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C3 Corvette Special Model Overview

Scott Kolecki·
Featured

The 1978 Special Edition Corvettes

While the redesign gave the Corvette a fresh look for the new model year, Chevrolet also recognized the importance of commemorating the car's quarter-century of production.  For the first time in the brand's history, two special-edition Corvettes were introduced for the 1978 model year: the Silver Anniversary Edition and the Indy Pace Car coupes. On March 15, 1977, the 500,000th Corvette rolled off the assembly line at Chevrolet's St. Louis manufacturing plant. 
CorvSport·
GM Special Models

1982 Chevrolet Corvette Collector Edition

To celebrate the departure of the third-generation Corvette, Chevrolet decided to offer a final commemorative “Collectors Edition” model. However, recalling their experience with the 1978 Pace Car Replicas it was decided that the 1982 Collector Edition Corvettes would be built only “as needed” to satisfy customer orders and that they would get unique vehicle identification plates to help deter someone from turning a standard car into a Collectors Edition knock-off.
CorvSport·
Special Models

1972 Two Rotor XP-897 GT

This little concept mounted a 180-horse Wankel transversely, driving a new automatic transaxle being developed for the forthcoming X-body Citation. Designed by GM's Experimental Studio and built in 6 months on a modified Porsche 914 chassis by Pininfarina, the 2-Rotor made its debut at the 1973 Frankfurt show.
CorvSport·
Non GM Special Models

1975 Greenwood Sportwagon

Greenwood didn’t just build Corvettes for the track, constructing a variety of different street car kits over the years. The story goes that the original ’wagon concept was commisioned by a drummer who wanted a Vette with enough cargo space to haul his drums to various gigs. Since the demise of the Corvette trunk, easily accessible cargo areas were definitely on the wish list for many enthusiasts. Chuck Miller designed and built this first Shark-era Sportwagon.
Scott Kolecki·
Greenwood

1982 “Greenwood Daytona” Corvette

What you see before you is a 1982 Chevrolet Corvette that has been fitted with a rare Greenwood Daytona body kit.  The most extreme of the Greenwood brothers' kits, the Daytona body kit is a highly sought-after modification that was developed by race-winning specialists Burt and John Greenwood.
Scott Kolecki·
Aftermarket

Corvette Sportwagon Model Guide

The Chevrolet Corvette Sportwagon was never actually built by Chevrolet, it was an aftermarket kit developed for the C3 Corvette that solved its single biggest problem – the total lack of useable trunk space. When the third generation Corvette was released in 1967 it proved popular thanks to its shark-inspired styling. The one key drawback was the fact that there was no trunk lid, and the small trunk area was only accessible through the interior of the car behind the seats.
1968 corvette race car #4
CorvSport·
Race Models

1968 Corvette L88 Race Cars

The Corvette L88 Scuderia Filipinetti Le Mans Racer holds a significant place in Corvette's racing history. With a coil spring front suspension and an L88 engine prepped by Zora Arkus-Duntov and smuggled out the back door to circumvent GM's ban on racing, the L88 was driven at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans by Henri Greder and Umberto Maglioli. It dominated the Porsches and led the GT class til 6th hour when carburetion problems melted a piston.
CorvSport·
Special Models

1973 Corvette Four Rotor XP-882 Concept

One of the most beautiful concept cars created by GM was the XP-822 later called the Aerovette. Zora Arkus Duntov and his engineers had originally built two predecessors during 1969. John DeLorean, Chevrolet's general manager, felt the program was too expensive and canceled the car.
CorvSport·
Special Models

1970 Scirocco Showcar

Only Bill Mitchell could get away with this. Bill always managed to have a hot daily ride. Engineering prototypes that weren't street-legal stayed behind the fence, but many of the show car Corvettes managed to go home with Bill. His usual statement on his "design study" cars was, "This thing runs like a bear!" For the Mulsanne Bill added, "This is the best Stingray ever."
CorvSport·
Special Models

