[Aaron65]

I'm a bit of a car history nerd, so I ordered the PHS for my Esprit just for fun...and the order form says "5 Pct. Car" on it. I did some poking around with the search function, and most people seem to think that those cars were company cars, but mine was shipped out quite early in the model year to a dealer (Oct. 22, 1973), so that seems unlikely.

Any ideas?

[muscle_collector]

interesting car I don't believe I have ever seen an esprit with the perf axle and dual exhaust. cool post some pics of it.

[Aaron65]

Yeah, it seems like a strange order...Rally IIs, white letter tires, red on red...it's almost like the dealer should have ordered a Formula.

Obviously, the spoiler was added later, but I like it anyway.

[camerjeff]

I don't think it means a GM Company car as it cost at least the $37.20. as an option. Usually if they were company cars they were driven for 3 or 4 months then sold off at a discount.

Hopefully an expert can clear it up for you.

[6t7goat]

My father was a car distributer for Pontiac so I asked him what it could be. He said most likely a brass hat. I asked what a brass hat was and he said it was a car driven by a company employee. My mom drove a 74 firebird esprit that was silver with a blue stripe. in 75 she got a red trans am. 78 was a chesterfield brown trans am. She liked her firebirds.

[John V.]

I've seen a few Invoices for "PCT. CAR"s before but can't seem to come up with an example.

IIRC, these indicated a special program discount, for instance purchased under an Employee Discount Program. I think some long time GM employees might be familiar with that.

"Brass Hat" cars were Company Cars that were assigned internally.

These cars were typically sold thru the Zone on a Bid basis to the dealers normally in the Zone where the car had been used as a Company Car.

The invoices for Co. Cars were initially issued to the Zone as they were carried on the books by the Zone. But when sold to the successful Dealer bidder, the final Invoice would reflect a "SP" or Special Price which was deeply discounted from original dealer price. PHS normally has the final Invoice for these Company Cars which will be invoiced several months after build reflecting the length of time they were used as Company Cars, I think 6 months was the norm.

But sometimes PHS will also have a copy of the original Invoice record showing the car delivered to a particular Zone office.

Note that the "Hold Back" on your Invoice record is "0.00".

I'm not positive, but I believe the 5% represents the price over invoice that the buyer was buying the car for.

I can't quite make the nos. work since $169.75 represents 5% of $3395 whereas the Dealer Invoice shows $3410.59 or $3438.29 if you include the Factory to Dealer Delivery & Handling Amount and the Destination (Freight) Amount. So I'm not sure what they would have calculated the 5% on but I do believe that is what a GM employee or some class of GM employee anyway would have paid to buy a personal car from GM under the Employee Discount Program.

I do believe the Dealers made very little money handling these sales.

Back in the late '70s, my dad was a vendor whose only account was the Delco-Remy Plant in Anderson, IN. I recall him telling me that the engineers he worked with at D-R could buy a new Corvette and sell it at a profit. But they had to hold on to the car something like 6 months before they were allowed to sell it and there were other stipulations. As I remember it, my dad suggested that if I wanted a good deal on a Corvette he could hook me up with one of his customers. Never pursued it but that is how I remember the story. I'm sure a GM employee could correct any inaccuracies.

So that is what I think is meant by the "5 PCT. CAR" on your Invoice.

On another thread today I asked what is known about the "2.5 HRS" on my '73 TA Invoice. I think these "HRS" nos. started showing up on '71 and up Invoices. Haven't understood the meaning.

[poncho-mike]

I have also seem something to the effect of "Change Alert" on a PHS. The car was a Ram IV GTO or Ram IV Judge, not sure which but it was a Ram IV. Anybody know what that means?

Mike

[GTOLiam]

Interesting the "5 PCT. CAR" line item..... hmm

Originally Posted by John V.

On another thread today I asked what is known about the "2.5 HRS" on my '73 TA Invoice. I think these "HRS" nos. started showing up on '71 and up Invoices. Haven't understood the meaning.

Here's my 74 TA PHS... also with the "2.5 HRS"
Thanks, another mystery I've never noticed before.

[johnta1]

What's your dealer and address?



My TA was 2.6 HRS and Tell City IN

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by Aaron65

I'm a bit of a car history nerd, so I ordered the PHS for my Esprit just for fun...and the order form says "5 Pct. Car" on it. I did some poking around with the search function, and most people seem to think that those cars were company cars, but mine was shipped out quite early in the model year to a dealer (Oct. 22, 1973), so that seems unlikely.

Any ideas?

All 5pct vehicles were ORDERED by the Dealer Owner principal. Bigger dealers may have had a 7pct ( Big Reedman dealer in King Of Prussia, PA comes to mind)
"2.5" Hrs From what I have seen, this usually was spotted on Corvettes and many of "RED" cars . "Real" Red paint ( Not Florentine ), due to its nature with Iron, was hard to keep nice and even look nice sometimes. These hours were from the Unfinished car lot garage, and involve Buffing, or final body polish or minor align. ONLY shows up on Ordered cars. Other cars that needed something the cost was absorbed, kept to minimum, and done at same place.
These did show up on the Bill of lading I signed off on as I checked cars in that came off the truck, as its a "Timed" invoice. Very Similar to the PHS.
My 2 cents as a young ASE Pontiac Dealer Tech, on the bottom of the Ladder, but working with My Grandfather at same Dealership.

