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Friday, April 08, 2016

Car Watching - 1970-72 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

 What did my wandering eyes find today?  A beautiful yellow Corvette.  This car, known as the C3, is my favorite...but only the 70-72's.  Why?  Well....Corvette, that's why.  Actually, the body lines of the C3 are cartoonish, something out of drawing class in high school.  It screams FAST! COOL! AWESOME!  But the 70-72 for a couple of reasons.  One, the bumpers are so dainty.  Small, elegant chrome bumpers, not the plastic ones found on later cars.  Two, the bulging fenders not found on the 68 and 69.
 These cooling ducts on the side, just below the "Stingray" script get me every time.
 The body on this one was pretty darn nice.  Not many flaws here.
 To my eye, the best view of any C3 is the rear.  The tail lights, the bumpers, the square exhaust tips, the concave tail light panel...just perfect.
 I've always been a fan of the trim rings and center caps of the Corvette.  Actually, the 60's and early 70's had quite a few cars that used the same idea.  Not cool mag wheels, but a great way to show off no-nonsense wheels in style.
 The front fenders.  Perhaps the greatest fender in automotive history.  If you've ever sat in one of these, the fenders rise from either side of your view from the windshield.  You never forget your driving a Corvette as long as you can see those fenders.
And what's under the hood?  Mostly, there were a variety of 350 V8's, ranging from 270hp to 370hp.  There were also some fire-breathing 454's, although this is not one of those cars.  Although I couldn't snap a good shot of the interior, let me assure you this this one has the M22 4-speed manual.  Not a fun transmission to shift but a righteous Corvette should have a manual.  And before I left the scene, I found out that this car has had a transplant.  It sports a 383 stroker with fuel injection.  This owner is NOT missing that 454 at all.

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