The first '69 Charger?

[hemi68charger]

Hey gang...
Some of you, especially you Chris, will remember this car when it was on ebay some time ago.. A friend of mine here in Houston bought the car and is looking to start the restoration ASAP.. I went over to look at the car today and look at his documentation from Govier and the fender tag... The car is definitely unique. Some say that this could be possibly the very first '69 Charger built. It's the magazine feature car and has a pre-production date of July,28, 1968........ Here are some interesting things about the car that had me scratching my head alot.

1. The mysterious hole by the wiper motor is there !!!!!!  I saw my first in real life.. lol
2. Has a '68 version dash pad
3. Has '68 version heater controls
4. Was told the woodgrain instrument paneling was original
and
5. Has the black button typical of the '68 model year..

The car was coded as show car, empty tank.. I can't remember the "Y" code, but I saw the fender tag code breakdown from Galen Govier..

Anyways,,,,,,,, Does anyone have more pictures of ads of this R6 Charger R/T?

[dkn1997]

Jesus!  my 68 was built in June of 68!!  looks like maybe mine was darn near the end of the run, huh?

[Charger1973]

Any of these the same car? 

[charger Downunder]

Did it have that big RT badge up front on the light cover.

[hemi68charger]

I have those pics as well.. But, not sure if it's the same car for those have the rocker moulding and this one's not coded for it... So, I'm confused a little there..... But, I did find this photo in Chris's site that, to me, confirms that the car could have been built with the '68 dash pad and other '68 components......  It's all makes sense......

[hemi68charger]

Did it have that big RT badge up front on the light cover.

Yes.....

[Shakey]

There was a thread about this car on this site when it was up for sale.  I looked but had no luck.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Troy, I dont know if that B&W pic is of the R6 car.  It definately does have a 68 pad in it though.  In the 69 Charger brochure, there are a lot of 68 only items pictured on the cars interior especially...it was a tan nterior car.   I think the one in the B & W pic is the same car (T5 copper)

As far as the tag the Y code is Y91 Show Car Finish....also on the top left corner of the tag it has the #'s "247"...I have never seen those #'s or the Y91 designation on any other tag.

Tag also has another "oddity" on it as well.   Hamtramck built cars such as this one only coded the body color once if the car was also coded for a vinyl roof which this one was (V1X black)...this tag has R6 (body)R6 (roof)on it twice.
Only St. Louis built cars coded the body & roof color regardless if it got a vinyl roof or not.
Troy good luck with the resto & look forward to tracking/registering the new owner of the car 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Also one important note.......this car was coded G31 & G33....Left & right remote mirrors......look at all the pics posted...

[UFO]

How about another oddity,The pic of rad cradle.Is that second character a 8 instead of a 9?In person you would be able to read it better.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

wouldnt the first 69 charger be coded as XS29L90000001 or is 68-70 all the same numbers?(all years production numbers combined)

[UFO]

Looking at the photos from the auction.Maybe this was the first(or very early) application of the S.E. trim.
Being that early maybe the S.E. code was not finalised.

[UFO]

Just be glad it didnt end up looking like this one

[hemi68charger]

Troy, I dont know if that B&W pic is of the R6 car.  It definately does have a 68 pad in it though.  In the 69 Charger brochure, there are a lot of 68 only items pictured on the cars interior especially...it was a tan nterior car.   I think the one in the B & W pic is the same car (T5 copper)

As far as the tag the Y code is Y91 Show Car Finish....also on the top left corner of the tag it has the #'s "247"...I have never seen those #'s or the Y91 designation on any other tag.

Tag also has another "oddity" on it as well.   Hamtramck built cars such as this one only coded the body color once if the car was also coded for a vinyl roof which this one was (V1X black)...this tag has R6 (body)R6 (roof)on it twice.
Only St. Louis built cars coded the body & roof color regardless if it got a vinyl roof or not.
Troy good luck with the resto & look forward to tracking/registering the new owner of the car 

Chris,
According to Galen's documentation, the "247" was an inspection stamping... Yes, as you stated, it was Y91...

