a few 1965 and 1966 Corvettes featuring the N32 teak wheel option> View attachment 2562872 View attachment 2562872 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Don’t know if anyone noticed or not, but that’s Pinin Farina in the passenger seat. Must have been pretty brave to let Mitchell drive
My little bastard with a Ford 9” differential, four link rear end with a panhard rod, anti-sway bars, and a Flaming River (Ford Mustang) power rack-and-pinion steering. But also with a proper 350 Chevy connected to a Tremec 5-speed. And a custom exhaust with off-road Corvette mufflers that sound great and pop and gurgle without being too loud. Matt Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Corvettes and air conditioning were a rare combination starting off in the 1963 model year. The air conditioning could often be found combined with the 2 speed automatic transmission. However when you combine air conditioning and a hi performance solid lifter Corvette engine you have a very unique set of options. 1965 was the last year that Chevrolet offered air conditioning with it's L76 327 365HP solid lifter engine. This Rally Red 1965 convertible was built by Chevrolet with this rare option combination of the L76 engine and factory air conditioning. This combination of a hi performance engine and air conditioning would not return again to the Corvette regular production option list until 1972. There was one 1965 Corvette convertible said to have been special ordered by a General Motors executive that combined the options of the 327 375HP fuel injection engine with factory air conditioning. This option combination was not officially listed by Chevrolet as a regular production option. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For 1969 Chevrolet offered a huge variety of small block and big block engines for customers to choose from. Chevrolet increased the small block displacement to 350 cubic inches for that year. However there was no solid lifter 350 cubic inch engine offered to Corvette buyers. The customer would instead have to choose a Camaro with the 302 cubic inch engine to get a solid lifter camshaft. However Chevrolet was offering a brand new Camaro for 1970 and the Z28 option would now include a 350 cubic inch engine and still with a solid lifter camshaft. Perhaps as a result of this change the Corvette would also add a solid lifter 350ci engine to the 1970 option list with the RPO code LT1. To showcase this unique Corvette engine option the normal 350 hood was replaced with the larger hood reserved for the 454 cubic inch motors. To this special hood was added the LT1 name and an exclusive hood stripe. However with the introduction of unleaded gasoline Chevrolet reduced the compression ratio on all it's engines for 1971. The solid lifter engines would only remain on the option list for two more years. Zora Duntov decided to offer air conditioning with the LT1 engine in 1972. There was a special Corvette order done at the factory to build prototype Corvette combining the LT1 motor with air conditioning. After engineering tests this option combination was approved for production. Less than 300 Corvettes were ordered for the 1972 model year with the LT1 engine combined with air conditioning. When the slower 1973 Corvettes were introduced there were no longer any solid lifer hi performance engines offered by Chevrolet. It was the end of a hi performance era stretching back to 1957. In that model year for 1957 Chevrolet sold 756 Corvettes with the 283 cubic inch and 283HP fuel injection engines with the solid lifter camshaft. The performance 'drought' from 1973 onward had arrived...
This Ontario Orange 1972 Corvette convertible combines the final Zora Duntov LT1 solid lifter performance motor with factory air conditioning. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Excellent post Charles. Proposed High Performance engine packages for Corvette MY 1970 and 1971 that didn't make it to production: 1970 Corvette RPO ZL1 with revised bore/stroke for displacement of 430 cu. in. though continued to be designated as 427; 1971 RPO Z28 350 cu. in. 360 hp.(for M40 trans?); 1971 RPO LT1 350 cu. in. to be offered as well though rated at 370 hp; 1971 RPO LS6 454 cu.in. rated at 450 hp; 1971 RPO LS7 454 cu. in. with aluminum open chamber cylinder heads rated at 460 hp. Interestingly there were plans to offer both the LS6 and LS7 in Chevelle, Camaro and Nova as well.