[Simple Man]

Originally Posted by John V.

Back in the late '70s, my dad was a vendor whose only account was the Delco-Remy Plant in Anderson, IN. I recall him telling me that the engineers he worked with at D-R could buy a new Corvette and sell it at a profit. But they had to hold on to the car something like 6 months before they were allowed to sell it and there were other stipulations. As I remember it, my dad suggested that if I wanted a good deal on a Corvette he could hook me up with one of his customers. Never pursued it but that is how I remember the story. I'm sure a GM employee could correct any inaccuracies.

Similar situation at Harley Davidson. Back in the 90's, when it took a year or more to order a new bike, Harley owned Holiday Rambler, a local RV manufacturer. Employees of Holiday could order a bike, at cost, and it would arrive in about 30 days. Then they had to keep it a certain amount of time, before they could sell it. Many employees sold them at a nice profit.

[johnta1]

"2.5" Hrs From what I have seen, this usually was spotted on Corvettes and many of "RED" cars . "Real" Red paint ( Not Florentine ), due to its nature with Iron, was hard to keep nice and even look nice sometimes. These hours were from the Unfinished car lot garage, and involve Buffing, or final body polish or minor align. ONLY shows up on Ordered cars.

That's very interesting.



It seems if the car had the hood bird, the HRS was more also.

[Aaron65]

Thanks for the input everybody...keep it coming if there's anything else to add!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Aaron65

I'm a bit of a car history nerd, so I ordered the PHS for my Esprit just for fun...and the order form says "5 Pct. Car" on it. I did some poking around with the search function, and most people seem to think that those cars were company cars, but mine was shipped out quite early in the model year to a dealer (Oct. 22, 1973), so that seems unlikely.

I don’t know why that would make it unlikely.

We start driving saleable units three or four months before product introduction. I have driven non-saleable units as much as a year before start of regular production. We also drive “Captured Test Fleet” vehicles in order to rack up miles quickly right before start of production.

Originally Posted by Simple Man

Similar situation at Harley Davidson. Back in the 90's, when it took a year or more to order a new bike, Harley owned Holiday Rambler, a local RV manufacturer. Employees of Holiday could order a bike, at cost, and it would arrive in about 30 days. Then they had to keep it a certain amount of time, before they could sell it. Many employees sold them at a nice profit.

The GM policy has changed a bit through the years. Back then vehicles were kept for 3000 miles and turned in for your next vehicle. The “random” vehicles were optioned out by the specific employe, driven the allotted amount of time, and then turned back in for re-sale or auction. Vehicles could also be spec’d out by the employee with the express purpose of driving it as a company owned vehicle, turning it in, and then purchasing it with the associated mileage discounts (and past model year discount if appropriate).

I started driving GM company vehicles in 1991. The policy has changed a little bit since the glory days, for example, we are no longer allowed to spec out the “random” vehicle that we will be driving* (only the Drive and Buy vehicles). The main change that the employee is requried to purchase a vehcle every year (or every other year) in order to be able to continue to drive the “free” company vehicle. As a result I have purchased between one and four (the maximum allowed) vehicles every year since that time, using the technique stated above. The biggest discount I was every able to manage was 38% for a new Suburban (purchased with my GM discount + 7500 mile discount + past model year discount).

K

My first company vehicle, in October of 1991, fell under this new policy. I was able to convince the clerk that, since she didn't care what I drove, that a 2wd extended cab short box pickup (black) with a 350 cu in engine and a 5 speed (and the fattest tires available) might be nice.

[Keith Seymore]

We were also able to choose vehicles from the development fleet for purchase.

I did this when I moved back from Arizona in 1994. I selected a GM minivan from the DPG development fleet, drove it back to Michigan as a company owned vehicle, and then purchased it here with the mileage and past model discount. This (a) got my butt home, (b) fulfilled my vehicle purchase and (c) saved me from having to ship a personal vehicle.

On at least one occasion I ordered a vehicle to reside in the development fleet with the idea of purchasing it after it timed out. That one never came to pass.

K

[Aaron65]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I don’t know why that would make it unlikely.

I didn't mention this in my post, but the Fisher Body tag has the car being built in October, and the door tag said it was built in October, so it was shipped just about as soon as it was built.

[bird72]

The dual exhaust option is fascinating on an Esprit. Not aware of that and wonder what year (?) that was offered. 74 only?

[Held for Ransom]

It has a 17 in the hours box. Looks like there may have some miles logged before releasing to the dealership at the 5 percent discount.

[J GLASGO]

That's a very cool ordered esprit! Are radials not standard on esprit's? I know my dad ordered my 74 Formula and it came with radial blackwalls standard.