This short clip could have been a CC clue post. Well, not to the CC community, as the shape of this bonnet is extremely familier to all classic car lovers.
Whilst on the bus on my way to work, I suddenly caught a glimpse of this 1971 C3, driving alongside the bus. Its black paint made it blend with the murky dawn light, drawing much less attention to itself than on later hours:
Here’s a nice comparison between the C3 and the little Kia Picanto alongside it. Those two are ages apart, and it clearly shows.
This is a good photo of the ‘Vette, showing the classic side vent and Rally wheels. I identify this C3 as a 1970 vintage, but of course I could be wrong as this car might be anything between 1970 to 1972.
As the route goes through light rail construction work, riding on concrete slabs (that cover the constructed underground station), so the photos became blurry, as the road was bumpy and unforgiving.
Yet you can still clearly see the almost mandatory luggage rack so many Corvette owners install. We all know how “much” luggage space there is within C3s.
As the bus was coming to its designated stop, the C3 was gone, its driver no doubt in a hurry to arrive to work, not wanting to brake the Israeli law that prohibits classic cars marked as “collectible vehicles” to drive between 7:00 to 9:00 AM. This was around 6:50.
There’s a well known joke among Israeli classic ‘Vette aficionados, saying maybe ten C3s were imported to the country when new, yet over a hundred survived. This is due to the (relatively) massive import of C3s during the last ten years. The younger cars are well over thirty years, so (as the law in Israel defines), you can import them as classics (actually you start to see more and more C4s, as those have now become over thirty years old). There’s a flourishing local club for Corvettes, arranging meetings, events and know-how for the Israeli ‘Vette enthusiast.
You may understand from all this that obtaining a Classic C3 photo is no problem- just go to any of the classic meeting taking place around the country on a Friday afternoon and one will certainly turn up (not to mention the club’s own meeting). So, here are some C3 photos I took at various classic cars’ events:
Above you can see two C3s that are roughly the same vintage as the featured black Stingray in this post. Nice to compare the dark green, modern-sized wheels to the dark blue original car.
By now, these mid-to late Seventies have become the most common imported ‘Vettes, cheaper to buy in the US. I actually like this burgundy C3, complete with 1970s-style modifications.
And those are, of course, early 1980s cars with front fascias that look almost identical to early C4s.
Even one of the 1978 Indy 500 replica C3s managed to arrive into Israel a few year back. A well known car in the local scene.
As you would imagine, many imported cars are also convertibles, such as this 1969 somewhat modified car…
…Or these original early 1970s C3s, similar to the featured black car in this post and even sporting the same language rack.
Again, mid-Seventies convertibles can also be seen- though not as much as the early up-to-1973 C3s. What a difference between the two yellow ‘Vettes.
Some time ago, I arrived at a track day to find that some C3 owners tried their hands at sports driving. Above you can see three cars (the black car appears twice), late-Seventies to early-Eighties. That track was very small, cart-like, yet the ‘Vettes did pretty well for their size and the owners had had fun.
Finally, the next set of photos were taken in Salzburgring race track at a classic car racing event I was at, back in 2014. In the post published here I uploaded three more C3 Corvettes, but here in this current post I want to show you the racing C3s that took to the track:
so beautiful. its funny though. i love the 68-72 styled ones. don’t like much the 73-79 corvette, but like again the 80-81 years.
I was so over the C3 Vette by 1973 or 74 and became thoroughly sick of them. By the mid 70s they had become the official car of the gold-chain-leisure-suit-wearing fast food franchisee.
But somewhere along the way the C3 began a rehabilitation in my eyes, even the later ones. Although their performance and looks were nowhere near what they had been earlier, they still turned out pretty nicely compared to the rest of what Detroit was producing during the Carter administration. Now I could see owning one of these as a weekend cruiser.
And wow, an Indy Pace Car vette in Israel. I think every one ever made still exists and is in this condition because everyone who bought one assumed that it was going to become an instant rare classic. It has become a classic alright, but the process was not instant and the car is still not rare. The silver leather was cool, though, I’ll grant you that.
The ’70 to ’72 Corvettes are hard to tell apart. The most sure fire way is to look at the engine specs listed on the console below the shifter.
The ’70 will have horsepower ratings of 300, 350, 370 or 390 (there is a 460 H.P. motor listed in the sales brochure, designated as the LS7, but none were ever built as production vehicles). The ’71 will state 270, 330, 365 or 425 (very rare). The ’72 has no horsepower rating listed. Also, the ’70 & ’71 have clear front turn signal lenses with amber bulbs while the ’72 has amber lenses. To a lesser notable degree, the ’70 & ’71 have a removable rear window (on the coupe), it’s fixed on the ’72. Also I think ’71 was the last year for the mechanical tachometer drive but I’m fuzzy on that. And finally, late in the ’72 model year, A/C was allowed with the LT1 solid lifter motor. Prior to that, A/C was strictly verboten on Chevrolet solid lifter equipped motors. And ’72 was the end of the run for solid lifter equipped motors entirely on any Chevrolet motor.
The ’70 is the rarest of the three years due to its abbreviated production year (February to July).
Oh, and not to nit pick, but the Vette shown in the video has the wrong trim rings. They should be the “stepped edge” variant not the “rounded edge” as are equipped on this car.
Nevertheless, the ’70 to ’72’s are probably my favorite. They are not as dramatic in appearance as the C2’s (’63-’67) but are more refined and definitely an improvement over the squeaky “whatever” workmanship of the first year C3 – 1968 model.
I love the C3 in all of it’s cheesy glory – even the smog choked years.
With the fat sidewalls of the stock tires I’d absolutely rock one as a daily driver.
I never liked the 1970 Corvette’s facelift. To me the eggcrate grille and side vents look fussy. My favorite 70s ‘Vette in terms of styling is the ’73 model – clean rubber nose and simple side vent but still featuring the ducktail rear.
72 vettes will have Amber turn signals up front
I always thought Israel would be a fascinating place to visit Yohai for the historical treasures. Then I see another round of your incredible pictures and wonder if I would even get out of the parking lot!(so to speak ?)
Thanx for the short video ~ it’s fun .
I guess I’ll never get a ’roundtuit’ and even the cheaper ‘Vettes are beginning to dry up now herein La La land, home to battered, sun crisped but rust free old Sports Cars .
Nice to see your local scene is supporting these .
-Nate
Narrowed it down another year. I think I see rectangular exhaust tips. The 1970 still had round ones.