[70SSConv]

Where can I find out the production figures for 70 SS chevelles?

 

[todd swaney]

what are the first 6 digits in your V.I.N,I will try to help.

 

[Black LS-6]

This question is asked often in one variation or another. The only production numbers available are the total number of '70 convertibles which was 7,522 and 62,372 SS (coupes + conv.) according to the info I have. No one knows how many convertible were SS cars. The best you can do is guesstimate using statistics. Less than 2% of '70 Chevelles were convertibles and about 14% of '70 Chevelles were "SS" so a logical guess would be 1,078 SS convertibles were built in 1970. Taking the statistics a bit further one could guess approximately:

889 396 L34 convertibles
37 396 L78 (5 is oftened quoted)
1 396 L89 mathematically its 1/3 of a car
74 454 LS5
77 454 LS6 (19 is often quoted)
---------
1,078 Total SS convertibles

Chances are there were fewer LS6 and L78 convertibles than derived statistcally because most buyers would not specify a high performance engine in a convertible.
my $0.02 I'd be interested as well if anyone has better "guesses"

[This message has been edited by Black LS-6 (edited 01-08-2000).]

 

[DZAUTO]

When you are talking about numbers like 7000 or 62000, the difference between 77 or 19 LS6s is rather insignificant.

------------------
Tom Parsons

 

[Black LS-6]

DZ, insignificant perhaps, unless you own one, then its more interesting. Supposedly there are only four (factory built) 4-speed cars remaining w/the original drivetrain. I'm sure there are a few more manufactured ones as well.

 

[Alan F]

Yes there were 7,522 convertibles built, but only 7,141 could be SS models (requ'd V8). Here's my statistical extrapolation:

Model................Tot prod.....SS..
Malibu 2 dr, V-8......289,622...53,525
Malibu conv., V-8.......7,141....1,320
Custom El Camino, V8...40,728....6,207

As far as engine combinations in convertibles go (assuming my 1,320 estimate of the number of SS convertibles):
L34...1,088.57
L78......45.37
L89.........38 (very remote probability)
LS5......90.96
LS6......94.71
Total 1,319.99

Also, since the L78/L89 option was cancelled early in the model year AND LS5 and LS6 was a late introduction, you would have to assume that Chevelle production happened evenly throughout the year for these numbers to work.

I tried to fix the formatting, sorry.

[This message has been edited by Alan F (edited 01-09-2000).]

 

[WRF]

Thanks for the figures gentlemen! Interesting statistics. L78's were built late into the 1970 production year for Camaros and Novas. If so, why couldn't one be "diverted" into a Chevelle or, on the other hand, simply ordered? I've heard different accounts but have been left wondering if this was ever really the case.

 

[Alan F]

I've heard, but can't document, that the 454 was the "gee whiz" motor for 1970. The option was late to be released. Therefore, the big HP motor was the L78/L79 combination until the 454 was released. Remember, you couldn't get the 454 in a RPO Camaro or Nova.

 

[Steve Petzer]

Just a little nostalgia. My brother when he returned back from Vietnam bought a brand new 1970 SS Chevelle covertible LS5. I remember riding around with my other brother in the front seat of that car. Both of us strapped into the passenger seat. I was ten years old then. We got 50 cents each to help wash that car. It was blue with white stripes and a white convertible top. Oh if we had only known what we had. I wonder where that car went.

------------------
Steve Petzer - Richmond, VA
1969 SS Chevelle Convertible project
members.tripod.com/~The_Petzers/chevpic01.html
1977 El Camino Classic

 

[dcarr]

I agree with Alan F's calculations. For the past couple of years, I've been working on a poster that will show detailed production totals for all the '68-'72 Chevrolet A-bodies. Where there are holes in the data, I have been using simple statistical interpolation to generate *unbiased* estimates.

One of the things that got me started on this was the ever-lower totals being quoted for the LS6 convertible and El Camino. I've heard numbers as low as 10 convertibles and 20 El Caminos. I don't buy that for a second. There were at least 4,475 total LS6 vehicles. That is known. So I'm supposed to believe that there were 10 convertibles, 20 El Caminos, and 4,445 coupes !? No way was it that lopsided.

Ater applying my statistics I came up with about 95 convertibles and about 500 El Caminos. Now that sounds like a lot of LS6 El Caminos. Who would have wanted such a car ? Could that many have been sold ?
Well, I would have wanted one and yes, I think that many could have been sold. The same question could be asked about the '68s. Who would have wanted a '68 SS-396 El Camino ? In '68 the exact totals for the SS El Camino are known. Apparently a lot of people wanted a '68 SS-396 El Camino since 8.25% (5,190) of all SS A-bodies sold in '68 were El Caminos.

Note that 8.25% of 4,475 is about 370. So an estimate of 500 may be a little high. But then again, there were no less than 3 genuine LS6 El Caminos running around my rather small home town in the 1980s.

PS: The poster is getting very close to completion. I've been talking to some printers recently. Look for the poster at this site in a couple months.

------------------
Dan Carr
[email protected]
Team Chevelle Gold Member #11, ACES #701
Author of the GMC Sprint, El Camino, and '68-'72 SS Authentication pages.
See my GM A-body fleet at:
www.rmi.net/~dcarr/cars/cars.HTM



[This message has been edited by dcarr (edited 01-11-2000).]