How rare is my Corvette?

[Paul P.]

I'm likely opening up a real can of worms here, but I've decided to go for it.

I'm the feature editor of my local Corvette club, the Vintage Corvettes of Southern California and the publisher of CorvetteStory.com.

As publisher of the Corvette Story, I'll occasionally get inquiries along the lines of "I have a 19XX Corvette, XX color, XX engine and XX options. How many of this sort of Corvette were made?"

I've decided to do a feature article on the situation which I've posted at http://www.vintagecorvettessocal.com...-quantity.html

In the article I am responding to two questions, one regarding a 1966, the other a 2016.

Now looking for comments, corrections, opinions, amplifications, etc. The article has not been posted to the membership yet, so if there is misinformation, no harm has been done.

~Paul

[Paul H.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

Paul, ALL the 66 L72's came with 4 speeds.

[Mark E.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

Paul, ALL the 66 L72's came with 4 speeds.

Good catch. It comes down to how many black convertibles with L72.

[Mark F.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

...http://www.vintagecorvettessocal.com...-quantity.html
...This is why, for example, we do not have any color production quantities for the 1969 Corvette. There are other gaps..~Paul

Hi Paul,
Not related to your question, but we do have 1969 Corvette color production numbers...(vs what you have in your last paragraph)

1969 Corvette Colors_001.jpg

[Mike T.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

Paul - Don't know if that owner of the L72, Randy, is a member of the NCRS or the Corvette Forum but maybe you can pass this info along to him.
We have a long standing thread over on the Corvette Forum for owners of L72's to post up pics and tell us the history of their 1966 High Horse Bigblock Corvettes. So far, we have 50 people who have joined us on that thread and one of them, a friend in Texas, also has a Triple Black 66 L72 Roadster. Here's the link: C2 1966 L72 count - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion. We've had folks join us from France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the UK. Some of the L72's are totally bone stock, others not so much but all make for some interesting reading.
Hope he joins us so we can hear more about his L72.
Thanks.

[Edward C.]

[Mike E.]

[Tom R.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

Nice work Paul and ambitious. I would include a note that rare is not always desirable. Too often sellers compute rare with value where as buyers may find a particular paint scheme undesirable. Its important to note this for your readers.

[Joe L.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

I'm likely opening up a real can of worms here, but I've decided to go for it.

I'm the feature editor of my local Corvette club, the Vintage Corvettes of Southern California and the publisher of CorvetteStory.com.

As publisher of the Corvette Story, I'll occasionally get inquiries along the lines of "I have a 19XX Corvette, XX color, XX engine and XX options. How many of this sort of Corvette were made?"

I've decided to do a feature article on the situation which I've posted at http://www.vintagecorvettessocal.com...-quantity.html

In the article I am responding to two questions, one regarding a 1966, the other a 2016.

Now looking for comments, corrections, opinions, amplifications, etc. The article has not been posted to the membership yet, so if there is misinformation, no harm has been done.

~Paul

Paul------


I've said this before and I'll say it again: particularly with respect to C-2 and C-3 Corvettes, if you consider combinations of all of the available options, body styles, exterior colors and interior colors, virtually every Corvette is one of a handful and, thus, "rare".

[Leif A.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

“According to GM, all those records were destroyed in a fire”. I don’t believe there is any veracity to that statement. It’s an old wives’ tale that has no basis, but once it is said and someone repeats it, it is hard to refute. Like “they ran out of small block hoods so they put big block hoods on small block cars”

Mike,
I agree 100% that is an old wives' tale. There was a fire in St. Louis in 1973 that destroyed many records but it wasn't at the Corvette plant, rather it was at the NPRC. I think it's possible that over time some have the two record centers confused.
In 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri, destroyed the records held for Veterans who were discharged from the Army and Air Force during certain periods of time.

https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/fire-1973

[Paul P.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

Wow, I had not seen those '69 color quantities before.

Do you know the source of those figures?

My source on that is the Corvette Black Book (page 47 of my copy) and the NCRS 1968-1982 Corvette Specifications Guide, pages 14 and 15. Both of those publications also do not list color quantities for the 1970, 1973 and 1974 model years.

~paul

Hi Paul,
Not related to your question, but we do have 1969 Corvette color production numbers...(vs what you have in your last paragraph)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]115907[/ATTACH]

[Paul P.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

My source for that factoid is from the Corvette Museum Build Sheets and Window Stickers page at https://www.corvettemuseum.org/libra...ndow-stickers/

Q. How can I obtain a build sheet for a Corvette built in St. Louis?
A. We do not know. We have been told by General Motors that all records from the St. Louis Plant were destroyed in a fire after the Assembly Plant was re-located to Bowling Green in mid-1981.

Do the St. Louis Plant records exist?

~paul

[Mark F.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

Mark, That is very interesting. Never saw ANY info on 69 colors before. However, as I’m sure you know, that total is incomplete by over 10000 cars. But it’s better than nothing. Thanks for posting that.

Wow, I had not seen those '69 color quantities before. Do you know the source of those figures? My source on that is the Corvette Black Book (page 47 of my copy) and the NCRS 1968-1982 Corvette Specifications Guide, pages 14 and 15. Both of those publications also do not list color quantities for the 1970, 1973 and 1974 model years. ~paul

Edward and Paul,

The source of that information is the "Production Trends" documentation that both John Baldwin and Rich Mozzetta unselfishly and generously put out there for all of us.

Edward, other than liking how they look , I know nothing about '69s, so I was not aware the numbers were that short...maybe others have sources for the remaining ??

[Paul P.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

Interesting. I would think that if they did exist, they would be accessible via a service similar to the Marti Report for Fords and PHS Automotive Services for Pontiac.

At any rate I will discontinue the "lost in a fire" as being the absolute truth in the article I am posting.

~paul

Mike,
I agree 100% that is an old wives' tale. There was a fire in St. Louis in 1973 that destroyed many records but it wasn't at the Corvette plant, rather it was at the NPRC. I think it's possible that over time some have the two record centers confused.
In 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri, destroyed the records held for Veterans who were discharged from the Army and Air Force during certain periods of time.

https://www.archives.gov/personnel-r...nter/fire-1973

[Paul P.]

Re: How rare is my Corvette?

A good point. I'll include it in the update of my article.

~paul

Paul------


I've said this before and I'll say it again: particularly with respect to C-2 and C-3 Corvettes, if you consider combinations of all of the available options, body styles, exterior colors and interior colors, virtually every Corvette is one of a handful and, thus, "rare".