348013-Nov13-Nov
299RM23U0A16348013-Nov13-Nov
?RM23U0A163483Joe Ward List
?RM23?0A163488Unknown Car
?RM23U0A163493Joe Ward List
?RM23?0A163497Unknown Car
258RM23U0A16349813-Nov13-NovRun 852373
163499
164595
112RM23U0A16459610-Nov11-Nov
328RM23U0A16462114-Nov17-Nov
329RM23U0A16462114-Nov17-Nov
690RM23U0A16466721-Nov24-NovRun 972445
164668
165357
381RM23U0A16535814-Nov17-Nov
?RM23?0A165388Unknown Car
?RM23U0A165399Joe Ward List
?RM23?0A165415Unknown Car
322RM23U0A16544114-NovFri14-NovRun 1084529
165442
935RM23U0A16589926-Nov28-NovUnknown car Almost529
certainly 165399
166147
417RM23V0A16614817-Nov17-Nov
398RM23U0A16615614-Nov18-Nov
399RM23U0A16615614-Nov17-Nov
1054RM23U0A1662541-Dec2-DecRun 11107636
166255          
               

               
?RM23U0A166407Joe Ward List
?RM23U0A166711Joe Ward List
659RM23U0A16702020-Nov24-NovUnknown car636
503RM23U0A16703018-Nov20-NovUnknown car636
167045
497RM23V0A16704618-Nov18-Nov
?RM23?0A167064Unknown Car
784RM23V0A16716724-Nov26-NovRun 12122758
167168
?RM23U0A167714Jim 
?RM23U0A167833Joe Ward List
1102RM23U0A1678582-Dec3-DecUnknown car758
167880
480RM23V0A16788118-Nov18-Nov
705RM23V0A16797021-Nov26-NovRun 1390848
167971
?RM23V0A167982Joe Ward List
168701
669RM23V0A16870220-Nov21-Nov
?RM23?0A168723Almost certainly 168728 duplicate below
1372RM23U0A1687285-Dec8-Dec
1691RM23U0A16872811-Dec12-DecCould be 168758
?RM23?0A168758Could be 168728
1146RM23U0A1687592-Dec3-DecDuplicate - Unknown Car
835RM23U0A16877625-Nov26-NovRun 1475921
168777
169427
688RM23U0A16942821-Nov21-Nov
715RM23V0A16949821-Nov26-NovRun 1571994
169499
170159
751RM23U0A17016024-Nov24-Nov
?RM23?0A170186Jim Bagshaw - Ebay
?RM23?0A170203Unknown Car
1291RM23V0A1702394-Dec5-DecRun 16801074
170240
170808
1079RM23U0A1708092-Dec2-Dec
834RM23V0A17089525-Nov26-NovRun 17871161
170896
171572
830RM23V0A17157325-Nov26-Nov
?RM23?0A171623Car 823 ?Unknown Car
?RM23U0A171681Jim Bagshaw
?RM23?0A171682Almost Certainly car number 1256 
865RM23V0A17168325-Nov28-Nov1716?2 with smudged type.
1057RM23U0A1716841-Dec2-DecThese duplicated vins could be
1316RM23U0A1716845-Dec5-Dec2 legitimate cars - factory mistake?
812RM23V0A17168525-Nov25-NovRun 181131274
171686
172583
1414RM23R0A1725848-Dec9-Dec
1887RM23V0A17266116-Dec17-DecRun 19781352
172662
173744
1259RM23U0A1737454-Dec4-Dec
1239RM23U0A1737544-Dec4-Dec
1281RM23U0A1737544-Dec10-Dec
1220RM23U0A1737553-Dec4-Dec
?RM23U0A173756Joe Ward List
1367RM23U0A1737575-Dec8-Dec
1262RM23U0A1737584-Dec4-Dec
1244RM23U0A1737594-Dec5-Dec
1245RM23U0A1737594-Dec5-Dec
1505RM23U0A1737909-Dec10-DecRun 20461398
173791
174545
1295RM23U0A1745464-Dec5-Dec
1439RM23U0A1745468-Dec8-Dec
1376RM23U0A1745505-Dec8-Dec
1440RM23U0A1745508-Dec9-Dec
?RM23?0A174579Unknown Car - 1914?
1180RM23V0A1746253-Dec4-DecRun 21801478
174626
?RM23U0A174675Joe Ward List        
               

