I

 

you won't find an answer to the first question that's for sure, you can tell by your cowl tag what year, month and week it was made but W30s were made through out the year.

I don't know how the 289 was documented original but it is common knowledge printed/posted in many areas.

 

T

 

The problem is that these cars were built on the line right alongside four doors and wagons. The last six digits of the VIN were simply assigned sequentially as a car came down the line. If you assume the 4 speed W-30 cars were all equally distributed over the model year (which may or may not be the case), then the build date will give you an indication of whether it was early or late, but this is not like, say, a 69 H/O where each car was numbered individually and that number was tracked to the VIN.

 

T

 

Correct, they are definitely not numbered!
Brian, the GM Heritage Center has, for the most part, what Oldsmobile records are left. They will be able to confirm the 289 figure, but that's as far as it goes.

But it is not that simple. First of all, the 289 figure is identified as for "Hardtop Coupe" (no model given). There were also 33 Convertible W30s with 4-spds. But lets look at the 289 figure. There were 3 non-convert models that had W30s in '72: Cutlass Hardtop Coupe 3287, Cutlass S Sports Coupe 3677(post), and Cutlass S Hardtop Coupe 3687. So the 289 are spread among those 3 models without a further breakdown known.
The W30 numbers *are* broken down by model, but not the "with 4-spd" numbers.

Furthermore: I can tell you *by month* how many w30s were made by series (so the Cutlass S post and hardtop would be combined), and I can tell you how many 4-speeds were used same by month and series. But can't tell you any numbers by combination of options.
So knowing your models and production date, we could *approximate* how far through the 289 number you are, but that's all.

Confusing enough?

 

A

 

Good. Now you can answer him, "You're asking what number it is and don't even know that information is not known and never was?" Or if you want to put it more succinctly, "That was an ignorant question!".

Right, even the build sheet won't tell you what number. But you almost certainly will *not* find a build sheet for a Lansing built car of that vintage. You *may* find a Fisher Body broadcast card, though.

 

R

 

I believe the 66 w30s were numbered,on the air cleaner housing.54 of them,if I remember.Please correct me if nI am wrong. ---bil

 

You are correct, but this thread was about the 1970 cars.

 

(ahem) 1972.

 

T

 

Doh!