Shipping Data Report: Foreign Distribution Division - Export

[Mark H.]

Hello. Just received my Shipping Data Report on our '66 coupe. The original dealer was Dealer code 1 in Zone 21. And the name and location for the dealer reads as "Foreign Distribution Division - Export." I am trying to translate this. Any advice would be great. Best regards.

PS I did speak to the original owner back in 1980. He told me he ordered the car through "Saigon Chevy" while in Vietnam and took delivery at Merrill Bean Chevrolet in Ogden, Utah. I'd like to make the connection between what he said and my recently received Shipping Data Report.

[Mark L.]

Re: Shipping Data Report: Foreign Distribution Division - Export

Mark, the export delivery is still somewhat of an unknown to us. I do believe that some Corvettes that had the 21-1 code never left the US and were coded as such because the order came through the Foreign Dist. Division. If the first owner said he took delivery in Utah I would not have a reason to doubt him. I think when they ordered in Vietnam most intended to get delivery at home.

[John M.]

Re: Shipping Data Report: Foreign Distribution Division - Export

Hello, I am English and have two 1966 427/390 cars here in England and both are Dealer code 1 in zone 21 , Dealer Export. The convertible was in Spain all its life until I bought it and I was told it was sold by Hermanos Blitz AS of Madrid ,the then GM dealer for Spain . The coupe was in Ghana and Ivory Coast and was purchased out there by an Englishman and brought it back to England in 1982,and I bought it in 2002. I have no clue as to the selling dealer. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks John Mayes

[Terry M.]

Re: Shipping Data Report: Foreign Distribution Division - Export

Mark, the export delivery is still somewhat of an unknown to us. I do believe that some Corvettes that had the 21-1 code never left the US and were coded as such because the order came through the Foreign Dist. Division. If the first owner said he took delivery in Utah I would not have a reason to doubt him. I think when they ordered in Vietnam most intended to get delivery at home.

Mark
When I was 1970-72 Team Leader we saw a lot of Corvettes with the export code on the car docs (window sticker or tank sticker). Most never left this country, but were ordered by military personnel while they were over seas and picked up by them on their return. Back during my tenure we didn't know enough about the dealer codes to connect the dots like we do now. Many of my younger friends went to Nam, and I remember them saying the only thing that got them through was the thought of girls and cars. A significant number ordered that car of their dreams (not always a Corvette) to be waiting for them when the mustered out.

A good friend Ray Wolsen wrote a story for The Restorer about the 1972 he bought. It was very original (subsequently did Bowtie and all the other stuff) and he had a lot of the paperwork showing that export line item. He got in touch with the original owner who ordered the car through a hardware store in the Philippines while he was on R & R from Viet Nam. Those kinds of events (for more muscle cars than just Corvettes) were not uncommon back then. They are far more common than the oft-told story about the car that was parked in the barn waiting for the solder who never returned -- but some of those are legit too.