build dates and "model years" in the early seventies

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

In AD9-0137 Andrew Watry writes "Re James Montebello's comments about his old
Berlina (which I owned before he did), it was VIN AR*3002155*, built 10/73,
but as he said, definitely a 1974 model-year car.  I have in the Berlina
Register database 1974 model-year cars built as early as 8/73.  I think this
is typical of the US market, when model-year cars (the next calendar year) go
on sale in August or September of the preceding year.  Alfa was probably a bit
behind the curve here, because I would guess a car built in August wouldn't
get to a US dealer's sale floor for a couple months at least.

"As to how these 1974 model years cars got back-registered to 1973 in
California, I've heard two theories. One is that for title and registration
purposes, DMV may have looked merely at when the car was built, so a 8/73 got
listed on the title as a 1973 model. (Although this has worked the other way
too, with 1974 Berlinas and GTVs that didn't sell til 1975 got registered as
1975 model-year cars, a real problem for the owner at smog time, since 1975
standard are much more stringent).  The other method I've heard is that people
have more recently taken their 1973 build-date information for a 1974
model-year car in to DMV and gotten the car re-registered as a 1973 model to
avoid smog checks.  Apparently some DMV offices are willing to do this.

"All this model-year concern was mainly of federal, not state, importance at
the time, to meet US safety and emissions standards.  California had different
clean air goals from the rest of the country at the time, but we did not yet
have California-only and 49-state cars, which came later, in 1975 I think.
EPA and other federal departments were the ones setting and enforcing these
requirements at that time; Calif. DMV wasn't involved in standards, but only
in registration, and has only gotten dragged in more recently, I think, by the
fact of the model-year difference, and how that relates to the Calif.
legislature's having separately exempted 1973 model-year and earlier cars."

I have two different ARI Vehicle Identification Lists published ten years
apart which both give 3002301 as the first 1974 Berlina. The earlier of the
two lists gives starting production dates as well as starting chassis numbers
and starting engine numbers; according to it all USA Berlinas between chassis
#11500.3001001, engine #01500.00017, built in September 1972 and chassis
#11500.3002301, engine #01500.07001, built in March 1974 were 1973 model year
cars. Dealers, owners, DMVs and historic registers may have called them
various other things, but I believe that ARI was almost certainly hewing
extremely close to the letters AND loopholes of the laws, as understood by
their lawyers, and that James Montebello's ex-Watry Berlina was a "1973" by
those standards.

Cheers

John H.
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