Vehicle Description
1973 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe
A long relationship exists between NASA's astronauts and the Chevy
Corvette. In 1960, Jim Rathmann - owner of the nearby Chevrolet
dealership and winner of the Indianapolis 500, convinced General
Motors to give the Mercury 7 astronauts brand new Corvettes for
publicity and advertising benefits. Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom
were known for racing their Corvettes on Florida's Space Coast
highways near Cape Canaveral. Space-race pilot Chuck Yeager drove
the Corvette pace car for the 1986 Indianapolis 500.
Let's go backward in time to 1973 and put ourselves into this 1973
Chevrolet Corvette with a "T" style top, and the last year a
Corvette would have chrome bumpers, (although only on the back of
the car), and stainless rocker trim piece. Deep dish wheels, and
that long hood, and small cockpit and rear deck, create the sports
car America refers to as the Corvette.
Exterior
Classic White bathes this fiberglass bodied car. Hidden headlights
within its shark nosed grille, the upward curved bumps for the
front quarters, and the flying buttress rear "B" pillars that frame
the vertical rear window are just a few of the highlights from this
year. Other features are the exaggerated coke bottle design and
that shiny rocker trim going with the flow of the side panels. On
back are the quad of round taillights, and dual exhaust ports in
rectangle form within the rear roll panel. A removable "T" top is
nicely fitting with no signs of leakage and sports a bag to put
each panel in when you want the open air. These panels are just a
bit off color from the body so these may not have been involved in
the respray. The Stingray name is back, and based on the shape it
could be one gently flapping its outer wings, gracefully swimming
along near the bottom of the ocean. 15-inch rally style wheels with
deep dish chrome trim rings all wrapped in BFG Radial T/A's are on
all 4 corners.
Interior
Medium saddle leather, (dark tan if you will), buckets in high back
form create the simple bucket seats for driver and passenger. A
textured insert and smooth bolster are noted in their construction.
These are bordered on the outside by sculpted design door panels
that use the Saddle leather and some nifty Pumpkin accenting. A tan
center console races past these buckets, and goes forward to the
upsweeping dash middle. In the console, is a glovebox, and the
chrome lever and knob shift lever and temp. and fan rolling wheel
controls. On the upsweep is a cluster of 5 essential gauges, and
the AM/FM radio. The wiper switch is on top, and AC vents are here
too. This dash front sweeps upward at an angle, and in front of the
driver utilizes dual circular deep inset gauges with a speedo and a
tachometer. The original steering wheel is fronting these gauges.
Gold carpet and carpeted floor mats flood the passenger floors and
the rear storage area. This carpet is all clean and in non faded
condition. As noted the "T" top panels are solid with interior
matching covers, and exterior matching tops.
Drivetrain
Under the front flipping hood is a 350ci V8 L48. It has a beautiful
machine steel gray look to it and is numbers matching Chevrolet
block, and valve covers. All surfaces are nice and shiny, no
corrosion, and nicely preserved. New heads, a new clutch, new
camshaft and new brake master cylinder were recently put on. A
single 4-barrel carb is a-top, and on back is a numbers matching
Muncie M20 4-speed transmission. Way back is a 3.55 posi rear axle.
Some yellow ignition wiring adds some contrast to this industrial
looking mill environment, and headers are now on this mill.
Undercarriage
Much like showroom, no dirt or rust, all straight black sprayed
steel looking great. C3 Corvette suspension is all around, and
power disc brakes are on all wheels. Dual exhaust in very good
condition snakes its way rearward and comes to this car courtesy
Flowmaster.
Drive-Ability
This car started right up, and it was off to the test track. Here
it performed very well, with good acceleration, smooth manual
shifting, and nice power from the 350 cubes. All functions were
working flawlessly.
This neutral white as the driven snow color and paint just make
this car, along with the sculptural body lines, and it's nice to
still see the chrome bumpers on the back. The interior is very
comfy and warm to the eyes, as are the removable "T" top panels
particularly when the sun is out! True to 1973 a powerful and
visual example from this era of the C3 Corvette.
1Z37J3S408284
1-Chevrolet
Z-Corvette
37-Coupe
J-350ci V8 L48 190hp
3-1973
S-St. Louis, MO Assy Plant
408284-Sequential Unit Number
TRIM TAG
D24-November 24th 1972 Build
TRIM 422-Dark Saddle Leather
PAINT 910-Classic White
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.
