chstitans42

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/2145906366.html

So as the avid craigslist shark that I am, I stumbled on this 1975 coupe this morning... no wait... its actually a 1968 coupe!

I thought that it was super interesting that someone would change thier '68 vert to a '75 vert. It seems like every month we have a thread on here talking about changing your rubber bumpers to chrome bumpers and how its pretty much impossible based on the differences in frames etc.

Have any of you guys considered going from chrome to rubber?? Well it sure looks like someone sure did! Maybe this is proof that for a small second of time back in the day, people thought the rubber bumper cars were cooler....

Either way, it dosnt change my opinion that chromies are much cooler looking than post 74 cars, but I would like so hear all of your opinions on this topic. Thought I would make a little stir here on the forum.

Mike Ward

I call BS on this one. I see NO '68 components at all except the driver's side dash pad and steering wheel. Bet you it's a reconstituted bunch of pieces from 10 different wrecks with a '68 VIN.

Run Forrest, run!

ToniH

Too small pics to say anything about the actual year but:

Nothing weird there. Its been happening always. People very often want the newer look if there is a facelift within a C (1-6). I am sure it happened also with C1 and C2. With C3's they at some stage "updated" to rubber bumpers, then to 1980-82 look etc. Then with C4 many updated the early bumbers to late (91->) look - and they still do. And I am sure they do the same thing with C5 and C6's.

So at the time it seemed cool to replace the chrome bumpers with the new and improved rubber bumbers. Now after many decades the old looking chrome bumpers suddenly look cool again and it feels absurd to "downgrade". Remenber that in 1975 the new '75 Vette was much more expensive than the old '68.

Thats just the way it is with humans.

Ps. but it feels weird that somebody would do that in 90's. Maybe it was wrecked and then converted?

Derrick Reynolds

If you are feeling brave, and the cops don't spend a lot of time sniffing around your neighborhood, this is a $2000 parts car. Otherwise, it is just another bs story to add to the mountain of them already out there...

Manuel Azevedo

Each to their own likes and dislikes, but most probably this is a wreaked/stolen/stripped car and put together with what ever was around at the time! These cars had no real value back in the day to warrant doing anything else

chstitans42

Well the center console and shifter plate is 68 correct. just have to look real hard lol.

Does anyone else know of any other 68 only features that we could look for in the interior?

I dont have the money or time to even consider this car, I just thought someone would get a kick out of it.

I dont know why they did it in the 90s either....

Corey_68

shifter plate and ignition are from a '68, the passenger dash is from a 69+.

I cannot tell from the doors, but ALL of the body is from other than a 68, even the rear quarter panels.

I knew some owners who wrecked their chrome bumper cars converted to rubber bumpers because it was cheaper to convert than to replace the chrome.

Easy Mike

Ebrake console and interior door panels are 69 and up; ditto on the map pockets on the passenger's side dash. Hardtop could be any year.

Looks like reasonably good work on the fiberglass conversion.

chstitans42

Guess you have better eyes than me lol. Its interesting though, if you look close, I swear that the bumper supports on the front of the car are from a '73 or '74 corvette. At least my '75 dosnt have a huge metal bar that supports the urathane...

...Roger...

I think I saw a 68 title,vin plate and drivers side dash on ebay recently or was that me that sold those pieces ?

vettebuyer6369

Way back in the day (I had a '68 convertible in 1978) whatever was "new" was the next cool thing to do. Lots of people put on long hoods. Putting a later model nose was done sometimes back then, just in the same way people find the need to "update" things today.

Remember, back then they were doing some of the most hallucinagenic custom crazy stuff you could think of to Corvettes, so "updating" a nose isn't out of line.

It looks crazy looking back on it, but ruining the current value of a chrome bumper car by putting a later nose on it isn't much different than ruining the body on a valuable midyear with the fender flares that were installed so commonly.

noonie

Ther'es no cool factor involved here, chances are high that back in the day the crash was repaired with the cheapest parts available. No one cared about correct parts back then.

As long as the title matches the vin on the window pillar, it's good for the right price.

Roco71

A good friend of mine told me of stories of chrome bumper guys changing their bumpers to “updated” rubber or in most cases glass bumpers to keep up with the newer look. It sounds crazy now but there was a time when newer was cooler. The same thing happened with 911 Porsches . The 69 -73 911’s had a different front and rear bumper several aftermarket companies sold “update kits” to make the cars look like the newer cars.

427SIXPACK

...........and the shifter plate / console / squinting.........

v2racing

Remember, they were converting these things into station wagons back in the late 70"s and early 80's. They just weren't worth anything back then so modifying them meant nothing.

In the early 70's I worked for a muscle car lot. We used to buy C2's for under $1000 at the dealer auctions, sometimes hundreds under $1000. We would retail them for $1200 to $1500, nice cars too.

As late as 83 I could have bought a real nice original 68 350 HP 4 speed vert for $1200 from a guy that worked at a gas station up the street from where I worked.

chstitans42

I guess we could compare that to how we see Late 80s Corvettes now. I mean do you guys remember what hot rod magazine did to an 84 corvette a while back?

Texas Stinger

If that thing was driving and didn't have anything wrong with it minus the taste to change it from a chrome bumper that price would be one thing

Mark G

In the early to mid 80's, older Corvettes actually started to become worth something more than a used car. We're talking about straight-axle cars and Mid-years now. The garden variety early shark Corvette wasn't worth anything unless it was particularly rare. (that's when I should have bought one). But still, several aftermarket companies sprang up to to meet the demand of the small but growing collector and restoration market. At this time, the early sharks were cool cars to customize because you could buy them cheap and they made a great canvas. Rubber bumper cars were the 'cool' thing, and aftermarket companies responded with parts. If you read the Corvette magazines of the era, you will find lots of articles of people customizing their cars with aftermarket parts to make them look like rubber-bumper cars. There are lots of articles of people doing this. When the Corvette was remodled with the large rear glass window in '78, there were window and body kits to convert early C3's to look like 78's and later cars. Then, they went to lift hatches after the 82 CE. There were also convertible kits too. When they came out with the C4, it was all the rage and there were some fiberglass kits to mimic some of the look of a C4 by changing the front nose, rear tail, or add C4 rims. So, it's completely plausable that this car is original that was converted. Just have to look it over.

Mark G

HOOAH

FWIW, the seats are 68 (no headrests). Like others have said though; there's nothing on that exterior that even hints "68."

RMVette

One give away is the ignition switch is on the dash, not the steering column.