Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

[Greg Y.]

I just purchased an original Chevrolet 1953-1972 Corvette P&A 30 B catalog effective September 1971. It is perfect bound, not loose leaf. My question is were there many made in this format or were most made in loose leaf?

[Jim T.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

Do not know about 1971, however my later year Corvette parts books given to me by my local Cheverolet parts dealer are loose leaf.

[Tom H.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

Some of the old ones we use here at the dealership are bound.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

I have a bound 1953 thru 1982 Corvette Parts and Illustration catalog printed in December 1983.

I also have a loose leaf 1953 - 1972 Corvette Parts Catalog , Revision No. 1 printed December 1971.

Possibly the later ones were bound, although they also have holes for putting in the long holders used at some parts counters.

[Jack H.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

There was a bound edition distributed by Motorbooks, Inc. for MANY years that's now no longer available. For some time it was a stock offering from the NCRS merchandise center in Cincinnatti.

[Joe L.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

I just purchased an original Chevrolet 1953-1972 Corvette P&A 30 B catalog effective September 1971. It is perfect bound, not loose leaf. My question is were there many made in this format or were most made in loose leaf?

Greg------

GM Photographic published both styles of catalogs for most years. In general, the dealer catalogs were loose leaf and the those for other distribution were bound. However, I think that dealers had the option of either style catalog depending upon how their parts catalog system was set up.

Coincidentally, the September, 1971 issue of the Corvette Parts and Accessories Catalog is the one that was reproduced as Jack mentions by Motor Books and once available. So, the catalog you have may be an original or a reproduction. If the cover is as the one pictured below, it's the reproduction.

Even if it is a reproduction, that does not make it any less useful than the original from which it was reproduced. The reproduction and original are equally useful.

[Gary C.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

P&A 30's were available in bound paper covers. The bound paper P&A 30's I have are not pre-punched holes except for the 53, 54, 55 and 1982 books. Don't know if the 53-55 were pre-punched or punched by a dealer. Earliest I have that's loose leaf is 1956. All the supplements distributed monthly were loose leaf. Perhaps Joe Lucia can provide more information. Gary....

[Greg Y.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

Thanks everyone for the information. I have attached a photo of the front cover of the book for reference.

[Jack H.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

That appears to be the real deal GM original book. The aftermarket reproduction I mentioned has a red/white cover...

[Douglas C.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

I was given one by the local Chevy dealer in the mid-80's and it was loose leaf and kept in a hole-punched binder. I still have it around here somewhere.

--Doug (No. 13644)

[Ray K.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

Greg

All dealership operating catalogs were of the loose leaf design.
This was so because of the updates that were received frequently,
sometimes monthly, and sometimes not that often. We, as Chevrolet
dealer parts department personnel, had to replace the individual pages
in the master catalog when we received these revision pages. This was
time consuming and not a well liked task at the time. Eventually, Chevrolet
went to replacing the entire catalog instead of individual pages because
dealership personnel had complained about this for many years.
The bound edition catalogs were available for distribution to customers
or fleet accounts who wanted a catalog to look up parts for their own reference. The bound editions, I believe, were published probably once a year as they were not as current as our loose leaf catalogs.

I also have a bound edition the same as yours which I refer to frequently.
The earliest catalog I have is a 1960 bound edition.

Ray

[Tom H.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

Here is the motorbooks version.

[Joe L.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

That appears to be the real deal GM original book. The aftermarket reproduction I mentioned has a red/white cover...

Jack------


ONE of the Motorbooks reproductions has the red cover. Another has the blue cover I pictured above. It's possible there are other versions including, possibly, the one pictured by Greg. That one does look like the GM cover but it may be that at some point Motorbooks reproduced the cover just as accurately as they reproduced the other pages of the catalog.

[William H.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

Here is the motorbooks version.

Tom,
Would you recommend this book?

[Scott S.]

Re: Perfect Bound Parts and Accessories Catalog

Even if it is a reproduction, that does not make it any less useful than the original from which it was reproduced. The reproduction and original are equally useful.

Hi Joe,

In a related question, do you know why there seem to be so many 1938-1964 P&A's that were reprinted in their entirety in October of 1969? I don't see many October 1963 printings of the 1938-1964 P&A (I'm guessing that was the original print date), but the 1969 version seems fairly common.

Why did Chevrolet reprint the 1938-1964 P&A in 1969, but (apparently) not reprint the 1963 or 1965-1967 P&A catalogs in 1969? If you know, does the 1969 printing of the 1938-1964 P&A reflect up to date changes current to 1969 (parts removed from service, superseded part numbers since 1964, etc.), or is it a "snap-shot in time" reprinting of the 1938-1964 P&A catalog just as it was originally published in late 1963?