That is only one decade further on so lets get 1983 out of the way right now> The body was new in 1968 but the basic Corvette chassis dated back to 1963! There was much anticipation as always when a new generation Corvette was being developed. Spy pictures were as usual in demand. General Motors was trying new Corvette design ideas with mixed success as these pictures indicate> Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login then Car & Driver showed this prototype but beyond the upper body there was still not much indication of what 1983 would bring for Corvette customers. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login That was as close as customers would get to seeing the new 1983 Corvette. Shortly after that 1983 Corvette prototype was photographed the introduction of the new generation Corvette was pushed back to the 1984 model year.
Somewhat in that time frame since they are so very, very, very, very rare. But there is at least one hiding in plain sight. A very interesting tale! Image Unavailable, Please Login
While some 1983 Corvette prototypes and test cars were built there is only one example that survived in the Corvette Museum. This gold 1983 Corvette coupe was destroyed. Image Unavailable, Please Login
One of the issues with the big 454 motor in the Chevelle and especially the Camaro was the lack of height space under the hood with the hi rise intake manifold. For the Camaro LS6 there were a few prototype 'cowl induction' style 1970 hood scoops made but they did not receive approval for production. There were 7 of the 454 LS7 motors built in Tonawanda NY and sent to Chevrolet in Warren MI. One of those engines was used in a 1971 Corvette that the journalists from Sports Car Graphic and Motor Trend got to test drive. However as you note production approval was not forthcoming and Chevrolet sent most of the LS7 motors back to Tonawanda NY. The LT- 2 was another famous engine that got it's debut in a special Monaco Orange (very nice color, right? ) 1969 Corvette coupe built for the journalists to sample. This 454 with an automatic transmission easily ran in the low 11's at an impromptu drag strip the Chevrolet engineers created out on Black Lake. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mag wheels and no front bumpers plus a big block hood. That must be a special Corvette! Old cars can hide lots of good and bad secrets. Long time ago a guy I knew found an old 1969 Camaro painted to look like a Z28 with the stripes and a small block motor. He bought the Camaro and the serial number confirmed it was originally a factory 427 L72 COPO Camaro... The 1967 Corvette coupe with the red on red color combination was orginaly an L88 and was bought in the same way with the buyer not knowing what he had found until later. Same with a red 1967 L89 427 435 aluminum head Corvette convertible that the owner didn't know what he was selling either.
Yes technically just the 1970 Chevelle had the 454 motor. However the Chevrolet dealers who pulled the 396 out of a new 1970 Camaro and put in a 454 had the same lack of space under the stock flat Camaro hood. Chevrolet Engineering did some prototype cowl induction hoods for the 1970 Camaro but they were never approved as a regular production option. Pictured is one of the Chevrolet steel hoods. Image Unavailable, Please Login
1972 saw the arrival of a new mid-engine Corvette. This was in the form of XP-895 which in some ways though unknown at the time forecast the future of Corvettes. The XP-895 was intended as an improvement on the weak response XP-882 received at 1970 car shows. However the new design looked less like a Corvette and the body built out of steel by Creative Engineering resulted in a vehicle weight of 3500 pounds. This was almost 100 pounds more than a production 1973 Corvette. Then Reynolds Metals entered the picture as they had been a long time supplier of aluminum alloy for General Motors parts from engine blocks to water pumps and much more. John Z DeLorean contracted with Reynolds to build an all aluminum replica of XP-895 to see how much weight could be removed. In June of 1972 the completed aluminum parts were delivered to Chevrolet Engineering for assembly. Upon completion the Reynolds aluminum identical version tipped the scales some 450 pounds lighter than the all steel version. However there was a problem, the accountants could not make the numbers work as the aluminum Corvette was simply too expensive to build for production. However that did not spell the end of the dream to build a production mid-engine Corvette. Zora Duntov pushed Bill Mitchell to create a new more aerodynamic mid-engine design as the previous design looked less like a Corvette. Bill Mitchell in turn wanted a new design that at the same time reminded him of the pointy old European land speed record cars. The Kammback design of the Mako Shark was out and a more streamlined look was demanded. This proved a difficult proposition for Hank Haga and Jerry Palmer but the designers after several failed attempts would finally succeed. The old 1970 XP-882 Corvette would get a new interior and a brand new body design for 1973. However one decision dating back to the fall of 1970 would strongly contribute to doom the new mid-engine Corvette project... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
