"Brass Hat" Car?

[ruc]

Guys I don't know if this is the right place for this question, but if I need to post somewhere else just let me know.
I would like to know how you document or determine that a car was a "Brass Hat" car. I have a Judge convertible that I think could have been one. The car has 38 options listed on the PHS.
I'm thinking about selling the car and I think that might help the value.
Any help would be appreciated

[Tracker1]

Where was it delivered?

Also, go here and ask:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=434

[PeteLeathersac]

'

Exactly on the where delivered question!
Site Member GTO Don can maybe help you as he knows Ponchos also sold a Brass Hat '67 Firebird a few months back in this thread...
http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/650175/re-1967-pontiac-firebird-400-g

Did your GS sell?
Merry Christmas!
<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[ruc]

No Still have the GS. Interested?
Merry Christmas

[ruc]

I will check on where it was delivered and post.

[iluv69s]

aren't the brass hat cars typically early production or built for promo for a special event? (ie. indy 500)

[marxjunk]

brass hat isnt usually a festival type car..its built for someone special, like a celebrity, or a zone managers demonstrator...in other words its usually a special car for a special person, usually the build sheets if found are pink for 69 up, cars and the early sheets have written instructions that spell it out.

the Burt Reynolds bandit T/A that was given to him by GM, has a pink sheet and has been posted publicly...the connection of a brass hat car can be made there easily..special car for a special person

[Keith Seymore]

An invoice that indicates an interesting dealer (like Royal or Knapfel) would be a plus, as would a dealer zone of PMD, Pontiac Engineering or PMD racing (07-621, 35-997, or 99-998, respectively). If the build sheet indicates a &quot;tag&quot; to a recognizable name, like &quot;TAG-WANGERS&quot; then that would be pretty conclusive.

Otherwise a lot of options does not a &quot;Brass Hat&quot; car make.

Additional commentary on &quot;loaded Judges&quot;:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=780339&amp;highlight=brass+hat

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=779331&amp;highlight=brass+hat

[Keith Seymore]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: marxjunk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">brass hat isnt usually a festival type car..its built for someone special, like a celebrity, or a zone managers demonstrator...in other words its usually a special car for a special person, usually the build sheets if found are pink for 69 up, cars and the early sheets have written instructions that spell it out.

the Burt Reynolds bandit T/A that was given to him by GM, has a pink sheet and has been posted publicly...the connection of a brass hat car can be made there easily..special car for a special person </div></div>

If you find one with my name on it - you should be able to charge double!

<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/wink.gif

[Keith Seymore]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Keith Seymore</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
If you find one with my name on it - you should be able to charge double!
<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/wink.gif </div></div>

...assuming they spell it right...

<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif

[iluv69s]

In the early 90's my buddy bought an LS-6 vert and I remember him showing me the build sheet which arrived via fed ex before the car. The build sheet said 'zone promotion vehicle'... or maybe 'zone production vehicle'... he always said it was probably the first LS-6 vert... I guess that has nothing to do with brass hat..??

I think I remember the 67 or 69 Indy Camaros and brass hat cars being in the same conversation though..??

[marxjunk]

define: brass hat
noun-informal
a high-ranking officer in the armed forces.

as it applies here:
a special car for a special person...a high ranking person in a company or society..

so no not the same..but a Pace car built for Bill France would be a brass hat car..

zone cars are diff, they where demonstrators that usually zone managers ordered and drove for an amount of time, then turned back into inventory...

[ruc]

Looks like car was delivered to Miami Fl.
Was built 1st week in Oct.

[StealthBird]

ruc, here's one of my pages describing a 1969 Pontiac invoice breakdown. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif

http://www.musclecarfilms.com/Pontiac_Invoice.html

If you have the invoice, I can help you decode any of the other information. If you'd like to share the invoice, please send to [email protected] (or just PM me). If you'd like to share it publicly, please post! I have many invoices, and even a few original window stickers, for brass hat cars. I also have invoices for several 33+ optioned cars.

It's hard to tell what your car was used for unless you can provide more information.

