Everything for the third generation Corvette in one place: decode your VIN, RPO option codes and build date; browse engine, color and casting number references; read restoration how-tos; and see hundreds of reader cars. Built by a C3 owner, for C3 owners.
Own a C3? Share your Corvette »
The third generation Corvette ran from 1968 to 1982, fifteen model years, longer than any other Corvette body style. It arrived as a road-going take on the Mako Shark II show car, with pop-up headlights, removable roof panels and a removable rear window, and it left as a fuel injected Collector Edition with a glass hatch. In between it absorbed just about everything the 1970s could throw at a sports car: emissions rules, impact bumper standards, an oil crisis and a fuel economy panic. What is remarkable is that it stayed a two seat sports car through all of it.
That long run is also why C3s can be confusing to identify. A 1968 and a 1982 share a silhouette and almost nothing else. Chrome bumpers gave way to body-colour urethane, the big block came and went, the removable rear window disappeared and returned as a fastback, and the last cars were built in a different state by a different plant. Two cars that look alike from across a car park can be years and a great deal of money apart.
Most people arrive here holding a number they want explained. The VIN decoder reads the chassis number and tells you the year, body style and assembly plant. The RPO decoder translates the option codes on the trim tag into the equipment the car actually left the factory with. The build date decoder goes one step further and works out when your car was built, to the day for St. Louis cars and to the week for Bowling Green cars. Behind those there are reference tables for engine codes, casting numbers, paint colours, options and production figures.
The mechanical side of a C3 is friendly. The small block Chevrolet V8 is the best supported engine in the hobby and very little on the drivetrain is hard to find. The traps are structural rather than mechanical, and they are worth knowing before you buy: these cars rot in the birdcage and in the frame rails, both hidden behind bodywork that can look perfectly sound. The FAQ covers the questions owners ask most, and the how-to pages here run from a five speed conversion and a ZZ4 engine swap through to rebuilding the dash clock.
Alongside the reference material, readers have been sending in their own cars for years. There are now over 150 of them in the owners showcase, sorted by the year they were built, each with the owner's own account of what they have and what they have done to it. Together they are a decent picture of how these cars are actually owned: survivors next to rebuilds, show winners next to driveway projects. If you have one, send it in.
