Yep David, I remember those days well. Had a buddy who rolled a lot of those "Left Handed Cigarettes" and had left them in my car when he went on a beer run. Knew the mini console in my Pewter Mach1 had a great hiding place behind the ash tray. Just as soon as I left the parking lot of the local hangout my C6 did a great (and loud) barking of the tires when it did the 1-2 shift. I got stopped and the boys in blue just knew they had me. Went through my car with a fine toothed comb but only looked IN the ash tray. Never did find my buddies "cigarettes". Changed my mind about installing a full length console in that car.( Plus my girl friend liked being able to place a pillow between the seats so she could sit by her man)!!...Ahhh, those were good times!! Lol
Our PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) techs are pretty knowledgeable now on all the car models. Back in the 70's unless it was missing a door or the engine was gone they cleaned em up and put them on the line. Misbuilt claims for missing items or some thing that wasn't right were far and few between. Sometimes between the assembly plant and some of the dealer personal, I wonder how these cars ever made it to the customer. I knew people at the Chevy and Chrysler store who told me the same kind of stories. A missing mini console probably was overlooked on your 73
I had actually pulled the factory long console out of my red Mach 1 and was going to replace it with a mini. But I got used to leaning on it and stuffing it full of all kinds of junk so I reinstalled it. Plus it kept my now ex wife from sitting too close to me!!
PADave, I hope you got some info out of all my ramblings. Lol