The body on my car is 100% original, and the holes behind the letters that hold the fasteners are all original and not re-drilled or relocated. I've wondered about the letter spacing in the past, but this is the first I've actually asked.
I have a few factory ads, such as the examples above, and all show the close spacing. As I mentioned, mine was a very early-build car, and was used as a factory show car. It was on a turntable at the old Stapleton International Airport in Denver; along with a new Polara, Monaco, Dart, and a D100 pickup. The Charger had not been released yet, so there was not one on display. I'm curious as to whether early cars had the close spacing, and later cars had the wider spacing. If so, when was the crossover, and what/who decided it to be so?
I do not recall seeing any '66 Chargers with the close spacing, nor any '67 Coronets or Chargers.
Does anyone have a '66 Coronet with a SPD of say, October 1965 or earlier, with a known original hood to the car, that can show us what they might have? I'm beginning to think that perhaps a change in vendor for the hood might be a possibility for the difference. An interesting conundrum we have here, IMO.
The advertising cars were all pre-production pilot cars, generally the first 25 or so built, for testing of various systems, along with show, ad, and duties that included press testing. That is where I'm leaning towards early cars getting the close spacing.