1968 Chevrolet Astro-Vette

The Astro II was one of the most significant case studies of Duntov’s outright refusal to let his mid-engine dreams die, and as such, ultimately entered the history books as a precursor to the eventual mid-engine, C8 Corvettes of today. The Astro II was designed in a way that was more representative of the Corvette’s typical styling cues, than that of The Astro I.
Scott Kolecki·
Special Models

1969 Astro III Concept

Though the first two prototype cars to carry the Astro namesake were relatively well known, the third entry in this conceptual saga was somewhat obscure and significantly more bizarre. At the 1969 Chicago Motor Show, Chevrolet unveiled the Astro III which was a gas-turbine prototype that featured a tricycle wheel arrangement.
Scott Kolecki·
Special Models

1968 Astro II (XP-880) Concept

The Astro II was one of the most significant case studies of Duntov’s outright refusal to let his mid-engine dreams die, and as such, ultimately entered the history books as a precursor to the eventual mid-engine, C8 Corvettes of today. The Astro II was designed in a way that was more representative of the Corvette’s typical styling cues, than that of The Astro I.
CorvSport·
Special Series Models

1968-1969 Corvette Sting Ray L89

Power and blinding acceleration were the driving forces behind the development of the 1968-1969 Chevrolet Corvette 427. Only 390 1969 Corvettes were built with the famous L89 427 and while the L89 option was chosen 624 times in 1968, it is still a rare beast relative to total production. The 427 CI engine was good for 435 HP and a strong 460 lb-ft of torque making it one of the best-accelerating cars of its time. 
CorvSport·
Special Models

1977 Aero-Vette Concept

In 1977, GM chairman Thomas Murphy gave the Aero-vette the green light. It was approved for production, and slated to be released in 1980. Despite being greenlit for 1980 production as the upcoming C4 Corvette, Arkus-Duntov's replacement Dave McLellan decided for a number of reasons (cost and tradition among them) to stick with the Corvette's tried and true front-engine configuration
CorvSport·
Special Models

1973 XP-898 Concept

The 1973 Chevrolet XP-898 concept car was built with a frameless fiberglass foam sandwich body and chassis. This two-seater sports coupe offered a unique look at alternative engineering approaches to future techniques in design and manufacturing. The entire body consisted of four lightweight fiberglass outer body panels.
Scott Kolecki·
1980 - C3 Corvette

1980 Duntov Turbo (Corvette) Model Guide

The Duntov Turbo was built as a partnership between American Custom Industries (ACI), a company known for building replacement Corvette body panels, and Zora Arkus-Duntov. It was developed as a highly-stylized convertible sports car based on the production model Corvette. Each of the special Duntov Turbo's also came with a turbocharged V8.
CorvSport·
Special Models

1980 4-Door Corvette America

Chevrolet had actually planned on making a family minded sports car at a rate of 40 per year, and to call it "Corvette America." It was designed by California Custom Coach in Pasadena. The one prototype and five production cars that were assembled were built by cutting two cars in half which, when mated together, extended the wheelbase of the vehicle by 30 inches.
CorvSport·
Special Models

1973 Reynolds XP-895

The XP-895 was one in a series of experimental Corvettes built to explore alternative engine placements and chassis layouts. This vehicle features an 400 cid small block V8 mounted transversely in a mid-engine position. It utilizes a Turbo Hydramatic transmission via a bevel gear box. The body panels are all aluminum.
CorvSport·
Greenwood

1971 – 1972 Greenwood Corvette Stingray ZL1 Racecar

When one of his cars was severely damaged in 1972, John Greenwood converted his 1969 L88 Convertible into a formidable race car. Included as the formidable ZL1 engine with 750 bhp on tap. Other modifications included a rear spoiler, quick replacement radiator and camber adjusters. At Le Mans, this car set the GT-class record for top speed down the Le Mans straight with 215 mph.
1971 ZR2 Convertible
Josh Boyd·
Special Models

1971 ZR1 & ZR2 Corvette Model Guide

Finally in 1971, both the ZR1 and ZR2 packages were offered side by side as initially intended. The solid lifter, 350 cubic-inch LT-1 found under the hood of the ZR1 featured a ‘178’ high-performance camshaft and a 780 CFM Holley four-barrel carburetor, which resided atop a specialized aluminum intake. The LT-1 featured a reduced compression ratio of 9.0:1 for the 1971 production year, relative to 11.0:1 specified the year prior.
1969 Baldwin Motion Corvette
Josh Boyd·
Baldwin Motion

