Canadian VONs may differ? The scheduled production date is part of the VON also, so I have never seen a true "Identical" nine digit VON pair myself.

But at least for US cars, the last six could & did occasionally repeat across model lines. Both of these are 1970 Hamtramck cars, one E-body from each model line.

Thanks for the info 696pack, very interesting. Wouldn't that reinforce what I said though? If the dealers ordered from the new car show wouldn't the forms they are filling out be from a big stack that would have consecutive numbers? I am assuming the new car dealer shows were regional so that would reinforce what was said? If a dealer then ordered new forms then of course it would be a different set of numbers but all the orders from the new car should as well as the forms each dealer brought back with them should be in a rough sequence.

Here are three 1970 Coronet's, two from Pauley Motors in Shelton, WA and one from Beaverton Dodge in Beaverton, OR (which was eventually sold at Pauley Motors). The Pauley Motors cars are 068902 and 068903. The Beaverton Dodge car is 069508, 600 off but pretty close.

Second Pauley Motors car.

Beaverton Dodge car, SPD 212, way later than the two Pauley Motors cars.

tallzag,

I am saying that you are corrct to a DEGREE.

The dealers from the same close geographic area would have attended the SAME new car dealer show. They would have been ordering their initial stock from the same sales rep on the same day. They may or may NOT have sat down one after the other or there may have been other dealers between them. When they finished there orders they would have likely gotten consecutive order forms from the cars they just order UNLESS the stack got shuffled for some reason. This is where I agree with you that dealers in the same region/zone would/could have sales order numbers close to one another. This senario is where the consecutive numbers pretty much ends.

The dealer then goes home and on the day of the PUBLIC new car showing the dealer then takes orders to replace what he sold that day for stock as well as customer orders. Depending on how many orders he makes compared to how many extra forms he has he may or may not order more. If he orders more, when they arrive he may have placed the new forms on top of the ones he got at the show that may have then been used MONTHS later. Also the ones that he just ordered could have come from his sales rep or from the regioal/zone office and they could be well down the sequencial numbering from the ones that he got at the dealer only show.

Beyond all of this, sales orders for the rest of the year from the Corporate office were sent out to different regional/zone offices and sales reps throughout the country. Nobody was keeping track of or cared what the numbering was or who had what because it made no difference at all to the factory. All they cared about was getting an order for a new car sale and could care less where it came from or what the number was on the sales order with regard to what order it was in with reference to our conversation here. The number was simply something to track the car with from the ordering dealer to process the car for an IBM car, broadcast sheet, fender tag, invoicing, shipping, etc. The dealer always referenced this number until a V.I.N. was assigned to the car. Once the V.I.N. was assigned the dealer usually tracked the car by the V.I.N. because that is how the lender that he borrowed his money for the cars for tracked the cars.

The sales order number weather it is an S.O. or V.O.N. (samething, different nomanclature sales order--vehicle order number depending on the model year) Is TRUELY the birth certificate of the car although most people consider the MCO/MSO/TITLE as such.

Hope this novel helps you better understand how thing worked.

I know this chally 212846