RL Polk Database: More Math

[Mark J.]

Dino,

Please keep me straight on the facts as I make the following pitch.

According to Mike Antonick's "Corvette Black Book" there were 1,663,827 Corvettes produced from 1953 through 1980. In 1966 alone there were 27,720 cars built.

RL Polk estimates that 10 to 15,000 1966 Corvettes are captured in their surveys. Conservatively, that is 36% of the '66 models. Extrapolated, 36% of the 1,663,827 Corvettes produced between '53 and '80 equals a database that could contain information on 600,000 Corvettes.

If there were 500 Corvette owners willing to pony up $50 just for the chance to see if their car was in the RL Polk database, it would cover the initial $2500 outlay for the state by state database. Interested owners beyond the initial 500 "donors" could help to support the NCM or NCRS or any other organization looking for sustainment revenue.

I would certainly pledge $50 to the cause if I had the chance to see if my car was in Colorado or Iowa or Connecticut in 1980 (and any other details).

MRJ

[Rick A.]

Re: RL Polk Database: More Math

don't know what you are expecting from that database? think you will be VERY disappointed in what is and is not there

[Tracy C.]

Re: RL Polk Database: More Math

Mark,

The way I understood the information in Dino's post was that VIN specific information is not provided. Only a lump sum total of cars registered for each year.

tc

[Dino L.]

Re: RL Polk Database: More Math

Mark,

Your facts are straight except on one account. Think of someone who had access to every vehicle registration in every state on January 1,1980. That is the database of info RL POLK has. And remember what I said, if the vehicle was a 1965 or earlier, they purged their database of those records to limit the database size and it's relevance for marketing purposes. So the oldest Corvette's in that 1980 snapshot is 1966, so if an owner had their 1953 Corvette registered in 1980, it would not show up. Your right, the data says that the registered cars were between 36-55% in 1980 for the 1966 model year. I would guess another X percentage up on blocks or stored away, and another x% out of country or destroyed/junked.

But still, I am surprised folks keep just calling the information useless. As a club, I would ask RL polk to create a service to tell corvette owners what states there car was registered in from their 1980 database...it sounds like it would help your search on the heritage of your car. I bet you could call them direct and for a fee they will tell you.

The other thing I think it could be used for would be for later model cars that could be forged small block to big block....Is the prefix ID of the sharks as 350 or 454? There lies another service to the Corvette trade.

Coupes versus convertible percentage can easily be captured. The data is there.

[Tracy C.]

Re: RL Polk Database: More Math

Dino,

If Vin specific information is provided, I agree it would be helpful. Your original post state that it wasn't availible without "GM consent".

Like you, I don't see why GM would give a flip. Odd indeed.

tc

[Joe M.]

Re: RL Polk Database: More Math

I'll bet the earlier data exists in some format. I doubt that data would be discarded, probably on another disc. For original commercial purpose it would make sense to omit some select data based on a specific variable such as model year. Betcha!
Also wonder what other variables exist that are not displayed in their commercial database.

[Gary H.]

Re: RL Polk Database: More Math

Hey guys, I used to work for Polk. By law, they cannot give or sell specific vehicle data except for certain purposes, like a recall. Essentially, vehicle manufacturers and government agencies are the only ones who have access to that info these days.