1965-67 U.S. Corvair RPO
Statistics Addendum
By Kent Sullivan
(Thanks to
Mark Corbin for his assistance)
As stated in the
original RPO statistics article, the simplifying assumption was made
that every RPO was theoretically available for all cars
produced. This addendum dives more deeply into the topic by exploring the
significantly more-complicated reality.
Many factors reduce the total number of
cars for which a given RPO is applicable:
-
Model availability (e.g., not
available on Corsas)
-
Body style availability (e.g.,
sedans only)
-
Option interaction
 | Conflicting option(s) (e.g.,
spare tire lock [P19] not available with air conditioning [C64]) |
| Exclusive option(s) (e.g., only
one type of wheel cover may be installed: N96, P01, or P02) |
|
Required option(s) (e.g., 3.55:1
differential [G95] required with 140 HP engine [COPO 9551] in 1967) |
Standard equipment for certain
configurations (e.g., 3.27:1 differential [G93] standard on 500s and Monzas)
Table 6 contains a comparison of
"all" to "subset" totals for RPOs in the first two categories
only (model and/or
body style).
Table
6: Options for which a subset of
models and/or body styles apply, grouped by Uniform Parts
Classification (UPC)
|
RPO |
Option
Description |
Year |
Three-Year
Average (All) |
Three-Year
Average (Subset) |
Applicable
Production Subset |
|
1965 |
1966 |
1967 |
|
% All |
%
Subset |
% All |
%
Subset |
% All |
%
Subset |
|
|
|
Body - UPC 1 (A01
- E99) |
|
A67 |
Folding Rear Seat |
1.88% |
8.13% |
2.24% |
7.07% |
3.58% |
7.99% |
2.56% |
7.73% |
500s only |
|
A82 |
1966: Bucket or
Bench Seat Headrests; 1967: Bench Seat Headrests |
n/a |
1.15% |
0.13% |
0.29% |
0.64% |
0.72% |
500s only |
|
AL5 |
Custom
Deluxe Center Rear Seat Belt (requires
A39) |
n/a |
0.73% |
3.24% |
0.73% |
3.24% |
sedans only |
|
AS2 |
Strato-Ease
Bucket Seat Headrests |
n/a |
0.75% |
1.36% |
0.75% |
1.36% |
Monzas only |
|
C06 |
Power Convertible
Top |
4.23% |
28.59% |
4.19% |
32.25% |
2.73% |
35.23% |
3.72% |
32.03% |
convertibles
only |
|
C64 |
Air Conditioning
|
4.00% |
4.55% |
4.61% |
5.12% |
4.58% |
4.76% |
1965:
500s and Monzas only |
|
D10 |
Rear Door
Armrests |
0.10% |
1.28% |
0.18% |
2.15% |
n/a |
0.14% |
1.72% |
500 sedans only |
|
*** |
Two-Tone Paint |
0.78% |
3.35% |
0.69% |
3.37% |
0.65% |
2.91% |
0.71% |
3.21% |
sedans
only |
|
|
|
Rear Suspension -
UPC 4 (G50 - H99) |
|
G95 |
3.55:1 Rear Axle |
0.84% |
0.96% |
0.79% |
0.88% |
0.87% |
0.83% |
0.90% |
500s
and Monzas only (standard on Corsas) |
|
|
|
Engine - UPC 6
(K01 - L99) |
|
K46 |
Heavy Duty Air
Pre-cleaner |
0.25% |
0.29% |
0.12% |
0.14% |
n/a |
0.19% |
0.21% |
500s
and Monzas only |
|
L62 |
110 HP Engine |
59.74% |
68.01% |
60.90% |
67.74% |
70.15% |
63.60% |
68.63% |
500s
and Monzas only |
|
L63
(COPO 9551) |
140 HP Engine |
7.76% |
8.83% |
7.23% |
8.04% |
1.02% |
5.34% |
5.97% |
500s
and Monzas only (standard
on Corsas) |
|
L87 |
180 HP Engine |
3.06% |
25.16% |
1.88% |
18.63% |
n/a |
2.47% |
21.89% |
Corsas
only |
|
|
|
Transmission -
UPC 7 (M01 - M99) |
|
M35 |
PowerGlide
Automatic Transmission |
53.09% |
60.44% |
57.23% |
63.65% |
67.94% |
59.42% |
64.01% |
500s
and Monzas only |
|
|
|
Wheels & Tires -
UPC 10 (P01 - T49) |
|
P01 |
Wheel Covers |
3.70% |
16.05% |
5.16% |
16.30% |
8.90% |
19.85% |
5.92% |
17.40% |
500s only |
|
|
|
Electrical &
Instrument - UPC 12 (T60 - U99) |
|
U27 |
Glove Compartment
Light |
n/a |
n/a |
2.24% |
5.00% |
2.24% |
5.00% |
500s only |
|
U29 |
Courtesy
Lights |
n/a |
6.87% |
7.45% |
6.87% |
7.45% |
coupes
and sedans only (standard on convertibles) |
Comparing the three-year average percentages, there
are striking increases for some options, notably:
 | Rear Door Armrests (D10): 12x |
| Power Convertible Top (C06): 9x |
| 180 HP Engine (L87): 9x |
| Two-Tone Paint: 4.5x |
| Folding Rear Seat (A67): 3x |
| Wheel Covers (P01): 3x |
For a few options, the increase is roughly 2x. For
the remainder, the increase is just a few percent.
