[The Champ]

geeteeohguy

I would have been more upset that he didn't come home with a GTO instead of a Mustang in '66. The GTO came standard with a 335 HP 4bbl 389, vs the Mustang with a 120 HP 6 banger. For a 289 2bbl with 200 HP it would have cost an extra $105.63 or to swap the 2bbl for a 4bbl you needed to spend another $52.85 to get 225 HP. To get those sexy exhaust tips would have cost another $152.20 , but you still only had 225 HP....

[Tygrr67]

On the bottom right of one of the posted pictures is a code, "23-1W"...... anybody have any idea what that means?

[John V.]

That was the Gate No. coding, typical of the Pontiac Plant Data Plate.

The Gate No. was essentially the jig that was used to weld up that particular Body Assembly. The Pontiac Plant produced about half of all Pontiacs at that time, the satellite plants each produced far fewer.

The Pontiac Plant produced close to 1000 Pontiacs every work day. By comparison, the Fremont Plant in '64 produced maybe 150-200 each work day.

At the Pontiac Plant, each model and body style had a range of Gates or jigs for welding up the body assembly. The Lemans hardtop (Series 37, Body Style 37 in '65) may have had a range of 10 or more jigs used, so for example, the range might have been Gate Nos. 18 thru 27.

The 1W indicates 1st shift and the W day of the month. "A" would have been the 1st day of the month. I've never been certain what would have happened if there had been more than 26 work days in a given month but pretty sure W would have been the 23rd work day of whatever month.

This is my own interpretation from some long ago research I did on '68 Pontiac Plant Data Plates.

The 1W or 2M Shift/Day code might follow or precede the Gate No. code and sometimes it won't be on the Data Plate.

Tracking the Gate No. was useful in the event of some downstream Body Assembly issue so that the issue could be traced back to a particular Gate.

Not sure if all Plants coded the Gate No. on the Data Plate. In '64, Fremont coded the Gate No. on the Data Plate but there were only a few Gates used for production of Pontiac A Bodies at Fremont.

By studying a lot of '65 Pontiac Plant Data Plates, you can deduce the Gate No. range for every Model and Body style.

Obviously, it is of little value or interest post-production.