I say 74, sent an email, got a reply "no it's a 73"

I think not

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?

 

Well, the VIN will settle that argument pretty convincingly.

 

If it has a seatbelt interlock, it is a 74. If it doesn't, it is some other year. Does anybody remember that great idea? I bet by 1976, there were not a dozen of those things that worked in the United States. I bought a new car of another brand in 1974 and they disconnected the thing before I left the dealership. Today they would probably be subject to a $20,000 fine.

 

There was a fine then, but it was rescinded when the law was canceled due to public outcry.

 

What is a seatbelt interlock?

 

Could not start the car unless the drivers seat belt was fastened. Most people I knew sat on the fastened seatbelt at the time

 

Ahh...OK.

 

Will the '74 98, that I recently acquired (and haven't got to the house yet) sport this wonderful sounding seatbelt interlock?

How would I identify it and how would you disable it?

 

Most often I would say you're bang on. However, looking at the "cool Custom Interior modification" to the dash, Iwouldn't bet on it. Just from appearances I'd say 74. 73 has a very distinctive wide oval look to it.

The Monte in the background? I'd say 76 or 77.

 

It's a 74 tail and dash (what's left of it) and 73 taillight housings will not bolt to 74-76 quarters (or to 71-72 for that matter). The registration may say it's a 73. I tink it's an abortion meself wit dat interior.

There was a 63 Starfire here that got mis-titled as a 62 when it was new, and the geezer who was trying to sell it to me insisted it WAS a 62, title SAYS it's a 62. Title is WRONG- no deal until he got the title and registration straightened out.

I didn't much like the car anyway. It had that awful saddle tan interior which looks good only with Provincial White or Barktone. The car was originally Willow Mist but had been repainted red and white two-tone :bleh:.

Red Delta- it may not have been installed on a Canadian-market car, I don't think they had that ridiculous law there. Look on the firewall near the brake booster and if car has it you will see a gizmo that has an orange pushbutton and sticker on it. That was the factory override to be used when the car would not start due to issues with the seatbelt-starter interlock system.

Disabling it involved cutting and splicing some wires under the seat. I'd have to dig thru the tech bulletins to find exactly which ones.

It was one of the first of those damn nanny laws. Shame public outrage won't repeal bad laws now as it could back then. Then again the Commonwealth of Vajenya fell all over itself repealing their abusive driver fees a couple years ago, when the public rage over it cost a bunch of politicians their seats in that year's elections. Who says they don't get the message?

 

If fugly could be a year that is what it is.

 

It's a '74, at least from the rear. The '73s had the oblong, horizontal taillights which were significantly different from any of the other 88s of that era (71-76).

See the photo here:

http://www.theelectricgarage.com/auc...114k2e_20.jpeg


The '71s had a vent grille in the trunk lid, and the '71s and '72s had much more chrome around the tailights. I know it's not a '75 because I had one, and this isn't it! I think the '76s were similar to the '75s.

It's a '74.

 

The VIN is the VIN. If the car is a 1974 but the VIN (or title) says 1973, run screaming. If the title has a 1974 VIN but claims the car is a 1973, that's a DMV error that SHOULD be easy to fix since the VIN is well defined.

 

LMAO!!!

 

That interior makes me sick!