![1980-black-coupe-corvette[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/tUhXO1S.jpg "1980-black-coupe-corvette[1].jpg")
Wha'ts the C3 vette like? Why do they get so much hate?
Smog V8
Ugly depending on taste
Boomers love them so they want lotsa money.
Etc
>>14150458
I had a 77, 180 HP and only came with automatic, maybe that's why.
The earlier ones were from 68 to 71 were cool, but after that, not really.
In my area you can find mid 70's Corvettes for $6,000 to $8,000
>>14150526
My 77 has a stick.
>>14150475
Smog didn't hit until 75 or 72, idr. C3 is 68-82
>>14150458
Lots of people here love the earlier ones with the chrome bumpers. A lot of people hate the later ones with the bumpers that stick out, but it was just for low speed bumper laws new at the time.
Yeah the later ones have shit power, but that's easily mended.
I love driving mine. You kind of feel like you're back in a different era.
>>14150458
On the other hand, I've never cared for driving them. Seating position feels too close to laying down for my comfort, top of the door feels about shoulder height while somehow my eyes look straight at the windshield header so I have to scrunch down a bit. Fender tops in the forward view annoy me. I've only driven the coupes and the buttresses really cut into over-the-shoulder vision while the side mirrors are stylishly tiny. Overall effect is claustrophobic. Ride is smoother than you'd think and driving impression is more firm Monte Carlo than sports car due to how far back you are from the steer tires. Power has always been more than adequate for anything I've ever wanted to do with one and the auto is fine with me since I'd never want to do more than cruise in one, let alone go full dagumi.
>>14150458
for some reason I associate it with hillbillies more than any other vette
>>14150458
the looks are just over the fucking top, but i like it
>>14150894
The bulging fenders are why I loved it as a kid and why I love the look of my brz. I think the c3 was a big inspiration to the designers.
It's a cool car, easily the coolest and best looking corvette. I own one after all.
People don't like them cause they're slow, some of them realllly slow like the 75-7-81 ones but they're just carbureted 350s, they're not hard or expensive to make fast.
I have an 82, I'm in a shitty position because even though my 200hp is the highest sincethe 1974 model with the 454 option, and does a 15.9 second 1/4 mile (the 67 Camaro SS does a 15.2 for reference) it has a very strange EFI system and poorly designed intake manifold which is difficult to work with or make power from. I'll have to swap it out, but 19mpg city and 26 highway isn't bad for a "muscle car"
>>14150894
okay kid go back to your 80's shitbox
fuckin cyrus
stock ones suck
>>14153044
fuckin' lol
They lasted 14 years. People got tired of seeing them everywhere, and they made so many of them that they're just not valuable to collectors. The chrome bumpers are fondly remembered because they came out at the peak of the horsepower wars, but the C3 had the misfortune of living through the smog era too. If they ended production in 1972 and released the C4 in 73 like the planned on then the C3s may have been better remembered.
As far as driving one? I like mine. Stock it road really smooth. It had a ton of understeer, but newer tires and a better alignment fixed that. With new composite suspension it handles better and isn't harsh. The suspension was pretty high tech for its time, 50/50 weight distribution, and four piston brakes all around. The problem was the weight. The chassis is made of iron and there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. The 80-82 cars are the best years to get because new construction techniques lowered the weight of the car by several hundred pounds compared to the chrome bumpers. They also had better aerodynamics and cooling. But because of their 200hp choked engines no one likes them.
I think C3 is the coolest looking Vette
>>14150458
>why do they get so much hate?
because it was the Corvette that personified the fall of the Corette from firebreathing 350's, 427's, and 454's of the 60's down to the miserable reign of the malaise era smog restrictions. No matter the year though, a C3 is still a cool, moderately quick car that looks good and sounds like panties dropping
>>14150458
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGaPrXCuawg
>>14153044
>>14153337
best thing to come out of canada
fucking extremely hideous
slow as fuck
cant turn
did i mention its fucking ugly
>B-B-BUT ALL MUH CURVES MUH RETRO STYLING
shit
>>14153319
AKA Boomers
this is why
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZwXoDyj9Vc
>>14154244
>Drives a 454
>>14153546
Yep, were pretty proud of the boys, especially us maritimers eh
>>14154244
>safety always off
>>14150568
75 is when smog stuff took over and the vette became more of a cruiser rather than a sports car.. 74 was the last year for the 454.
