70-76 Corvette Black

[Walter F.]

Am I correct that no black Corvettes were built from 1970 -1976. If that is correct why would such a popular color be illiminated?

[Joe L.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Am I correct that no black Corvettes were built from 1970 -1976. If that is correct why would such a popular color be illiminated?

Walter------


Yes, no black Corvettes were manufactured during the 1970-76 model years. Why black was not a color option during those years is anyone's guess at this point.

[Lawrence M.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Walter, many of the 70-76 gurus are down at the Regional meet in Florida, so I'll give you a quick answer. First black was not a popular color in the time when it was dropped. It lagged far behind the most popular colors. Also the Corvette fiberglass bodies painted black really showed the waves on the side panels.

[Mike E.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

I would guess that 90% of the "SPECIAL" color trim codes (Primed) that came out of St. Louis at that time ended up being painted black. As Lawrence said the quality of the fiberglass work in the mid-seven's left a lot to be desired. Bonding seams in darker colors on all four fenders most of the time were obvious.

Regardless Chevrolet was selling more Corvettes than they could make. I wasn't uncommon to buy a new one, sell it a year later and get all but a few $100 of your money back. With the inflation of the 1970's the base price more than doubled between 1970 to 1980.

MSRP
1970 - $5192
1971 - $5496
1972 - $5533
1973 - $5561
1974 - $6001
1975 - $6810
1976 - $7604
1977 - $8647
1978 - $9750
1979 - $10220
1980 - $13140

Mike

[Roger G.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Walter, many of the 70-76 gurus are down at the Regional meet in Florida, so I'll give you a quick answer. First black was not a popular color in the time when it was dropped. It lagged far behind the most popular colors. Also the Corvette fiberglass bodies painted black really showed the waves on the side panels.

The 70's were a "vibrant" time

[Steven B.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Walter, during that time frame I was planning a purchase and asked a regional rep why no black when he was in the Indiana dealer's office. He told me frankly that the bodies had so many waves and imperfections that they looked like s__t in dark colors. A few years late when I decided to order my '77 in August '76 black was not available but a few weeks later it was on the availability list. Some friend's ordered a black with oyster leather. The combination was very nice, but the imperfections really showed up. A fellow in Louisville, KY ordered a black and immediately had it stripped, blocked, and resprayed. It looked good. Steve

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Walter, during that time frame I was planning a purchase and asked a regional rep why no black when he was in the Indiana dealer's office. He told me frankly that the bodies had so many waves and imperfections that they looked like s__t in dark colors. A few years late when I decided to order my '77 in August '76 black was not available but a few weeks later it was on the availability list. Some friend's ordered a black with oyster leather. The combination was very nice, but the imperfections really showed up. A fellow in Louisville, KY ordered a black and immediately had it stripped, blocked, and resprayed. It looked good. Steve

The corvettes were so bad as Steve said that Gm quit selling Black corvettes in 1970

[Patrick H.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

There was at least one (possibly two as another seems to have surfaced) 1972 Corvette painted in black from the factory. It went through the system a couple of years ago receiving a Bowtie in 2011.
Yes, it is documented.

[Terry M.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

There was at least one (possibly two as another seems to have surfaced) 1972 Corvette painted in black from the factory. It went through the system a couple of years ago receiving a Bowtie in 2011.
Yes, it is documented.

I can tell you for sure there were more than two 1972 Corvettes painted black at St Louis, however my guess is that there were far less than ten so produced. I have seen three personally, but the only one I have seen with documentation is the Bowtie car mentioned by Patrick. Those documents are iron clad.

The reasons for the lack of black as a standard color have already been cited above, and there was mention of this reason in a Corvette News article at the time.

[Walter F.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Was the C3 body design falwed since black was offered in all the C1 and C2 cars from 56 up to 69. Was the factory workmenship below standards on the C3?

[Terry M.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Body design had nothing to do with it. The body material was the problem. The CN story I mentioned above had photos and text about the fiberglass out gassing in the paint drying ovens and causing the need for spot repairs to the paint. A new body material was introduced in 1971 that, among other things, was an effort to mitigate this problem. That story was an announcement of that advance in material.

Black was an available color in 1969. Some of the rubber bumper people would have to tell us (or someone with The Black Book could look it up) when black again became available, but it was a big part of the 1978 Indy Pace Car. While we have no paint production numbers for 1969, I do not think black was a very popular seller for Corvette; and that probably added to the lack of it being seen as an option for a while.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Body design had nothing to do with it. The body material was the problem. The CN story I mentioned above had photos and text about the fiberglass out gassing in the paint drying ovens and causing the need for spot repairs to the paint. A new body material was introduced in 1971 that, among other things, was an effort to mitigate this problem. That story was an announcement of that advance in material.Black was an available color in 1969. Some of the rubber bumper people would have to tell us (or someone with The Black Book could look it up) when black again became available, but it was a big part of the 1978 Indy Pace Car. While we have no paint production numbers for 1969, I do not think black was a very popular seller for Corvette; and that probably added to the lack of it being seen as an option for a while.

I had a Pace Car # 60 with 3 MI. that came from a St Louis dealership & the paint was awful. Drips hanging from the lower fenders,silver overspray on the black paint & runs at the bottom of the doors. Both T tops were cracked but there were new ones in the boxes with the Corvette. The 78 pace car was to be this big deal & one would have thought The factory would have watched the quality closer.PS I believe 1977 was the first year that Black was offered again.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Some of the rubber bumper people would have to tell us (or someone with The Black Book could look it up) when black again became available, but it was a big part of the 1978 Indy Pace Car. While we have no paint production numbers for 1969, I do not think black was a very popular seller for Corvette; and that probably added to the lack of it being seen as an option for a while.

Terry,

1977. Didn't even have to look it up.

PH

[Walter F.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

From what I am reading it appears the quality control was the issue on the C3 cars, not so much the color. It just seems black showed more of the poor workmenship at the factory so that is why it was not offered. I worked for a Chevrolet dealer for one year in 1972. We did not sell a whole bunch of Corvettes but I remember one in paticular painted Ontario Orange. The paint was so bad the owner would not take the car until it was repainted. Back then many assembly line workers cared little about how they built a persons car. It was all about the next contract. It was not until Japan started taking a piece out of our market that management and line workers had to get their act together.

[Joe L.]

Re: 70-76 Corvette Black

Was the C3 body design falwed since black was offered in all the C1 and C2 cars from 56 up to 69. Was the factory workmenship below standards on the C3?

Walter------


I think the biggest part of the C3 body/paint quality issues had to do with NUMBERS. For the C3 period the number of cars manufactured significantly increased. Combine this with an obsolete factory and an utterly obsolete body manufacturing and paint shop and you have a prescription for quality problems. Body manufacturing and paint work is both science and ART. It's hard for artists to perform well when productions rates are significantly ramped up.

Also, keep in mind that during most of the C2 era a large percentage of the Corvette bodies were manufactured and painted elsewhere (i.e. Ionia, MI). So, for the beginning of the C3 era, considering that overall production numbers significantly increased AND all body and paint work reverted to St. Louis, the production demands on the body and paint operation more than doubled.