Whatever caused the bumper mix up, I doubt it happened at the factory.
I bought another brand of car new back in the eighties. When I went to pick it up it had suffered a bunch of scratches on the deck lid. Looked like a cat scratched it up or something. I told the salesman I wasn't going to take the car, and didn't want a new car with a repainted deck lid. We struck a deal. The salesman had the shop take a deck lid off of another brand new car that was the same color, install it on my car, and I was on my way.
It was a lot easier for them to do then reversing the registration process to replace the car.
Things weren't all that different in the 60's.
I bought my 68 GTO from the second owner about 16 or 17 years ago. He had bought it in California from the original owner in the late 80's, brought it to NY, and saved copies of the original owners registration. The original owner had it for 20 years.
PHS said my car was delivered new to one California Dealership. I tracked down and spoke with the original owner a couple of times right after I bought the car from the second owner. He intimately remembered the car he cherished for 20 years. Including telling me that he bought it "off the showroom floor" brand new in 1968 from a California dealer other than the one PHS had on record. Unfortunately he no longer had any original paperwork for the car.
My guess is that the original dealer needed a GTO in a different color for a customer, made a few calls, found a nearby dealer to swap with, and then put the car he got in return on the showroom floor.
There is no telling what happens to cars once they get to a dealership. Parts may be swapped, options added to make a sale, or whole cars traded to satisfy a customer request.
My guess is the 68 in question may have suffered some minor damage to the original Endura while in the dealer's possession, they had a new 69 sitting on the lot in the same color, made the swap to get the 68 delivered, and then addressed the damaged bumper.
There may be a 69 running around out there that was delivered new with a repaired 68 bumper. Maybe the dealer got a replacement Endura for the donor car. Who knows?
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