1968-1972 Baldwin Motion Corvettes

Various upgrade packages were offered by Motion Industries, for the Chevrolet models included within the Baldwin Corvette partnership. The most prominent of these packages included the SS (425 HP) and Phase III (500+ HP) offerings. These cars not only came with a performance promise, but a guarantee to back it up. All Phase III cars came with a personal guarantee.
CorvSport·
Special Models

1969 Corvette Manta Ray

The Manta Ray was actually the 1965 Mako Shark II (XP-830) with a few upgrades, so it featured many of the Mako II's outward features, such as side exhausts and a lower-body (along the rocker panels) silver paint job. The front end had a pointed chin spoiler and the headlights used 2 banks of 3 quartz-halogen lights.
Scott Kolecki·
Special Series Models

1970-1972 Corvette ZR1

Did you know that the earliest ZR1 Corvettes came into existence long before any of these later iterations?  If not, then take a few minutes to acquaint yourself with one the rarest small-block production Corvettes of all time - the 1970-1972 Corvette ZR1. From 1970 to 1972, Chevrolet offered the ZR1 Special Engine Package, which featured a small-block LT1 engine.
Scott Kolecki·
1969 - C3 CorvetteC3 CorvetteSpecial Series ModelsZL-1

1969 Corvette ZL-1

In 1969, Chevrolet changed the perception of Corvette forever by introducing the ultra-powerful ZL-1 Corvette with a 427 CI engine producing 585 horsepower! The 1969 ZL-1 Corvette came equipped with an entirely new big-block engine option that produced more horsepower than any Corvette that had come before it. Any Corvette, when ordered with RPO ZL1, came fitted with an all-aluminum 427 C.I. engine that featured a dry-sump oil system and which weight approximately 100 pounds less.
CorvSport·
1978 - C3 Corvette

1978 Silver Anniversary Edition Corvette

The 1978 Silver Anniversary Edition Corvette was developed to offer consumers a “collectible” model that commemorated one of Corvette’s milestone production anniversaries (its twenty-fifth anniversary in this case) in a way that had ever been done previously with any Corvette model year that had come before it. The car was mechanically identical to 1978 counterparts.
CorvSport·
Special Models

1974 Mulsanne Showcar

Chevrolet Corvette Mulsanne Showcar, 1974. Created by Bill Mitchell, the Mulsanne was a development of several previous Corvette “specials”, the 1969 Aero and the 1970 Scirocco. By 1974 it had been bored out to 454 ci and fitted with an experimental Rochester fuel injection system, it also had a periscope rearview mirror system.
Scott Kolecki·
Pace Cars

1978 Indy Pace Car Model

1978 was significant because it marked the cars 25th anniversary of production. Recognizing the achievement of manufacturing a car for a quarter-century, Chevrolet commemorated this accomplishment by introducing two special-edition Corvette that year.  The first of these was known as the "Silver Anniversary" edition Corvette.  It featured a two-tone silver over gray exterior with special pin-striping and special "25th Anniversary" badging.
Scott Kolecki·
L88

1967 – 1969 Corvette Stingray L88 Model Guide

The L88 was a special option package developed under the direction of Zora Arkus-Duntov, director of GM’s performance division. First introduced in 1967, the L88 Corvette featured a highly modified version of Chevy’s 427-cubic-inch V-8 engine. Although this engine received a factory horsepower rating of 435, actual engine output was somewhere between 540 and 580 horsepower, giving the “stock” L88 enough power to run a quarter-mile in the high-11-second range!
CorvSport·
Greenwood

1981 Greenwood Corvette GTO

The major differences between the 1980 and 1982 Daytona and the 1981 GTO are the hood, the tops of the rear fenders, and the rear spoiler/bumper cover. The Daytona had an elaborate, short vertical fin on top of the rear fender that turned several turns “in and back,” flowing to the wide, long, table-like rear spoiler. The GTO’s rear fenders pontoons are the same as.