The effect that this has on the options installed on
greater than 10% of cars is to add three items to Table 7 (C06, L87, P01) and to move
two more up in the table (L62, M35). These five options are highlighted in
green below.
Table 7: Options that were installed on more
than 10% of cars (revised)
|
RPO |
Option Description |
Avg. % |
|
P53 |
6.50x13 White Wall Rayon Tires |
73.70% |
|
L62 |
110
HP Engine |
68.63% |
|
Z01 |
Convenience Group Type "A" |
66.36% |
|
P54 |
7.00x13 White Wall Rayon Tires |
64.03% |
|
M35 |
PowerGlide Automatic Transmission |
64.01% |
|
U63 |
AM
Pushbutton Radio |
58.14% |
|
B70 |
Padded Dash |
48.46% |
|
A02 |
Tinted Glass – Windshield Only |
38.11% |
|
A49 |
Custom Deluxe Front Seat Belts with Retractors |
33.10% |
|
C06 |
Power
Convertible Top |
32.03% |
|
P19 |
Spare
Tire Lock |
31.08% |
|
M20 |
4
Speed Manual Transmission |
25.00% |
|
L87 |
180 HP
Engine |
21.89% |
|
A39 |
Custom Deluxe Front & Rear Seat Belts with Front Retractors |
21.63% |
|
P01 |
Wheel
Covers |
17.40% |
|
U73 |
Rear
Antenna |
14.12% |
|
B93 |
Door
Edge Guards |
13.04% |
|
U60 |
AM
Manual Radio |
11.17% |
|
V74 |
Hazard Switch and Flashers |
10.59% |
The effect that this has on the
options installed on fewer than 1% of cars is to remove four items from
Table 8 (AL5,
AS2, D10, and Two-Tone Paint), to move one down in the table (K46), and to
change two others' percentages but not their positions (A82, G95). The three options
still present are highlighted in green below.
Table
8: Options that were installed on
fewer than 1% of cars (revised)
|
RPO |
Option Description |
Avg. % |
|
Z17 |
Suspension and Steering |
0.05% |
|
A64 |
Custom Rear Seat Belts |
0.07% |
|
Z83 |
Highway Emergency Kit |
0.07% |
|
A47 |
Custom Deluxe Rear Seat Belts |
0.11% |
|
K84 |
Heavy
Duty Alternator (47 amp) |
0.20% |
|
K46 |
Heavy
Duty Air Pre-cleaner |
0.21% |
|
G93 |
3.27:1 Rear Axle |
0.25% |
|
AS1 |
Custom Front Shoulder Belts |
0.26% |
|
A85 |
Custom Deluxe Front Shoulder Belts |
0.27% |
|
U75 |
Power
Rear Antenna |
0.40% |
|
U57 |
Stereo Tape System |
0.46% |
|
A82 |
1966:
Bucket or Bench Seat Headrests; 1967: Bench Seat Headrests |
0.72% |
|
N96 |
Magnesium Wheel Covers |
0.73% |
|
C48 |
Heater Delete |
0.78% |
|
G95 |
3.55:1 Rear Axle |
0.90% |
Concerning the other factors which reduce the total
number of cars for which a given RPO is applicable, compiling a complete
list is very challenging. Even if the list were compiled, it would not be
possible to calculate the number to subtract in all cases due to some
production statistics not being available; specifically those involving
combinations of options. A complicated example is K46, Heavy Duty Air
Pre-cleaner. It is listed in Table 6 because it was not available on Corsas.
It was also not available on any car with L63/COPO 9551 (140 HP Engine) or
K19 (Air Injection Reactor). While separate totals for cars equipped with
L63/COPO 9551 and K19 are available, the number of cars with both is not.
Therefore, an accurate calculation can't be completed.
Just for fun, below are a few option interaction
examples. If I get really bored I will add to this list over time!
-
C64 not available with L87 in 1966
and with COPO 9551 in 1967
-
G93 not available with L87
-
G95 standard with L62 and M35 in
1966; with C64 in 1967
-
K19 not required in 1966 with C64 or L87
("required" vs. "available" language used due to regulatory requirement; it
was also not required for cars registered outside of California)
-
K46 not available with C64
-
L63 not available with C64 in 1965
and 1967
-
N30 not available with N36
-
P19 not available with C64
Part 2—1965-67 U.S.
Corvair RPO Decoding
The companion
article
provides information on how to decode the
system of codes that Fisher Body
used on the tag in the engine
compartment.
|