>>14154725
Well, tbf that's a crunchenticker so it's about like a revolver in that regard
My uncle is the original owner of a 66 427 stingray he let it go to shit in the 80s because of smog. Has tons of money but refuses to restore it let alone get it running again. He has 2 c3's a 71 454 and a 76 350. He rather work on those than his 66. It pisses me off.
>>14154745
He is kinda right. 72 is when they started lowering compression for the lower quality fuel. And when they changed to net ratings.
>>14150458
The only corvettes I truly like are the 1965-1971 models
>>14150568
Please tell me those are custom gauges.
>>14154745
>454 in a corvette
That has to be a terrible handling car in all respects.
What possessed them to use this many engines
>>14155090
freedom
>>14155090
the funny thing is those are all the same engine
>>14155104
There's slight differences at least?
>>14155090
Drag racing regulations. Depending on OEM Gross HP rating is what grade you were put in for the stock class.
From 73 till 82 they were junk.
ugly rubber 5mph bumpers, v8 engines that made less than 200 hp.
>>14155072
Nope. Those are factory C3 gauges.
>>14155113
yes but its basically the same, like you when wearing different clothes
the onli difference is the small and big block
>>14155090
14 years being made, horsepower wars in the late 60s, every option needed to be checked since there weren't any packages so every combo had its own code, lower compression engines in the early 70s, and constantly changing smog regulations through the decade.
>>14155113
Most of those are due to changes required for emissions over the years. The 305's and 350's are variations of the same small block chevy, while the 427's and 454's are variations of the big block chevy.
However that doesn't necessarily mean total interchangeability within and engine family due to differences in machining for accessory attachments. While it would physically fit the space you couldn't necessarily count on being able to take a '67 350 and bolt it right into an '82 car without issue.
Vacuum lines, fiberglass
everything breaks eventually
Electronics are shit
>>14155226
yes you can
it all literally lines right up
>>14155234
The vacuum lines are ugly, but they're pretty reliable.
>>14155245
>His C3 doesn't wink and make awful sucking noises at different RPMs
They aren't that ugly though, they came fairly tucked from the factory
>>14155245
Factory smog on most cars in that era made them less reliable and more of a bitch to pin down problems when something did go wrong.
Also at this point if the hose havent been replaced they would definately need it now.
>>14152994
C1 is best looking Corvette hands down.
>>14155284
Whats it like to be wrong in every way?
C3s are the best looking but also the lamest because LITERALLY EVERYONE has one or has owned one or has an uncle with one.
They have the benefit of being basically just a chevy with regular chevy parts you can just pick up at any Advance on a whim, while also being "special" enough to warrant people putting money that they might not put into another car.
Add on the "doens't actively rot and will last centuries in a garage" and you have a recipe for a car that will infest every car show for the next millenium
My Z pisses in your C3's intake, fuck off queer
.
Go ahead and benchrace. I've owned more vehicles than you've seen years, and I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the C3. The interior is 90s KIA tier too.
They are what got me interested in sports coupes again, but they are a letdown in reality. And I am a Corvette fanboi. The 370z blew the C3 away in the feels dept, that's why I bought one instead.
The 370z has Jap class with muscle acceleration, and the handling characteristics you'd expect from a traditional two seat rwd coupe making 330+hp at the crank.
You fell for the meme, while people who actually like cars and driving chose any number of quicker sharp handling cars in the price range.
>>14155262
Mine work really well, but I'm replacing them with electric motors off a Probe.
>>14155284
>>14155301
>best looking Corvette
>Anything but C2
>>14155312
>tfw cousin has a 240z that my grandfather welded a stainless steel floorpan into
>trying to bait him into trading it for the corvette
>>14155319
C2s are overrated, early c3s are what C2s were a prototype for visually and mechanically
>>14155234
>it all literally lines right up
Including all accessory brackets, pullies, and timing covers? I highly doubt that having been around way too many chevy kludges using crap from different decades.
"Oh look it now has some camel humps without a bolt holes and the brackets won't bolt up" Followed by some nightmare of randomly acquired brackets and pullies from friends, junkyards and (literally in one case) the roadside and now the monster slings the belts everytime the rpm goes above 5. And that was the GOOD swap done by the hotshots of the block. This sort of shit is why I chose Fords in order to distance myself from such idiocy
>>14155335
nope, pops right in
You can take a 350 TPI and zip tie the ECU to the side of the engine bay and it will still work
GM shit is all interchangeable as fuck nigga.
