What would you Pay GM for Official Documentation?

[12bolt]

Consider this thought for one moment. "G.M." Wakes up from their Coma and decides to help unlock the Mystery Shrouded around all their Desirable Cars of the Past. what would you as an Owner be willing to Pay for a "P.H.S." Type of Documentation for your Car, thus proving or disproving it's authenticity? (For those unfamiliar with this service, P.H.S.= Pontiac Historical Services Multi Page Report on a Car with info such as Options, Date of assembly, proof if it was a Real GTO stuff like that.)

[hvychev]

I personally do not think this will ever happen. People put to much hope in the concept.

[bilede]

which will never happen? GM coming out of a coma or releasing official documentation? both seem to be long shots but I guess we can keep positive thoughts right.. "Think you can or think you can't, either way you are right" to borrow a quote from a ford guy.. henry ford..

[12bolt]

[ QUOTE ]
which will never happen? GM coming out of a coma or releasing official documentation? both seem to be long shots but I guess we can keep positive thoughts right.. "Think you can or think you can't, either way you are right" to borrow a quote from a ford guy.. henry ford..

[/ QUOTE ] Great statement and Quote. I am an eternal optimist. relatively new to this site and the GM "Problem" as I refer to it as it certainly is just that. If They could tear down the Berlin Wall, then there certainly is a way that another "Organized effort" by a Concerned group of Individuals, who rally together behind a Good Cause can get the job Done! all it would Take is a Petition started and Carried out at events like Carlisle GM and Camaro Nationals for instance. Some Volunteers to man the Booth and maybe even get some sponsors to help out with costs of Tent rental and Space, Printing costs, etc. Get some press Coverage. Have Autoweek do a story on it. Get speed Channel involved! Blow the story out into the open and expose the "General" for treating the Minions improperly! Reporters wake up every day waiting for a Human interest Story where Corporate America is screwing the Public. It would then give the "General" a Chance to respond. God knows they do not want another "Michael Moore" incident on their hands! Now Who is Ready with some ideas on who can "lead the Troops" here??

[Supercar_Kid]

Well I guess I'm the eternal pessimist then...

Look at it from the General's POV and the situation becomes pretty clear. Is it smarter to spend your company's efforts sorting and archiving thousands of 35 year old documents for cars you've already sold in an attempt to potentially please a handful of "enthusiasts" and make maybe $100 a pop, or instead should you concentrate your efforts on building and marketing profitable vehicles to today's buying public in an effort to keep your already fledgling company afloat for at least few more years?

Seems to me like it's a no-brainer. For GM the project is insignificant both financially and in terms of public relations. GM simply could care less if we "enthusiasts" get our beloved documents or not, and I personally think the process of organizing and "releasing" the documents would prove to cost as much or more than they could ever hope to generate on the sale of such documents.

To be honest, it surprises me that GM of Canada and PHS are doing it at all. You can bet they aren't getting rich doing it either. Seeing as how George Zapora seems to be the lone GM employee doing Canadian documentation for nearly a decade now, it doesn't seem like that department is where the money is being made for the General, nor do I hear anyone singing the praises of GM of Canada or Pontiac for their efforts. Has anyone spent anymore than the $35 GM of Canada or Pontiac asks for documents, or went out and actually bought a new GM car because they were so courteous in providing docs for your collector car? Likely not...it just doesn't matter in the grand scheme of the automotive manufacturing business. It's a bonus for us collectors that they do it, but I doubt it makes much difference for GM of Canada or the Pontiac division on the whole.

It is a shame, but the bottom line is, if it's gonna take more than someone tearing the lid off a box at GM and dumping the records into a scanner, you can bet it won't be happening anytime soon. They simply have bigger fish to fry.

Besides...aren't all the extra "enthusiast" hands at GM supposed to be busy working on our "new" Camaro anyhow?

[camarojoe]

[ QUOTE ]

Besides...aren't all the extra "enthusiast" hands at GM supposed to be busy working on our "new" Camaro anyhow?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah really... remember all the petitions that were sent around, internet banter, and enthusiast outcry to "Save the Camaro"? I still have the T-shirt I bought with the ad slogan on it, for whatever good it did.

[12bolt]

[ QUOTE ]
Well I guess I'm the eternal pessimist then...

to me like it's a no-brainer. For GM the project is insignificant both financially and in terms of public relations. GM simply could care less if we "enthusiasts" get our beloved documents or not, and I personally think the process of organizing and "releasing" the documents would prove to cost as much or more than they could ever hope to generate on the sale of such documents.



[/ QUOTE ] I guess People like you must be running the Show at GM!! No wonder I like FORD so much!! In True response to your Pessimism, You do not know the outcome until you try. And that applies to anything you do in Life. Think about your first piece of A$$! or anything else you wanted so bad you could taste it. Were you so Pessimistic then and "Self Doubting" that you never got Laid? Of Course Not! You were young and Full of Life and you did what you needed to do! the problem with the Nay Sayers in this world is that sometimes People let them deter others from Progress. and sometimes it takes a Pessimist to Anger and Fuel The Fire of Other's To strike out and Prove you wrong! My purpose in Starting this thread was to get a Sense of Value that people would place on this type of Service. I already know about "PHS" Charges, But I think there are far more Valuable Chevrolets Lacking Documnetation That could push that Figure Higher. GM Could easily do a Cost Analysis of this process and I bet it would be a lot Cheaper than you assume. Given the Technology Benefits of Today in comparison to the past. let me ask you this, Why does FORD do It?? in actuality, an enterprising Enthusiast approached them and undertook the Job himself! His Name is Kevin Marti. Hence the term "Marti Report" when you see FORD ads. I know others have tried to get GM to do the right thing and it always gets close and then does not happen. But if evidence was shown to them that literally Thousands of People want this service provided and they were willing to pay anywhere from $25.00 Dollars to $1000.00 Dollars for this knowledge to either confirm a Valuable Car, or to guide a restoration project on Granny's 6 cylinder Nova. Price it accordingly. several scenarios could be arranged. For instant Information or within Hours Charge an extra $50.00 Dollars. SS Or Z-28, COPO Cars Charge More than you would for a Base Model car, etc. Now remember John Belushi's Famous Line in Animal House...."Who's with me??"

[427TJ]

Not knowing what PHS charges for their documentation, I'd say $25-$50 would be a fair price range.



But, I think GM has plenty of trouble to deal with at the present time and I'd be suprised if there's ever a truly organized Chevrolet documentation system a-la PHS. I do know about the attempt to get this information together---we've discussed it here recently---but I'm not holding my breath.

[TDW]

My 68 Z28 and my 69 L78 do not have factory paperwork. They have both been documented by Jerry MacNeish. I would pay at least as much as Jerry charges for documenting them. That is a lot more than 50 bucks though. If the factory stuff was around 500, I would pay it.

[COPO_Anders]

So would I. 500 is cheap if you have the real thing. I have the original drivetrain in my COPO, but I would like to see some paperwork before I restore it.
I just ordered our -71 Le Mans papers from P.H.S.



Anders