               
1763RM23U0A17513912-Dec
15-DecUnknown car

1478



















175544









1844RM23U0A17554515-Dec
16-Dec






?RM23?0A175546


Almost certainly duplicate 174546
?RM23U0A175550Joe Ward List
Almost certainly duplicate 174550
1599RM23R0A17559310-Dec
11-Dec






1600RM23U0A17559310-Dec
11-Dec






?RM23U0A175614Joe Ward List







?RM23?0A175639



Update - owned by Rich 2010/02/01



?RM23?0A175640



Unknown Car



1537RM23U0A1756949-Dec
11-Dec

Run 22150
1628




175695
























?RM23U0A176622Joe Ward List


























176655









1711RM23U0A17665612-Dec
16-Dec






1703RM23U0A17666712-Dec
12-Dec






1814RM23U0A17666715-Dec
17-Dec






?RM23?0A176668



Almost certainly one of the 
1742RM23R0A17666912-Dec
17-Dec
176667 duplicates


1547RM23U0A17667010-Dec
11-Dec






1631RM23U0A17667111-Dec
11-Dec






?RM23U0A176672Joe Ward List, Jim Bagshaw





1743RM23U0A17668212-Dec
16-Dec

Run 2327
1655




176683
























1848RM23U0A17671415-Dec
16-DecUnknown car

1655















1806RM23U0A17751015-Dec
16-DecUnknown car

1655



















177559









1916RM23U0A17756016-Dec
18-Dec






?RM23U0A177570Joe Ward List, Jim Bagshaw





1235RM23V0A1775984-Dec
4-Dec






?RM23?0A177599



Unknown Car



1708RM23U0A17760012-Dec
16-Dec






?RM23?0A177601



Unknown Car



1241RM23V0A1776134-Dec
4-Dec

Run 2454
1709




177614




























178063









1479RM23V0A1780649-Dec
9-Dec






1462RM23V0A1780709-DecTue10-Dec

Run 257
1716




178071
























?RM23U0A178532Joe Ward List






















1861RM23U0A17859915-Dec
16-DecUnknown car






















178619









1481RM23U0A1786209-Dec
9-Dec






?RM23?0A178652



Unknown Car



1549RM23U0A17867810-Dec
11-Dec






1550RM23U0A17867810-Dec
11-DecAlmost certainly 176678


1480RM23U0A1786859-Dec
10-Dec

Run 2666
1782




178686
























1670RM23U0A17885211-Dec
15-DecUnknown car


















1120RM23U0A1791862-Dec
3-DecUnknown car






















179686









1534RM23R0A1796879-Dec
10-Dec






1575RM23V0A17971810-Dec
11-Dec






1800RM23V0A17971815-Dec
16-Dec






?RM23V0A179719Joe Ward List
Almost certainly 179718 duplicate
1899RM23R0A17978216-Dec
17-Dec






1900RM23U0A17978216-Dec
17-Dec






1543RM23R0A17980010-Dec
10-Dec

Run 27114
1896




179801




























180650









1812RM23R0A18065115-Dec
15-Dec






1628RM23V0A18065611-Dec
11-Dec

Run 286
1902




180657




























181251









1886RM23V0A18125216-Dec
17-Dec






?RM23?0A181257Jim Bagshaw - Cheater Drag Car




1771RM23U0A18127412-Dec
15-Dec

Run 2923
1925




181275
























823RM23V0A171562325-Nov17162326-Nov







Almost certainly missing number 171623


Total1925













This 1925 total is
1914RM23U0A174579816-Dec17457917-Dec


reached if all the

Almost certainly missing number 174579



vin numbers from











all the "runs" are
199RM23U0A16088?12-Nov16068813-Nov


added up and all

Almost certainly missing number 160688



the duplicates, 











missing and outside
1256RM23U0A1716?24-Dec1718844-Dec


run vins are ignored.

Almost certainly missing number 171682        
               


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