Vehicle Description
1978 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe
John and Burt Greenwood built quite a few race-based street cars in
the '70s. Although they had developed their own unique Corvette
suspension and aerodynamic systems to support their racing program,
these technologies eventually found their way into production autos
as part of an effort to offset their high tooling costs. Initially,
the street cars were offered with minor aerodynamic improvements
and exaggerated styling cues, but they quickly evolved into nothing
short of high-speed endurance racers for the road. Between 1975 and
1981, approximately 43 custom-made street cars based on five
distinct body styles were produced under the umbrella of Greenwood
International.
For consignment a Corvette Collectors dream showing up in the form
of a 1978 Vette complete with a Greenwood Turbo GT redux. Street
car come Can Am racer, many additional body panels are seen, along
with a rear spoiler, louvered rear window cover, and a major engine
upgrade. Custom seats for the interior, and we present to you ONE
OF 3 Examples ever built...Yowza!!
Exterior
We are in rare air with this Greenwood bodied and power planted
1978 Corvette. On the red exterior the front quarters now flare out
to accommodate the deep mag wheels and wide tires. Side shark-like
gills are just behind these flares with 5 vertical openings. The
front of the car remains much like an original 1978 version save
for the hood, which now is a Turbo hood with more screened slats, a
rear facing scoop and an NACA duct on the right side of the hood.
As we move rearward, a "T" top with removable panels remains like
the original. Rear quarters are now much wider, and flare outward
from the doors, eventually ending up framing the rounded rear with
its dual iconic round taillights, with a large screened air outlet.
From these grows a wide tail fin which reaches upward, and around
the rounded rear. For the greenhouse glass in back, black louvers
have been added. As for badging, we see a round Greenwood badge on
the B pillar/rollbar, and above the 5 "gills" on the front quarter
a TURBO graphic. On the front is the Corvette 25th anniversary
badge. Deep curved inward spoked dish mag wheels with gold inserts
are wrapped by 225/60R15's upfront, and 275/60R15's on back and are
all in like new condition.
Interior
RED would be the operative work here with pristine red door panels
draped in red vinyl and red carpeted lower panels. Nice chromed
handles and a mirror toggle as well as a door lock golf tee is
hidden in the door pull. Turning to the passenger's seats, there
are now Recaro racing high backed seats with multi earth shades of
brown to yellow to white inserts surrounded by black bolsters. The
panels with the Recaro screened on badges, leave no doubt as to who
produced them! These seats float in pristine red carpet all clean
and deep pile for your enjoyment and comfort. In the center a
console races toward the dash and turns to black. This houses the
gear shift lever, window toggles, and more Greenwood badges. As it
moves upward and morphs into the dash it is met with a cluster of 5
gauges, an AM/FM radio, and temp. and airflow controls. In front of
the steering wheel, an upswept dash houses the speedometer and
tachometer, and has a molded in boost gauge to the drivers
right.
Drivetrain
The original engine (still retained and will go with this car) has
been replaced by a 355ci Blueprint Racing engine in V8 layout. This
has Blueprint Racing Engines Aluminum heads. This engine now has a
Holley EFI set up perched on top to meticulously control air and
fuel being fed into the mill. A turbo sits on the right side of the
engine and feeds compressed air to the EFI unit. On back is a
modified TH400 3-speed automatic. This was tweaked to handle the
extra power. All tubes and wires, as well as surfaces show no
corrosion or aging and hoses are all supple and black.
Undercarriage
Underneath is looking all good, with some areas of slight surface
rust, but overall, very sound. A stainless exhaust has been added,
as have rear coilovers for the suspension, to add to the 4 link
system. Independent coil springs are up front, and power disc
brakes are all around.
Drive-Ability
Hopping in this car I felt like I was readying to drive the 24hrs
of Daytona. Looking sleek and cowled with flaring and a fin, it
fired right up, and I was immediately introduced to the back of the
Recaro racing seats. Plenty of raw power here and the flow through
turbo was working just fine today. Nice handling, and all the
creature comforts were working excepting the A/C which was removed.
I saw an aftermarket digital panel readout of various functions
installed and a CB radio...Breaker 1-9...Break! For such a rare car
it ran swimmingly, as usually these are not run frequently.
1 OF 3 is all we have to say, and you can glean just how great this
car is from the above description. Superbly modified in mechanicals
and exterior panels, she is a racing machine right out of our
Classic Auto Mall 1978 time machine!
Original Numbers Matching Engine Included
Chrome Wire Wheels Included
Spare Glass T-Tops Included
Original Fuel Tank Included
VIN DECODE
Z8748S401333
1-Chevrolet
Z-Corvette
87-Coupe
4-350ci V8 L82
8-1978
S-St Louis, MO Assy Plant
401333-Sequential Unit Number
TRIM TAG
A19-September 19th Build Date
TRIM 722-Red Leather
PAINT 13L-Silver Metallic
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.