1968 Corvette Specifications

1968 options, quantities and original prices

• A 327 cubic inch, 300 hp engine and a 3-speed manual transmission were included in the base price. Only 326 cars were built with that 3-speed.
• 1968 is the only C3 year in which the convertible outsold the coupe, and by close to two to one.
• The L88 was never advertised as a road car. Chevrolet rated it at 430 hp to discourage buyers, deleted the radio and heater, and required the K66 transistor ignition, J56 heavy duty brakes and F41 suspension. 80 were built.
• L89 was not an engine but a pair of aluminium heads for the L71, at $805.75 on top of the L71's own $437.10.

1968 engine identification codes

The engine suffix code is stamped on the front of the block, on the pad ahead of the passenger-side cylinder head. Read it together with the VIN to confirm an engine belongs with the car.

Casting and component numbers

• Engine stamping: on the top front of the right hand bank of the cylinder case, in the form source letter, month, date, then suffix. F is Flint.
• Transmission: 3-speed and 4-speed stamped on the right hand side of the case in the upper forward corner, Turbo Hydra-Matic on a nameplate tag on the right hand side of the case.
• Rear axle: stamped on the bottom left or right of the axle tube next to the carrier housing. The source letter is G for Gear and Axle, B for Buffalo, W for Warren.

The full casting number breakdown per engine, including intake and exhaust manifolds, is on the casting number page, and the carburetor numbers are on the carburetor page.

1968 VIN range

1968 Corvettes ran from 194378S400001 through 194378S428566, all built at St. Louis. The first five digits are the model number, 19437 for the Sport Coupe and 19467 for the Convertible; then 8 for the model year and S for the assembly plant. The plate is attached to the left front body hinge pillar, which is where 1968 differs from every later C3: from 1969 on it moved to the windshield pillar where you can read it through the glass. The VIN decoder breaks down each position, and the build date decoder works out roughly when in the year a car was assembled.

1968 production by month

1968 colors

• The factory manual lists the 1968 colours without production quantities, so no quantity column is shown for this year.
• Paint quantities do not always add up to total production, because some cars were built with non-standard paint or left in primer only.
• Which interior trims went with which paint is set out in full on the exterior and interior combination page, along with the trim codes.

1968 axle ratios

1968 axle codes come in regular and Positraction pairs, and the 427 cars had their own heavy duty set. The full list for every year is on the axle code page.

What changed for 1968

• The Mako Shark styling brought pop-up headlights, a removable rear window and, on the coupe, the two removable roof panels that gave the T-top its name.
• No name on the front fenders. The Stingray script did not arrive until 1969.
• A fibre-optic light monitoring system let the driver check that the exterior lamps were lit.
• Door handles used a separate push button above the pull, a one-year design.

What the manual covers

The 1968 book is the first C3 specification manual, and it is laid out the way Chevrolet laid out all of them: general information and serial numbers first, then standard and extra cost equipment, dimensions and weights, body, chassis and power train specifications, and finally the AMA specification forms that carried the figures Chevrolet published to the industry.

For part numbers and exploded illustrations rather than specifications, the parts manuals are the companion set. Other model years are on the specification manuals page.