History of the Great American Shark.
History unfolds in mysterious ways. How else to explain the shortest-lived Corvette giving way to the longest? And generation three didn't even get off to a smooth start. It was a year late, held back by last minute problems that couldn't be solved in time for a planned 1967 debut. Yet despite much early controversy, this "Shark" series would demonstrate enough staying power to last a remarkable 15 years.
Such endurance is rare in the car business, but Chevrolet did an outstanding job of keeping the Corvette in tune with changing times and a raft of regulations nobody could have predicted. Indeed, its introduction coincided with the first year of federal safety and emissions standards. Moreover, political and economic events forever changed America's automotive landscape in the 1970s, which in turn mandated a fundamental change in Corvette's character. Yet even after it could no longer be a "muscle machine" in the '60s tradition, the Shark was still a Corvette and thus very desirable. No wonder it enjoyed high sales for most of its life, even in years when it shouldn't have sold well at all.
The third generation was the only redesigned Corvette that was not a "new" car. Rather, it was little more than a '67 Sting Ray chassis with a new body. Even the new look was familiar, having been previewed in exaggerated form by the 1965 Mako Shark II, one of several shark-theme show cars inspired by GM styling chief Bill Mitchell.
Striving for more of a "performance look" than the Sting Ray, designers made the '68 Corvette humpy and muscular. Wheel base remained 98.0 inches, but overall length increased by some 7 inches, most of it in front overhang. A new sharply vee'd nose carried the hidden headlamps, which flipped up for use instead of rotating. The pinched midsection bridged fulsome new front fenders and rear flanks to form a trendy "Coke-bottle" shape. The ducktail rump ended in a small lip spoiler that aided aerodynamic stability. Like the Sting Ray, there was no trunk lid. And the name wasn't Sting Ray anymore, just Corvette.
Open and closed body styles returned, but the coupe was now a notchback with an inset or "tunneled" rear window. A design innovation was its T-top roof: twin panels that could be removed to create a semi-convertible. (The rear window also was removable.) Ragtop fans could still order an accessory hardtop. Mechanical upgrades were limited to 7-inch-wide wheels and new F70x 15 tires for better road holding, and dumping the archaic Powerglide Transmission for the new Hydromatic unit. By '69 Handling improved via wider 8inch wheels and a stiffer frame. But new, power-sapping emissions hardware prompted Chevy to stroke its small-block V-8 from 327 to 350 cid. At the other end of the scale was the L88 427-cid big-block option an underrated 430 hp, and available axle ratios as low as 4.56: 1. Even wilder was the all-aluminum ZL1 427 that added $4700 to the car's price. Production was limited to just two. But Corvette celebrated a benchmark as number 250,000 came off the St. Louis line.
Volume plunged 50 percent for 1970 thanks to a two-month autoworkers strike. The main news that season was a big-block punched out to 454 cid, again to meet emissions standards that were sapping power all over Detroit. With 390 hp and 500 lb/ft of torque, it was more tractable than the hotter 427. An even more potent 460-hp edition was planned but never actually offered because it wasn't "clean" enough. Chevy did come through with the 370-hp solid lifter LT I small-block. Minor changes included a fine-check grille and louvered front-fender vents.
Sales recovered to 21,801 for 1971 despite another sand pit season. Still inflation, rising gas prices, and soaring insurance rates began to take their toll on performance-car sales. Corvette was no exception, and its 1972 volume failed to equal that of '68. That year's switch to more realistic SAE net power made the detuned engines appear even weaker, and the top 425-hp LS6 454 was canceled along with the jazzy fiber-optic exterior light monitors available since '68. However, the once-optional anti-theft alarm system was now standard, a belated nod to the Vette's popularity among thieves.
The '73 sported a body-color nose made of pliable plastic, this to meet Washington's new 5-mph impact protection rule. More insulation and new chassis mounts aided quietness, but the coupe's drop-down rear window was gone, as were all engines save a pair of 350s and one 454. Rear-impact standards dictated a body-color soft tall for the '74s, whose arrival coincided with the Middle East oil embargo, still-higher gas prices, and long tines at the pumps. Yet while other cars suffered sales drops, Corvette kept climbing: nearly 30,500 for '73, 37,500 for '74.
