Can someone tell me where the two H/O convertables were made and possibly the location they live now. The reason being is that I think I know of a car being passed off as one falsely.

 

Technically 3 made. 1 wrecked and another made to replace it. All Lansing MI cars and through Demmer in Lansing.
One lived on the West Coast for years until it was sold at auction like 6ish years ago, was restored and is currently owned by the Brothers Collection in Oregon.
The other has been in Iowa for years and was put up for auction in May where the reserve was not met. As far as I am aware it still resides in Iowa.

 

Thank you, then the one I know of is a fake and so is his other car. A supposed 69 W 30.
I always say if it is a clone say so but don't B.S. people to win a 25 dollar plastic trophy 🏆.

 

So here's a question that has bothered me for a while. The "production" 1969 H/Os obviously had the 455s installed on the assembly line and they were stamped with the matching VIN derivative as a result. Were the convertibles similarly made, or were they simply 442s that were engine swapped by Demmer? I've always suspected the latter, of course with no actual proof.

 

Not sure Joe, 405851, the Iowa car and 409421, Brothers car were both very late in the production run with the latter I believe made right at the end or after the run was complete.
I've seen both cars but never thought of looking at the vin derivative on the block.
What's your thoughts on the engine swap at Demmer?

Addition: As Hurst Performance were the original owners of all 3 converts, I believe all were ordered through Key Oldsmobile in Warren, MI.

 

I was under the impression that at least the 3rd one was done up after the production runs, with the H/O conversion totally done by Demmer, including a 455 swap. No proof of anything, but that's ONE of the many stories I heard swirling around. Does anyone know the target production weeks on the body tags? One key may also be in the transmission codes. No reason not to think the convertibles didn't get the OH transmission, too, if it were indeed assembled at the factory. So if VIN derivatives match on the block and transmission, that may clear some things up.

There should be some COPOs or speical paperwork somewhere to make the convertibles due to the body style change where those specialty components would be added. It's not like they just popped in "W46" on a convertible car on the assembly line from a dealer order. They still used the approval protocols to build those specialty and one-off cars. I wasn't there so I have no real clue, as I was one week away from 9-years old when they converted mine, but it's fun to speculate.

Although I wouldn't do it myself, I do concur with the idea of building your own convertible "clone" if you wished, but only present it as a clone. Your car, your money. I don't have to approve. The originals are the originals and the fakes will always be fakes.

 

No idea, though it occurs to me that even if Demmer did the 455 installations, the motors would have come with blank VIN pads, so Demmer could have stamped the VIN derivatives. I always assumed that the two original convertibles (and obviously the 69 prototype) were hand-built before the start of the "production" cars. 4098421 sounds like it's convertible number 3.

 

Once you've got an assembly line, and the parts do work together, it's easier to gimmick some paperwork than it is to put a valuable 442 400 engine in a car only to remove it. Trying to save money by sending it out the door with a 350 would also be a headache. I'd bet on at least the two receiving powerplants the normal way.

There is a '69 H/O Clone out there. You can win it! Shameless plug for the club, use code HOCA and get double tickets and kick back some to the Hurst/Olds Club of America. See the picture attached.

I do not believe in cloning a production car. I don't care if it's a tribute, a reproduction, a re-creation (or recreation, for that matter), or a replica. If it's a non-production car that either no longer exists, or there's two of them (like these '69 H/O convertibles) then that is a different game as the provenance is so good on the originals, one can't be expected to ever pass off the clone as the real deal. To the point, I have no issue with making the effort to make the clone, I have issue with it being passed off as real later by the (perhaps subsequent) owner.

On the other hand, factory one offs are amazing if you can see the real deal. I got a ride in a factory one off proposal this past weekend. Amazing.

 

 

I know! It wasn't exactly a one-off, but a car model year that never was. In 1982, I was home on leave visiting my dad at the Corvette plant. I got to at least sit in one of the two 1983 production-ready Corvettes in full dress they were getting ready to send the to Detroit for the bigwigs to ogle at. A red and blue one. I think I sat in car #3, but don't recall exactly. They were doing test run assemblies at the time, so these cars weren't for the public. They only made a handful of them and the line was running about one foot per hour. VERY slow, but that's how it was for training and logistics tweaks. This was before the delays like the targa top and gas tank debacle (you never hear of that one anymore) which eventually shut that model year down. The then brand-new body style was a bit better in person than the spy pics showed, although they got better looking later on. I believe they only inadvertently saved one 1983 which ended up at the Corvette Museum. The rest were "recylced" as I understand it.

 

The legend I heard was that the one '83 was stolified by an engineer who sat on it for 20 years or so before telling them about it.

 

Don't know for sure how it showed back up. I know it came back with a flag paint job, and then repainted back to original white. My dad told me they were scheduled to destroy all the 83 model year cars. Apparently one slipped by somehow. Probably squirreled away in the plant somewhere hiding in plain sight. Or simply misplaced. There was all sorts of cubbies at the plant they could have stored junk and nobody probably would look. I remember they had a stack of aluminum wheels laying back in the area where they unloaded the tires from the train cars. 3 years in-between visits and that same stack of wheels was sitting in the same friggin' spot, just taking up a little bit of space. Crazy. The 83 was originally supposed to be the 82 model year (a la 73 Cutlass vs. 72). But besides other delays, the straw the broke the camel's back was the gas tank COULD be knocked loose in a rear collision, and after some back and forth with the government entities, the '83 Corvette did not pass that test. So adding more delay just made sense to bring it out as an '84.

But I digress. I don't have issues with clones that are presented as clones. And I don't think GM cared too much about sending a car out with a 400 vs. a 455. Peanuts to them in the big scheme of things. Maybe it only took a phone call and a memo to get that 3rd convertible done on the production line. Again, we'll have to wait and see if any tangible evidence ever shows its face.

 

It seems I read somewhere a number of years ago that Linda Vaughn owned one of the 69 H/O convertibles at one time. Has anybody else ever heard this? Probably my imagination. It is not out of the realm of possibilities.

 

I saw this 69 convertible at the Mecum Dallas auction in 2012. It was labeled as a "recreation" and was very well done with what appeared to be the correct wheels, etc. I have also seen photos and ads for at least two other 69 convertibles that were pretty but had later Cutlass rallye wheels with trim rings and other tip-offs, neither was identified as a clone.

 

The Iowa car, 405851 is a 06A and 409421 was after that so 409421 would lend itself to be made after Prod completed. Probably ensued after the 1st Convert was destroyed but I know little on that 'date'. Would make sense if that occurred towards the end of the run and the need for a replacement came about.

 

Linda was supposedly the prior owner of the Iowa car. Hurst had title to it into 1972. Her name does not show on any of the documentation I have seen so she may have had 'use' of the car when titled with Hurst Performance.

 

I know Linda did own her '74 Delta convertible. I saw it and her in July.