Family Ties: The Story Of A Special 1968 Corvette C3

On YouTube, if you search for “Corvette,” right now you will be blasted with thousands of videos about the Corvette C8. However, peeking out from under the pile, we saw a special little 5.5-minute video.

And once we watched this video, it just had to be shared…

Ken Johnston is the proud owner of a 1968 Corvette C3 that has a storied history. In his younger years, he had originally owned a C3 but sold it a long time ago.

So, when his son expressed interest in doing a C3 project, Ken was able to get in contact with an old school friend who’s father had recently passed and had a C3 in the garage that hadn’t moved in years.

The pair hopped over, and Ken was really hesitant to take the car. The bodywork was showing its age, the engine was in really bad shape, and the car was just showing all the red flags one should pay attention to.

However, his son pushed, and they took the car.

And what happened next was one of those projects that not only gives a classic C3 Stingray a chance to live again, but it also brought together father and son tighter than they had ever been before.

The reason for this is that Ken and his son built the car… for his son. While Ken owns it and drives it, everything that was done to the car was done with the knowledge that once Ken can’t drive anymore, the car will be passed down to his son.

They painted it black. They refurbished the engine with forged pistons and an entirely redone set of valves. They took out the automatic and put a 4-speed manual in.

Along the way, they also made a friend of another Corvette enthusiast that became so involved that he helped with the differential ratios, the gear ratios, and putting the whole thing together into the final package.

So give up five and a half minutes of your day and watch a project car go from being a fun father and son activity into a true passion project.

Oh, and it has a 427 big block, in case you were wondering!