[ihc] "Factory"

[Howard R Pletcher <n9ads@xxxxxxxx>]

Let's see, a factory is a big building with lots of parts going in one
end and a finished something going out the other end.  To me, what comes
out the other end is what would be termed "factory".  In IH terms, a
factory option would be something that appeared in the truck's price
pages, was specified by the dealer with a code for it on the order,
appeared on the lineset ticket, and was physically put on in the factory.
 To me, it also implies a greater degree of engineering and product
integration that you get with dealer installed options which are usually
bolt ons.

Many other automotive things fall into a similar gray area.  Is a Shelby
Mustang "factory"?  How about a Lingenfelter Corvette?  Any of a
multitude of custom van conversions that you can buy through your Ford or
Chevy dealer or the first of the convertibles in the late 1980s when the
manufacturers sent them out to a chop shop to be built?  Midas and CVI
Scouts?  Factory approved and sold and even warranted by the OEM
manufacturer--yes (although in most cases the cost of the warranty is
paid by the converter for his portion of the vehicle), but my answer is
no for each of these being factory because they weren't built by the
vehicle manufacturer.  I recall it was big news in the automotive press
when the manufacturers took the building of the convertibles back
in-house, so others seem to place some importance on this.  I guess we
will each draw our own conclusions, however.  Sometimes manufacturers try
to conceal what is done outside as in the case of the first convertibles
and in the case of 4WD in the early 1950's when IH had factory 4WD
installations while most of the other manufacturers were selling
conversions by Marmon Harrington and others as their own.  Again it
seemed to be a big deal when production went in-house.

I will grant that all this gets into a lot of a gray area--what is
factory and what isn't.   In the case of winches, and snow plows and many
other commonly installed accessories--fifth wheels and sleeper boxes on
larger trucks fell into this category for many years until the factory
finally started installing them, any body on a large truck or air
conditioning on Scout 800s are other examples--sales published their
availability "for Dealer Installation".  

The TSPC's were sales distribution centers, which were in some cases
close to a factory--immediately adjacent to the Springfield Plant, 2
miles down the road from the Scout Plant in Fort Wayne, and nowhere close
to a plant in the case of Melrose Park, IL and Las Vegas (or wherever it
was), NV,  (I'm not sure if there were other TSPC's or not), but they
were functionally not a part of the factory and the factory or
engineering had little control over what was done there.  TSPC's were
sort of a "super dealership" in many respects and were a function of the
sales department.  Internally the trucks became the property of the Sales
Department, not Manufacturing once they left the plant gate and went to
TSPC.

I would doubt that IH had a hand in engineering the winch installation. 
Sales would have worked directly with Warn and put together the package
from Warn that was needed.  Sometimes TSPC's  would be installing things
that Engineeering and Reliability just shook their heads over, but until
we could convince the Sales Department that it shouldn't be done, they
were free to do their thing if they thought it would help sell a truck.

In the case of the winch on Mike's Scout, only the Garsts can answer this
for sure, but if I were to bet money, I'd say it didn't get put on until
some time down the road.  Look at it this way--I don't know your mother
at all, but I would suspect that if someone were to offer her a new SUV
today, I seriously doubt that she would go out of her way to specify that
an ugly (as most non-four wheeling females would view it) winch be hung
on the front before she got it unless you were there to prompt her to do
so and I would expect Mary Garst would look at it even more in the same
way.  

She wasn't like you and me putting down her hard earned money to get a
vehicle she prized and was going to use.  This was just a perk for her
Board position and from Mike's comments, I suspect it became more of her
husband's vehicle than hers.  Probably this vehicle remained IH property
as long as she remained on the board and when she left, it was
transferred to her for what was likely a nominal fee, after which her
husband (and sons/employees, etc) probably went to work on the Scout.  I
don't expect a number of the other items like the rear window defogger,
tinted windows and tape player (I don't have the 1980 accessories book,
but in 1977 it was still an 8 track that was being offered) were
installed at TSPC when new--although they might have been so I can't say
they weren't.

I'm not putting down Mike's Scout, but it is 23 years, 2 months, 17 days,
and about 8 hours old and not totally in original condition.  John Glancy
has the only truly original Scout that I know of because it's never been
used.  On Mike's, I expect the quarters have been replaced, it has been
repainted and the grille isn't the original one.  But it is still THE
LAST Scout and he should restore it however he feels like whether it's
exactly like it rolled off the line or not.

Howard

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 10:28:01 -0600 "Ed Sohm" <idaemes@domain.elided> writes:
> 
> What is the right way to say that then? It was an option you could
> order, right?. It was endorsed by IH, right? I assume IH had a hand in
> engineering the mounting arrangement so it wouldn't adversely affect 
> the operation (cooling, suspension,...) of a Scout. IH installed it,
right?
> With any other make, we would call it a factory option, maybe
> incorrectly.