Independent Estimate of USDM S2000 Monthly Production
04-06-2020, 03:57 PM
#42
Thread Starter
7/'99 
12/'05
Winner!
Since I guessed wrong -- PM me to claim your shiny, new** US$1. 
** "Shiny and new" Disclaimer: US$1 to be sent via PayPal or venmo; electrons involved in the transfer may or may not be as old as the universe, but are assumed to be shiny.
12/'05
Winner!
Since I guessed wrong -- PM me to claim your shiny, new** US$1. ** "Shiny and new" Disclaimer: US$1 to be sent via PayPal or venmo; electrons involved in the transfer may or may not be as old as the universe, but are assumed to be shiny.
04-15-2020, 08:21 AM
#43
Thread Starter
FYI, for those interested, the very FIRST-ever Grand Prix White AP2 is now up for sale:
https://www.autobidmaster.com/en/car...RTERSVILLE_GA/
Yes, this car, MY04 VIN #123, was the first ever (production) AP2 made in GPW. However, it's actually only the 98th overall production AP2, since 25 early VINs are invalid (pre-production test mules, early quality rejects, etc.). Those invalid VINs are #1 through #22, plus #27, #40, and #49.
Typically, Honda made at least one car of every color sometime within the first 15-20 VINs of a "refresh" model year (i.e. the even years '00, '02, '04, '06, '08). Since the first MY04 GPW only appeared at VIN 123, it might seem like GPW was "unloved" that year, but that's not true: GPW cars comprised a solid 7% of overall MY04 production, which is right about where GPW always was. In fact, later in MY04, a GPW car was the very first production AP2 to come out of the new Suzuka plant (that car was VIN #S000002).
For the record, here are the first-ever AP2 production VINs for each color:
#023: Rio Yellow Pearl (also the first-ever AP2 and first-ever USDM Rio Yellow)
#024: Suzuka Blue
#025: New Formula Red
#026: Silverstone (also the first-ever Red/Black interior; this car recently sold on BaT)
#036: Berlina Black
#041: Sebring Silver
#123: Grand Prix White
(Note these are all from Tochigi, i.e. the VIN serials end in T000xxx.)
So, who will take the plunge and restore this car to its former glory?
https://www.autobidmaster.com/en/car...RTERSVILLE_GA/
Yes, this car, MY04 VIN #123, was the first ever (production) AP2 made in GPW. However, it's actually only the 98th overall production AP2, since 25 early VINs are invalid (pre-production test mules, early quality rejects, etc.). Those invalid VINs are #1 through #22, plus #27, #40, and #49.
Typically, Honda made at least one car of every color sometime within the first 15-20 VINs of a "refresh" model year (i.e. the even years '00, '02, '04, '06, '08). Since the first MY04 GPW only appeared at VIN 123, it might seem like GPW was "unloved" that year, but that's not true: GPW cars comprised a solid 7% of overall MY04 production, which is right about where GPW always was. In fact, later in MY04, a GPW car was the very first production AP2 to come out of the new Suzuka plant (that car was VIN #S000002).
For the record, here are the first-ever AP2 production VINs for each color:
#023: Rio Yellow Pearl (also the first-ever AP2 and first-ever USDM Rio Yellow)
#024: Suzuka Blue
#025: New Formula Red
#026: Silverstone (also the first-ever Red/Black interior; this car recently sold on BaT)
#036: Berlina Black
#041: Sebring Silver
#123: Grand Prix White
(Note these are all from Tochigi, i.e. the VIN serials end in T000xxx.)
So, who will take the plunge and restore this car to its former glory?
07-25-2020, 11:29 PM
#44
Thread Starter
Bump for a few months' worth of data updates.
Highlights:
- Found MY00 VIN #0058, the 16th-ever U.S. production chassis. (Wrecked. ) As with all other early-'00 U.S. VINs I've found, it's a June '99 car: so while we can't rule it out, it's looking less and less likely that U.S. production started in May '99.
- The owner of MY04 VIN #S0032 (31st AP2 to come out of Suzuka) contacted me, and noted that his car has the rear bumper from VIN #S0002, the first-ever AP2 from Suzuka! Quite a coincidence; but sadly this would seem to indicate that VIN #S0002 is probably long-gone (parted-out).
- Found the owner of MY09 VIN #348, the last-ever base-model U.S. S2000 (the final 9 U.S. cars were all CRs). His is a Nov '08 car, indicating with certainty that U.S. production stopped in late 2008, more than a month before Honda's official announcement (Jan 29 '09) that the S2000 was cancelled. However, JDM (and possibly EDM) production continued into August 2009, the result of increased demand following the cancellation announcement. (In fact, JDM sales peaked at 273 in July '09, a number that hadn't been reached since at least 2001!)
My challenge from "Part 4" remains open if you're interested.
Highlights:
- Found MY00 VIN #0058, the 16th-ever U.S. production chassis. (Wrecked.
) As with all other early-'00 U.S. VINs I've found, it's a June '99 car: so while we can't rule it out, it's looking less and less likely that U.S. production started in May '99.- The owner of MY04 VIN #S0032 (31st AP2 to come out of Suzuka) contacted me, and noted that his car has the rear bumper from VIN #S0002, the first-ever AP2 from Suzuka! Quite a coincidence; but sadly this would seem to indicate that VIN #S0002 is probably long-gone (parted-out).
- Found the owner of MY09 VIN #348, the last-ever base-model U.S. S2000 (the final 9 U.S. cars were all CRs). His is a Nov '08 car, indicating with certainty that U.S. production stopped in late 2008, more than a month before Honda's official announcement (Jan 29 '09) that the S2000 was cancelled. However, JDM (and possibly EDM) production continued into August 2009, the result of increased demand following the cancellation announcement. (In fact, JDM sales peaked at 273 in July '09, a number that hadn't been reached since at least 2001!)
My challenge from "Part 4" remains open if you're interested.
Last edited by twohoos; 08-03-2020 at 11:45 AM.
07-26-2020, 02:17 PM
#46
Thread Starter
07-28-2020, 04:39 PM
#49
Thread Starter
