In the end, this is what it's all about. When people stop going to shows because some know-it-all says something is incorrect is an indication that the hobby is in danger of being taken over by elitists and is being hurt by such sanctimonious attitudes. No one here is an authority enough to say one way or the other what constitutes "correct" on items not documented on things like a build sheet in such a way as to completely discount evidence to the contrary.
First off I want to say one thing.... I never call myself an "expert" nor "authority" and never refer to myself as such. Whenever people call me an "expert", I correct them and say that I am just a "specialist". With that being said, yes, no one here is really an "authority" when it comes to these cars, we just do the best that we can do with the information we are provided with and what we can find and prove documentation wise. They only thing we can determine of what is "correct" is from what we see documentation wise. And we have the proof in documents from 1978 or any year that we are talking about. That is the "proof" that we can show.
There is ample factual evidence on both sides and there are real life examples like Bird Turd here who can affirm their car was a certain way when it was delivered. My only argument has ever been that someone should not be telling someone else their car is not "factory correct" when there is so much evidence to the contrary and that the factory standards were not always followed.
To me there is not "ample factual evidence" at all. To me someone's memory is not "factual evidence". I mean we are talking about memories that are 33 years old (referring to the 1978). Memories can be changed, forgotten, mistaken, and tricked relatively easily and has been proven so in scientific studies and experiments to show how easily the mind can be mistaken. Now, I am not going to make reference to them in the books and articles I have read (unless someone requests it) but it is to make a point. The point is that someone's memory to me does no constitute in any way shape or form "factual evidence". And even with that, to me there is also not "ample" evidence either. What we have is a few isolated incidents of things being different from what the factory documentation that we have. To me factual evidence would be maybe a memo from the plant managers to their line employees stating to install a certain shaker decal, or to install something other that what the factory deemed was to be on these cars. So to me a memo like that would be "factual" evidence of what some are saying. But we don't have any proof like that to show that it was the case. Another form of "factual" evidence would be photos from 1978 of the assembly line with cars with these "mistakes" on them. So a photo from the factory would to me be factual evidence. A photo of a car from the Dealer would not be because we know Dealers installed what was requested by the customer and even installed things that were not even availlable for the whole "F" body line (like car alarm systems which you can ask LOMILETA about). Another thing that would be considered proof would be someone's dealer order form that they could even order a certain thing on thier car. So something in writing from 1978 showing any of this to me would be factual. Another thing that maybe could be traced was if these "isolated incidents" could be traced back to a certain point. So these people that say they had something installed from the factory that way and the cars could all be traced back to a certain build date (or dates within a close period of time) at a certain factory could be the start of factual evidence. But we do not have that either. Again, the side of the argument we can take is proven by factory documents and memos. The other side of the argument is only proven by people's memories.
It would be better to stick to the big items like engine sizes, transmissions, interior builds etc. (things documented on the build sheet), and leave the small things like decals, emblems, and shaker hood decals (things not documented on the build sheet) alone.
Ok, some of these things can be traced back and proven or not proven (possibly). For example, in 1979, the 3" sail panel bird had a part number of 10006138, the 6" sail panel bird had a part number of 100002976. Now, although part numbers are not listed on the build sheet they did have different prices. The 3" bird was $14.55 and the 6" bird was $20.05. So there could possibly be proof there on a dealer invoice if you compared two different sail panel birds and see a price difference on two different cars. And who knows, maybe there is a way to tell on the build sheet, but we are not authorities enough on them to determine the codes. Either way, we can again only go by the documentation that we have and can prove.
Prudent leeway should be granted here based on the knowledge that "factory correct" is a near useless term when there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that the factory didn't always follow it.
Factory Correct is not a useless term because we have Factory Documents that show what Pontiac and GM said was what the Factory was to build. So I do not think that term is useless at all because again I do there is NOT "plenty of anecdotal evidence" to show otherwise. We have isolated incidents with no documentation to show what was installed and just rely on people's memories. Now, we can go back and have people find their photos of their cars when they were new from 1978 and I would be willing to bet that if we got 100 photos that 95 of them would show what is shown in factory documentation and maybe only 5 photos to show something different. And out of those 5 photos, there is no proof that the Dealer did not do it and not the factory. So again, to me that is not "plenty of anecdotal evidence" nor "ample factual evidence". Again, there is a difference between what the "Factory" did and what "Dealers" did to these cars back when they were new.
By letting this cancer eat away at the hobby is only going to drive more people away from sharing their cars. I like that the T/A Nationals actually allows cars to be considered "stock" that have a whole host of changes and things added by others that were not added by the factory -- like open hood scoops, stereos, exhaust (not headers), shifters, etc. This was smart on their part. We should be encouraging more people to participate in shows regardless of the small items like shaker hood decals instead of turning people away with elitist attitudes.
I do not think there is a cancer at all. The only cancer lies on those people which care nothing about the car and only care about winning trophies. And to me that is still a small number of people out there. I said in an earlier post that I don't think I was getting my point across clear enough and I still don't think I am. I could probably still type for hours regarding this issue of "Factory" correct and not "Factory" correct, but now my fingers hurt from typing. I am not an authority nor an expert... I am just a specialist and only go by what I can prove and not my memory. I have worked on/owned/bought and sold over 100 Trans Ams so I have a good base, but still am not an expert.
