The Chevrolet Corvette C3 is a sports car patterned after Chevrolet's "Mako Shark II", produced between 1968 and 1982. It is the third generation of Chevrolet Corvettes built and marketed by Chevrolet. This generation has the distinction of being introduced to the motoring public in an unorthodox — and unintended — fashion.

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  • The Chevrolet Corvette C3 is a sports car patterned after Chevrolet's "Mako Shark II", produced between 1968 and 1982. It is the third generation of Chevrolet Corvettes built and marketed by Chevrolet. This generation has the distinction of being introduced to the motoring public in an unorthodox — and unintended — fashion. 1968 marked the introduction of Mattel's now-famous Hot Wheels line of 1/64-scale die cast toy cars. General Motors had tried their best to keep the appearance of the upcoming car a secret, but the release of the Hot Wheels line several weeks before the Corvette's unveiling had a certain version of particular interest to Corvette fans: the "Custom Corvette", a GM-authorized model of the 1968 Corvette. In 1969, GM enlarged their small-block V8 again to 350 in³ and the ZL1 option was offered, with an aluminum 427 big-block engine listed at 430 horsepower but generally accepted as delivering at least one hundred horsepower more than that. This option cost $4,700, and only 2 were ever built. In 1970 the 427 big-block V8 was enlarged to 454 in³ . Power peaked in the 1970 and 1971 models, with the 1970 LT-1 small-block putting out 370 hp and the 1971 454 big-block having its last year of big power with 425 hp . In 1972, GM moved to the SAE Net measurement for power, which resulted in lower values expressed in reported horsepower. Along with the move to unleaded fuel which required lower compression ratios, emission controls, and catalytic converters, power continued to decline and bottomed out in 1975 — the base L48 engine put out 165 hp, and the optional L82 engine put out 205 hp . This was the lowest power Corvette since the first year of production. Nevertheless, Car and Driver magazine found the Corvette to be the fastest accelerating American car for 1976, with a 0-60 time of 7.1 seconds. Power remained fairly steady for the rest of the C3 generation, ending in 1982 with the 200 hp L83 engine. Styling changed subtly over the generation. In 1973, the Corvette dropped the front chrome bumpers for a urethane-compound "5 mph" bumper but kept the rear chrome bumpers. In 1974, The rear chrome bumpers became urethane, too, making 1973 the last Corvette model year with any chrome bumpers. 1975 was the last year for the convertible, and 1978 saw the introduction of a glass bubble rear window to "freshen" the car appearance for it's 25th Anniversary. Corvette production hit its peak in 1979, at 53,807. In 1980, the Corvette got an integrated aerodynamic redesign that resulted in a significant reduction in drag. 1980 was also the introduction of many weight-saving components such as thinner body panels and an aluminum Dana 44 IRS differential (instead of the previously used but arguably stronger iron GM 10 bolt IRS diff). (en)
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  • Chevrolet Corvette C3 (en)
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  • 1968–1969 (en)
  • 1968–1982 (en)
  • 1970–1975 (en)
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  • The Chevrolet Corvette C3 is a sports car patterned after Chevrolet's "Mako Shark II", produced between 1968 and 1982. It is the third generation of Chevrolet Corvettes built and marketed by Chevrolet. This generation has the distinction of being introduced to the motoring public in an unorthodox — and unintended — fashion. (en)
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  • Chevrolet Corvette C3 (en)
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  • Chevrolet Corvette C3
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