Could it be that even if the G31 and G33 was designated, the car didn't get both? I know, far-fetched.. I didn't get a pic of the passenger side and don't recall... I was too busy with checking out the other items on the car.......

[2fast4u]

  I would like to see more pictures of this car.  Inside and out and from different angles!  This is really cool!!


2fast

[terrible one]

wouldnt the first 69 charger be coded as XS29L90000001 or is 68-70 all the same numbers?(all years production numbers combined)

That's what I was wondering as well. Anyone know the scoop here?

[Drache]

wouldnt the first 69 charger be coded as XS29L90000001 or is 68-70 all the same numbers?(all years production numbers combined)

That's what I was wondering as well. Anyone know the scoop here?

Well technically it wouldn't BE the first '69 Charger. Looking at all the '68 parts it seems more of a prototypish car thrown together for the press mainly just to show off the new bumper/grille and tail lights, thus the reason it doesn't have a 0000001. Course that doesn't explain why it still has XP29.... 

[JimShine]

Seeing that many 1969 style items appear to be actually produced and not hand fabricated, I would say that this is technically a pre-production. Pre-production means they are built before final specs and tooling are completed. Prototypes are often hand fabricated and are the templates used to create the tooling.

[hemi68charger]

wouldnt the first 69 charger be coded as XS29L90000001 or is 68-70 all the same numbers?(all years production numbers combined)

That's what I was wondering as well. Anyone know the scoop here?

Well technically it wouldn't BE the first '69 Charger. Looking at all the '68 parts it seems more of a prototypish car thrown together for the press mainly just to show off the new bumper/grille and tail lights, thus the reason it doesn't have a 0000001. Course that doesn't explain why it still has XP29.... 

My friend's car is a XS,  not a XP.....  It is in all intent and purpose, a real R/T, yet it's a pre-production build-date Charger R/T.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

The VIN designation of 100039 means it was the 39th vehicle built at the Hamtramck plant for the '69 model year....they also built Darts at the plant that year......100038 could have been a Dart...
The VIN#'s each year start at 100001 at each plant

Since they built Chargers at both the Hamtramck, MI plant and the St. Louis, MO plant in 1969 it is possible (and I have both cars in the registry) that you can have 2 cars with the same last 6 digits of the VIN#!........One car is a 318 XP model and the other is a 440 R/T model.....built at different plants but coincendently rolled down the line with the same last 6 of the VIN#

The rad support stamping is indeed odd.... along with the "B8" which designates B for the Hamtramck plant and 8 as the model year 1968... notice the extra character of the letter "X" in there....

[hemi68charger]

Maybe the "X" in the stamping is for "experimental"?  who knows.

[bull]

Also one important note.......this car was coded G31 & G33....Left & right remote mirrors......look at all the pics posted...

That's rare in itself.

[69_500]

In refernce to the G31 and G33 codes both being on the same cars, I have information on 4 69 charger 500's that have the G31 and G33 codes. Definately not something that is all too common.

[tan top]

Also one important note.......this car was coded G31 & G33....Left & right remote mirrors......look at all the pics posted...

   
                              i  was thinking  them original ads were of 100039 -  must of looked at them  many times , never noticed the mirror deal before .   they must be different  cars  then .  good spot  (Chris)     
     
         

Maybe the "X" in the stamping is for "experimental"? who knows.

i seam to remember something about  the letter X    being found stamped  next to the order number  under the trunk rail weather strip on a 68 charger could be getting mixed up with some thing else 
Troy there is another ad witch shows a R6 -69 charger R/T  it is a close up of the front end , taken at daytona raceway. thought i had this one saved.  but can't find it . i don't think that car had headrests by memory

[69_500]

Since were on the topic, what about the T5 bronze HEMI that isn't an R/T? Anyone have any answers on that one?