View our eBay StoreSign up for our Email Newsletter 1978 Chevrolet Corvette offered with a reserve This very nice example sports a very nice new paint job and new leather seats. It runs and drives perfectly. you can jump in and drive this car anywhere anytime you want. Collector owned since new. the car has the desirable T tops. a new powerful modern stereo. and lots of recent work mechanically. These cars are poised for increased value as the market continues to expand. Now is the time to buy one of these. and I think you'll be hard pressed to find a nicer example. This car will make an excellent basis for a concours restoration. or could be driven while improved over time. We have many more photographs of this car. please click on any image to be taken to our full-size image list! The Chevrolet Corvette (C3) is a sports car produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1968 through 1982 model years. Although it's the third generation of the Chevrolet Corvette. it's also the second generation of the Corvette Stingray. Engines and chassis components were mostly carried over from the previous generation. but the body and interior were new. It set new sales records with 53. 07 produced for the 1979 model year. The Corvette C3 was patterned after the Mako Shark II designed by Larry Shinoda. Executed under Bill Mitchell's direction. the Mako II had been initiated in early 1964. Once the mid-engined format was abandoned the Shinoda/Mitchell car was sent to Chevrolet Styling under David Holls. where Harry Haga's studio adapted it for production on the existing Sting Ray chassis. The resulting lower half of the car was much like the Mako II. except for the softer contours. The concept car's name was later changed to Manta Ray. The C3 also adopted the "sugar scoop" roof treatment with vertical back window from the mid-engined concept models designed by the Duntov group. It was intended from the beginning that the rear window and that portion of the roof above the seats–be removable. The "Shark" has the distinction of being introduced to the motoring public in an unorthodox—and unintended—fashion. GM had tried their best to keep the appearance of the upcoming car a secret. but the release of Mattel's die-cast Hot Wheels line several weeks before the C3's unveiling had a certain version of particular interest to Corvette fans: the "Custom Corvette". a GM-authorized model of the 1968 Corvette. 1978 was the Corvette's twenty fifth anniversary. and all 78's featured silver anniversary nose and fuel door emblems. A new fastback rear window was the most dramatic and noticeable styling change. giving the ten-year-old C3 Corvette body style a fresh lease on life. The fixed-glass fastback benefited both aerodynamics and increased the usable luggage space behind the seats while improving rearward visibility in the bargain. A shade was installed that could be pulled forward to cover the rear compartment to protect cargo and carpet against the unrelenting sun. The tachometer and speedometer were redesigned to match the new “aircraft styled” center console and gauge cluster first seen the previous year. Redesigned interior door panels were also new as well as an actual glove box was added in front of the passenger seat. replacing the map pockets of previous years. Available options now included power door locks. a power antenna. dual rear speakers and a CB radio. The optional convenience group. introduced the previous year. now included intermittent (delay) wipers. floor mats. and the passenger side vanity mirror was an upgraded illuminated unit. The base L-48 engine generated 185 hp ; Those destined for California or high altitude areas produced 175 hp. Gone was the chrome-plated ignition shielding over the distributor. replaced with a metal-lined black plastic unit. The single-snorkel air intake used since 1976 was changed to a dual-snorkel set-up on L-82 equipped cars helping to boost that output to 220 hp. L-82 engines were also now fitted with an aluminum intake manifold which saved 24 pounds compared to the cast iron unit of previous years. The Corvette converted to metric tires with the P225/70R15 as standard. Wider P255/60R15 tires were available as an option and required fender trimming from the factory for clearance. The fuel tank capacity increased from 17 gal to 24 gal on all cars. To make room for the larger tank. a smaller (P195/80D15) space saver spare tire was utilized. Two special editions were offered to celebrate Corvette's 25th year. Before he retired. Bill Mitchell had suggested a Silver Anniversary model in his favorite color-silver. appropriately enough-and it appeared as the $399 B2Z option package. The first two-tone paint option offered since 1961. it presented silver over a gray lower body with a separating pinstripe. plus aluminum wheels and dual "sport" outside mirrors as mandatory options. which added another $380 to the cost. 6502 Indy-500 Pace car replica editions were produced featuring Black/silver two-tone paint. front and rear spoilers. mirror-tint roof panels and contoured sport seats. Reviewers praised the car's classic strengths including its impressive straight-line numbers. and noted its more refined. less rattling ride. Our Ebay Policies: Significant Cars is one of the largest Collector Car Brokers and Dealers in the Country. Since 2003 we have worked hard to "change the way collector cars find new homes" by providing unparralleled web presentation of the cars we are representing. Most of our cars have over 30 photographs. and these can be viewed by visiting our website (our eBay handle dot com). or by clicking on any of the photographs in the black background area of our EBay listings. We welcome your call with any questions about any of our listings at anytime at 800-837-9902 and certainly encourage your personal inspection of any of the cars we are selling-just call us and we will be happy to set up an appointment for your to see and test drive the car. We realize that eBay is a difficult venue to properly evaluate an item as complex as an automobile. You can feel secure bidding with confidence on any of our cars since we guarantee your satisfaction! Should you win the auction and come to see the car and decide you do not want it for any reason. no negative feedback will result. any deposit you may have paid will be cheerfully refunded. Description images and copy © 2004-2014 Significant Cars. Inc.