>>14155330
We're discussing looks, not being overrated or not
>>14155387
right, and the C3 looks better
The cokebottle lines, the long hood, the fenders that rise up around you
the only thing where mid years win is the fact that they got the MFI
>>14150458
Stock V8's depending on the year were making around 150hp but had v8 torque
No weight over the back wheels
VACUUM HOSES
They were differently looks over performance.
>>14155519
The fuck?
a Monaro was making 275bhp with a 350 small block at around the same time, were they gutted due to emissions or something?
>>14155439
>C3 looks better than C2
That's incorrect
>>14155569
No thats right
C2s are overrated as fuck
63 was the best year and it had the shittiest overvalued "feature" in the fact that you had a goddamn pillar in the middle of yoru rearview at all times
>>14155560
>were they gutted due to emissions or something?
Yep
IMO they look awesome but the majority of their run was smack dab in the middle of the malaise era where everything we were making was just fucking awful mechanically.
>>14155560
The mid 70s base engines were making around 180-195 net horsepower. L82s were 200-250. They went from 250 down to 200 and back up to 220. The 68-71 327s and 350s were around from 250-370 gross horsepower.
>>14155600
Awful isnt the word
underwhelming is
The L82 beneath the smogging is still a 4 bolt main forged crank good engine
It just wants some better breathing heads and a straight pipe to break 250-300hp
>>14155585
Again. On pure looks C2 > C3
>>14155590
So you could easily fix them with a straight through set of pipes, some extractors and a lumpy cam then.
I see no problems with these cars then, they are cheaper than Australian cars of the same age, heck a 1980 c3 one can be had for 25k, thats HQ kingswood price.. though id rather have a Kingswood so i could say "Not the kingswood" whenever i hear a noise outside.
>>14150568
Do you have any reading on waking up the smog era corvettes?
>>14157938
If they have low comp pistons you're pretty fucked.
Replace the heads,intake,carb,exhaust and you'll be set.
>>14157938
See
>>14157976
Although, technically some quadra jets were good up to like 800 or 850 cfm. Most are 700-750. They just require more fine tuning due to the small primary, large secondary ports they have.
>>14150458
Seen these a couple times in the UK.
They look awful because there proportions are all wrong for our roads.
Too long, too wide, and the ride height makes it look like its on stilts!
Seriously, wtf is with the jacked up suspension on these things!
>>14158070
>>14158070
C3s are not high off the ground. People regularly comment on how low they feel. Both due to seating position, and its just a low car.
>>14158164
>C3s are not high off the ground
They are a lot higher than modern performance vehicles
>>14155626
You're wrong, m8. Don't you have a broken japanese car to be neglecting?
>>14158097
>1984
>fahrenheit 451
>a brave new world
somehow present day Britain manages to be worse than all of that combined
gg no re not that I liked you fags in teh first place
>>14158259
The C3 is about an inch taller than the C5. Some versions of the C3 are lower or higher than that depending on the engine and suspension options.
>>14158302
Shush
>>14155284
OFFICIAL CORVETTE TIER LIST (as far as looks go)
Early C3 > C2 > late C3 > C1 > ZR1 C4 > C5 > C6 > C7 > all other C4's
>>14158413
C1 is worst looking vette.
>>14158413
Early C3>Early C2>C2>Mid C3>Late C1>C6 Widebody>C5>Late C3>C6>C4 Convex>C7>C4 Concave>C1
>>14158164
>>14155519
I find it funny how much nicer it looks as a convertible. IT's shape just changes.
>>14158413
>C4 last
Die and stay die
>>14158471
It really has two different sides. There's the more elegant convertible which looks best with the small engine, then there's the brutal muscle car 454 with huge sidepipes.
>>14158429
Nah, the road race versions look pretty damn rad. 1st gen TBird > C1 though.
>>14158501
ZR1's were prety high in my ranking. All other C4's are pretty much garbage, unless you're rocking a complete Guido-spec one ironically.
>>14158562
And the Grand Sport?
>>14158448
Close to my personal list, so i will accept it
I put C6 above any C5, and late c4 above late c3 because the last C4s had some nice visual refinements while keeping the charm of the styling
>>14150458
imo:
c3>c4/c2>c7>c1>c5>c6
>>14153044
he only lives in the trailer park because he thinks its cool
>>14155284
man i really love having a mesh fence over my headlights
>>14150526
82 was auto only. manuals were available before that
>>14158413
>c5 before c6
are you blind
>>14158448
you too
how could you possibly think c5 > c6
>>14160132
It's the hidden headlights.
>>14160471
yeah.. thats what makes me like the C6 over c5 - the visible headlights
>>14160480
It's ugly
Like most vettes are
