Gulfstream Aerospace 1200: four prototypes and no photos??

[Stargazer]

While searching for something else on the U.S. civil register I happened on something that caught my attention: the mention of a "Gulfstream Aerospace 1200".
http://www.airport-data.com/search/search2.html?field=model&search=Search&code=Gulfstream+Aerospace+1200

Now not only have I never heard of one such model, but on searching for more info, I realized that FOUR prototypes of that twin-engined, eleven-seat aircraft were already carrying a registration... but had not yet been registered to anyone! The registrations ending in GA (jumping four digits every time) suggest that these are company demonstrators... but for what? The year is marked as "0000" but the last action taken is "1984-02-25", which probably makes it a late 1970s or early 1980s type; the constructor's numbers are a in sequence from 98001 to 98004, which presumably indicates the first four (and probably the only four) examples of the type.

Am I sorely misled and is this a perfectly identified set of aircraft? Were the numbers allocated but the type never built? I would appreciate some clues on the subject.

 

[Stargazer]

Just realized from looking at the constructor's numbers that they could conveniently be split into two segments and read as "980-01", "980-02", "980-03" and "980-04". Since Gulfstream Aerospace purchased Rockwell's Aero Commander in 1981, some models were redesignated. These are by no means Aero Commander JetProp 980 numbers, but it makes me wonder if Gulfstream perhaps envisaged carrying on the JetProp series under the new model designation "Gulfstream 1200". In this case, they would have numbered newly-built examples following a new sequence... Still, there is no trace of these four aircraft; though they received N-numbers, were they actually built?

One detail still poses a problem though: the JetProp 980 was an 8-seat, not an 11-seat model. I guess Gulfstream could have considered some rearrangement of interior design... Will we ever know?

 

[frank]

GA made it up to a Commander 1000, which had uprated engines. There's a Merlin III based here at my airport. The Merlin is a comparable a/c to the Commander. With its executive interior, it seats only 8. However, pull out the couches & install standard seats, seating is now up to 10. 11 if you can use the potty seat. So, my guess is that it was just a marketing ploy for more seats, albeit in a less glamorous fashion from the executive interior. Externally, just another 980 / 1000 is my bet.

Just realized from looking at the constructor's numbers that they could conveniently be split into two segments and read as "980-01", "980-02", "980-03" and "980-04". Since Gulfstream Aerospace purchased Rockwell's Aero Commander in 1981, some models were redesignated. These are by no means Aero Commander JetProp 980 numbers, but it makes me wonder if Gulfstream perhaps envisaged carrying on the JetProp series under the new model designation "Gulfstream 1200". In this case, they would have numbered newly-built examples following a new sequence... Still, there is no trace of these four aircraft; though they received N-numbers, were they actually built?

One detail still poses a problem though: the JetProp 980 was an 8-seat, not an 11-seat model. I guess Gulfstream could have considered some rearrangement of interior design... Will we ever know?