1974 Chevrolet Corvette - Charting the (C3) Changes

I found this 1974 Corvette recently while searching for parts for my '77. The Craigslist ad didn't have any information about what's going on here save for the owner saying he or she was parting this out. All in asking price is $5,000 which is absurd considering five-grand could get you a roller if not a running car. On the other hand it's actually quite reasonable considering what an NOS frame and birdcage would run you. Shut-up and take my money! 

What in the name of Zora Arkus-Duntov is going on here? Reminds me of the "hillbillies" I grew across the street from back on Long Island who did auto repairs and custom fabrication in their driveway. Sorry - "hillbilly" was my mother's derogatory term for them and it was a point of extreme consternation between the two of us that she would find me "over-there" all the time. Their custom fabricating often had dubious results, not unlike like whomever started to "update" this '74 into a later-model fastback. Surprise-surprise, they gave up.  

Not all is lost, though. Me being as easily inspired as I am this hulk has spurred me to take a brief stroll down a third-generation Corvette memory lane of sorts and chart the myriad changes Chevrolet put the "plastic-fantastic" through over it's fifteen year run. Changes that apparently goaded some, actually many, to trade in their old-Corvette for one of the "new-ones". Some of course eschewing the expense of a new car and attempted to plow into updating their old car on their own. How else to explain what's going on here? I mean, seriously, if this isn't a decades old project that had gone south, why would someone do this now? 

1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with chrome bumpers front and back

Along with numerous ancillary changes, not all of them welcome of course, there were two significant and not-subtle changes in the appearance of third-generation or "C3" Chevrolet Corvette's from 1968-1982. Above is a '69 with it's signature chrome bumpers, modest yet quite tasteful rear spoiler and the "gills" from the Mako-Shark concept the car was allegedly based on. There's a lot of Pontiac Banshee in the C3 as well. 

1973 Corvette - note bumper cover up front, chrome bumper out back

The first big change was due to a federal mandate that all automobiles and light trucks sold in this country had to be able to withstand a five-mile per hour impact without damage. That edict required vehicles sold in 1973 had to pass muster up-front meanwhile the back end required some sort of buttressing or reinforcement for model-year 1974. Rather than attach large and heavy chrome bumpers fore and aft like they did on other makes and models, GM cleverly hid the energy-absorbing bumpers on Corvette behind rubberized covers. 

1977 Corvette with bumper covers fore and aft

While it technically got the job done aesthetically the reviews were mixed. Some lauded the update  while others abjectly hated them. Choose your poison. If you're in the market for a "C3" note how much more valuable the 1968-1972 "chrome-bumper" models are these days compared to the later "rubber-bumper" models. Values of "73's are less than '68-'72's although generally they're worth a bit more than the later models. Love how pin-straight that right-rear tire is on this '77 I plucked from a brochure. As if. 

1978 Corvette "fastback"

The second change came for model-year 1978 with Chevrolet adding a large rear window that transformed the rear of the car into a fastback of sorts. As part of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Corvette, this update came with a significant reboot of the interior as well. 

1979 Corvette L-82

Much like the bumper-covers, the look of the car was significantly different from previous model years and you either loved it or hated it. Of the four iterations of the C3, through my eyes, the 1974-1977 front end on the new rear for 1978 and 1979 looked awkward and unbalanced. Side note - Chevrolet offered a bolt-on "Pace-Car" spoiler on '74-'79's C3's. If I can find a picture of one in the flesh I'll update this blog - safe to say they're absolutely hideous. 

1980 Corvette with front end ground effects and integrated spoiler on the rear bumper cover

Come 1980, some ground effects under the front end and an integrated spoiler on the rear bumper cover gave the car an adroit duck tail reminiscent of the one on '68-'73's making the design a cohesive whole in my opinion. For 1982, the last year of the run for "C3's", that rear glass actually opened. As it probably should have going back to 1978.  

I'm the last person to scoff at anyone attempting to do something as ambitious as altering the overall appearance of a car but to do it well and make it appear seamless is an art form. I'm blessed with what I believe is a fair amount of mechanical intuition and what my father referred to as "Yankee Ingenuity" so on some level I'm actually jealous of someone attempting to do whatever it is they started out to do here. There's a reason why body-work in general is so expensive because so few do it well. 

Pride goeth before destruction as they say and no doubt some well-intention-ed person had to bite down hard to give up here. If I find this listed again I promise I'll reach out to whomever is selling to try and get some more intel on this. Cheers.