Mike

[ruc]

Thanks Mike,
I will send you a copy of the PHS

[ruc]

Mike,
Just sent you a copy of the PHS and the build sheet.

[StealthBird]

Hey Doug, I did reply to your e-mail, hope you received it! <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif

Mike

[Kurt S]

Realize that Brass Hat was a dealer-invented term for cars that they picked up at auctions after the cars had been used in company service. Most were manager's cars - drive for 3000 miles and get a new one....

[bergy]

In the late '60s and early '70s, in order to qualify a &quot;company car&quot; - an employee had to be an 8th level department head or higher (up through unclassified). A salaried supervisor was 5th level, so you had to get a few promotions before being assigned a company vehicle. Most of the cars that were driven on a daily basis in company service by a department head were already spoken for by an employee who went to the personnel department and specified the car &amp; options. Cars that were ordered by an employee and not assigned to a specific department head wound up in the &quot;pool&quot;. Pool cars got driven by everyone and anyone (theoretically for company business) and generally got the snot beat out of them. So, it was best to get a department head to agree to drive your company car rather then have it assigned to the pool. If there weren't enough orders by employees to populate the company vehicle program, the personnel department would simply order additional unspoken for cars. These cars were usually really loaded with options so that they would be easy to sell (or brought good $$ at auction) when they were taken out of service. So, it was the pool cars that frequently wound up at auction.

[Keith Seymore]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bergy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In the late '60s and early '70s, in order to qualify a &quot;company car&quot; - an employee had to be an 8th level department head or higher (up through unclassified). A salaried supervisor was 5th level, so you had to get a few promotions before being assigned a company vehicle. </div></div>

That was part of my strategy for starting out as a production supervisor immediately after graduation: I hired on as 6th level, giving me a head start over my counterparts who went directly into engineering positions (as 5th level). As a result I &quot;skyrocketed&quot; (lol) to the coveted 8th level position. Unfortunately by that point we were not able to select the option content of our PEP vehicles - they were assigned randomly by the fleet office.

The exception would be the &quot;Drive and Buy&quot; program. We were able to specify the content of the vehicle, drive it for the allotted time period (3000 miles or 7500 miles) and accrue the associated discounts with the intention of buying it when it came out of company use. I bought quite a few Suburbans at 38% off (mileage plus past model year discount).

That lasted for me from 1991 through the unpleasantness of 2008.

K

[Keith Seymore]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Keith Seymore</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The exception would be the &quot;Drive and Buy&quot; program. We were able to specify the content of the vehicle, drive it for the allotted time period (3000 miles or 7500 miles) and accrue the associated discounts with the intention of buying it when it came out of company use. I bought quite a few Suburbans at 38% off (mileage plus past model year discount).

K </div></div>

There is no end to the trickery. When we moved back from the DPG I chose an M Van from the development fleet. We drove it back to Michigan as a company owned vehicle and then turned it in for &quot;final disposition&quot;. Once it was available I purchased it for my wife's use, complete with the mileage discount (as a result of the trip) and past model year discount.

We also would order development vehicles with specific content with the idea of (keeping an eye on them) and buying them after they came out of service. This, of course, would not be condoned if the fleet people or engineering management knew that's what we were doing.

K

[Kurt S]

There is a whole other world of company cars in the zones.
From JohnZ:
1. Could be the Zone Manager's assigned company car,
2. Could have been ordered so one of the Zone Office employees could buy it when it got miles on it,
3. Could be a &quot;P.R. car&quot; for loan to the auto writers for local papers,
4. Could be a &quot;courtesy car&quot; for loan to visiting G.M. employees.
Some Zones had sizable &quot;courtesy&quot; fleets, like Miami, New Orleans, and L.A.; other zones in non-tourist areas didn't. I used to get a Zone car regularly out of Miami or Tampa when I'd go to Florida on vacation instead of renting a car - they'd leave them in VIP Parking at the airport.

[Billohio]

My 300G convertible was delivered and prepped to the pool at its plant. The odd thing was it was real late in the model year so probably not a magazine car. Best the historical society could come up with was someone important ordered it but probably no way to find out now. They said it wasn't a car that would be used in the pool