Just got the birth certificate (aka Build Card)...

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Cal_Gary
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Just got the birth certificate (aka Build Card)...

Post by Cal_Gary »

Hi Guys,
I finally coughed up the $35, ordered and received my M37's build card from Chrysler LLC. It includes the VIN, engine serial number, wheelbase, etc., and a lot of other coding that I can't make out.

I don't know how much longer Chrysler will provide this service so I recommend that anyone who desires the factory data order this before it goes away. You will need to include a copy of a current Registration or Title to prove ownership.

http://www.fcanorthamerica.com/company/ ... cords.aspx

Gary
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T. Highway
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Re: Just got the birth certificate (aka Build Card)...

Post by T. Highway »

Congratulations.

Bert
1952 M37 W/W Rebuild @ 59% complete
Engine rebuild @ 95% complete
1985 M1009, 1990 M101A2, 2008 M116A3 Pioneer tool trailer
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Elwood
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Re: Just got the birth certificate (aka Build Card)...

Post by Elwood »

Cal_Gary wrote:Hi Guys,
I finally coughed up the $35, ordered and received my M37's build card from Chrysler LLC. It includes the VIN, engine serial number, wheelbase, etc., and a lot of other coding that I can't make out.

I don't know how much longer Chrysler will provide this service so I recommend that anyone who desires the factory data order this before it goes away. You will need to include a copy of a current Registration or Title to prove ownership.

http://www.fcanorthamerica.com/company/ ... cords.aspx

Gary
Gary, did you hear or read something that suggests this service will be discontinued? Other than the storage space in Highland Park, I don't think it costs FCA anything, since the labor is done by volunteers. Not to say that large corporations always do things that make sense, but with the (limited) re-opening of the Chrysler Museum at the Auburn Hills headquarters, I don't sense that they're on a mission to purge their history.
“When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, IT IS THEIR RIGHT, IT IS THEIR DUTY, TO THROW OFF SUCH GOVERNMENT...” -Declaration of Independence, 1776
Cal_Gary
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Re: Just got the birth certificate (aka Build Card)...

Post by Cal_Gary »

Hi Elwood,
Nothing definitive-just my gut feeling, as military history continues to fade from the public eye. They might get tired of storing these and say "why are we keeping these if there is so little interest?"
Gary
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Elwood
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Re: Just got the birth certificate (aka Build Card)...

Post by Elwood »

Gary, I wouldn't be too pessimistic about the Chrysler historical collection, at least not until the next big downturn in the auto industry. The G741 truck records are part of a larger collection including the civilian products, and I doubt they'd spend time to extract and purge them, since they're already on microfilm. At some point, though, they'll have to decide to eliminate accessibility to the collection or digitize it. Microfilm is not a permanent medium.

Hopefully, if (when) that time comes, or when the next round of bankruptcies threatens the auto companies, a third party, such as the National Automotive History Collection at the Detroit Public Library, will gain possession of the records and preserve them.

http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/featuredco ... collection

http://www.allpar.com/history/memories/NAHC.html

The condition of the vehicles in the Highland Park storage facility is more of a problem, although I don't think there are any G741 trucks there (or anywhere at Chrysler).

There are (or were) some photos of WC series trucks on the walls at Warren Truck Assembly (their birthplace), but I don't know if those are still there. Or if anyone working there even knows what they are or why they're significant.
“When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, IT IS THEIR RIGHT, IT IS THEIR DUTY, TO THROW OFF SUCH GOVERNMENT...” -Declaration of Independence, 1776
Cal_Gary
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Re: Just got the birth certificate (aka Build Card)...

Post by Cal_Gary »

Thanks Elwood-sure hope you're right!
Gary
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