> From:    joel walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
> Date:    Tue, 1 May 2007 07:44:55 -0500
>
> it seems that the lowest vin is 000200. why start with 200? start up?
> the first 200 are 'experiments' to make sure the production line
> works?

I think this probably isn't a bad guess.  I know that one US
manufacturer runs a "slow line" for the first handful of new vehicles -
it's being built on the assembly line like any other car, with the
tooling and equipment they intend to use for the entire production run,
but they're only making maybe 5 or 10 a day.  As I understand it, the
idea is a final debug of the production process.  Once they're happy,
they crank it up to normal line speed.

Those first 200 vehicles might get used for internal testing purposes as
well.  I'm pretty sure that at each major design change, the various
national safety agencies want you to drive one into a wall.  There is
probably some harmonization of standards, but it wouldn't surprise me if
Europe, the US, and Japan all have their own wall to drive into.  Also,
all major car manufacturers have "proving grounds" where they can test
their vehicles - probably some of these early cars go there and get some
more testing.  (In the US, most of the hot-weather proving grounds are
around Phoenix and Tucson.)  Probably some of the early vehicles go into
making those neat cut-aways you see in some of the manuals, or into the
studio to make pictures/video for the Bentley and for training, etc.

Matt Roberds