Alas, performance kept slipping. The LT1 died after '72, the last big block options were banished after '74, and the convertible departed after '75, a victim of falling demand. Changes were few through 1977 (when the Stingray badge came off again), yet sales remained strong. Changing regulations forced changes in the car's character, but that was hardly bad: By 1975, Corvette was more balanced, less outlandish, and arguably more pleasant. A juvenile straight line screamer had matured into a suave, high-speed Grand Turismo. Still, enthusiasts had been clamoring for an all-new Vette. Two 1972 rotary-engine show cars hinted at a mid-engine design, but the radical layout almost became a reality for 1980. Its basis would have been the Aerovette show car, the V-8-powere iteration of the 1972 rotary experiment. Bill Mitchell lobbied hard for a production version, and GM president Tom Murphy approved a design similar to the Aerovette. By late '77, clay models were complete and tooling was about to be ordered. But the plan foundered with Mitchell's 1977 retirement. Duntov, another mid-engine booster, had retired in late '74, and his successor, David R. McLellan, favored the front-engine format for reasons of packaging, manufacturing, performance, and cost. Cost was the deciding factor, though it should be noted that mid-engine design never proved itself the sports-car wave of the future as some predicted in the late '60s.
Chevy duly regrouped. By mid 1978, McLellan and company were working on a conventional new Corvette. That meant the Shark would have to hold on awhile-no big problem, what with sales still strong. And to its credit, GM decided to splurge on rejuvenating the old warrior in time for its 25th birthday.
The result was a '78 Corvette with a new fastback roofline and a big compound-curve rear window ala Sting Ray, plus a host of minor revisions, mostly inside. Corvette paced that year's Indy 500, and 6502 pace car replicas were issued with special paint, leather interior, and owner applied decals. To Chevy's chagrin, quick-buck artists wasted no time converting standard Vette's into bogus replicas, creating some costly confusion. There was also a Silver Anniversary '78, actually a trim package not that different from stock. Engine choices were down to two 350s: the 185-hp L48 and the 220-hp L82.
Though Corvette mostly marked time for 1979, it had become quite plush. Power windows, air conditioning, tilt wheel, power locks, and AM/FM stereo were included in a base price swelled by inflation from $9645 to $12,313 in just one year. Despite the higher cost and poor fuel economy at a time when gas was again scarce and costly, sales topped 50,000.
Corvette went on a diet for 1980, shedding 250 lbs via wider use of plastics and by substituting aluminum for steel in the differential housing and front-frame cross member. A new sloped nose with integral air dam and a revived rear spoiler improved aerodynamics. Horsepower was 190 standard, 230 optional.
A fiberglass rear leaf spring, thinner glass for door windows, and the optional see-through T-tops saved more weight for '81. There was now just one 350, a new 190-hp L81 with magnesium rocker covers, stainless steel exhaust manifold, and GM's Computer Command Control engine management system. Fuel-economy mandates dictated a lockup torque converter for the optional automatic transmission, while continuing inflation pushed the base price past $15,000, though that included a 6way power driver's seat and front cornering lights. This year also saw the historic transfer of production from St. Louis to a new high-tech plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, built exclusively for Corvette. With it came promises of improved workmanship.
The move also suggested that an all-new Corvette was imminent at last. It was-and sorely needed. Volume withered after 1979's all time high, skidding to about 40,000 for 1980 and '81. The following year, when venerable Shark made its 15th and final appearance, production sank to a 10-year low of 25,407. A second energy crisis and a deep new national recession hardly helped.
Happily, the last Sharks previewed the next Corvette's drive train: a revised L83 engine with Cross-Fire fuel injection, the first "fuelie" Vette since 1965. And for the first time since 1955, there was no manual gearbox, just a new 4-speed automatic with torque-converter lockup on all forward gears except first. The real kicker was another limited-production job tellingly named "Collectors Edition", with lift-up rear window and unique trim. It was the costliest Vette yet at $22,538. This time, Chevy avoided forgeries by building as many Collectors as customers wanted, which ended up at 6759.
Though the new corvette was overdue by '82, the Shark had navigated troubled waters to secure a future for America's Legend. In doing so it became a legend itself, racking up total production of nearly 551,000. Most are still on the road, thanks to loving owners who wouldn't drive any other.
