I don't mind the disagreement at all! Just as long as you realize I'm not *arguing* with you, just *discussing* the point (I take it that way from everyone else). In fact, I agree with you. I was trying to say they had no reason to keep the data *long term* on individual cars. After it was analyzed and the trends and such picked out and the data was analyzed and put in the form of some sort of report, it was likely discarded. In other words, once the figured out how many tinted windshields to initially order for the next year, the previous year's data on individual cars was no longer necessary to keep. So yes, they kept and analyzed data on overall trends and production as that was useful, I understand that, but not on individual cars. It only mattered that xx% of cars were ordered with tinted glass and AC, not which individual cars were ordered that way. Of course someone had to decide WHAT data to extract, what trends to follow. They most likely kept the individual car data for a few years before discarding, just in case someone wanted/needed to analyze something. I'm not sure how useful it would be to reevaluate 2-3 year old data, but it's possible. But maybe it was all packed in a box and is at the Chrysler museum... or the landfill that a lot of obsolete parts went into when Chrysler bought AMC. In any case, it's not accessible. If it were, I'd take the time to go to the Chrysler museum and spend a few days there making copies! ------------------- Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 03:07 PM From: JOE B FULTON <PIPER_PA20@xxxxxxxxxxx> I respectfully disagree with Frank's premise that the information wasn't valuable. The company needed this information at some level to intelligently order optional equipment and color coded interior parts for the various models. I'm sure the data was kept somewhere. AMC was always looking at the bottom line and someone in engineering or purchasing (for example) would be making sure that they could get volume discounts on a certain model of radio or twin grip rear gears. How many tinted windshields to buy for the 66 model year? Knowing how many they sold in 1964 or 1964 would be valuable. Maybe due to the difficulty of data processing in those days, the data was not centralized, but my feeling is that someone was responsible for compiling that data and it was available to managers. _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list