I have a 1967 coupe barracuda with a low serial number and shipped march 1966.

The pilot builds are usually not sold to the public... They are sent to the different engineering groups for testing to make sure that all of their parts/components are working properly... Some are sent to the proving grounds to be driven and put miles on them to see how well they hold up....

Pilot builds are usually about 30 or so cars give or take... Depending on the need of each engineering group and how many will go to the proving grounds...
You continue to speak of today’s build control systems like they existed over 50 years ago. They did not.