Mooser

Went search for an old article for another reason and stumbled across a series of pictures from Road and Track doing a review of the 73 vette. There is a photo of them off-loading one of the vettes and it has the aluminum slots (that the later vettes used).

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...ad-test-review

I knew they made some back then but only released some ridiculous number like 15 cars or something before stopping. Seems to me there was problems or something with the castings or at least that was the excuse given

Hitting the photo gallery for the article, all of the vettes used had the aluminum rims.


Just some neat old pics

M

gcusmano74

That's definitely Zora with the white hair (and white shoes!).
Might be Car & Driver's Pat Bedard in the striped shirt.

emccomas

Yep, definitely Zora. He retired in 1974, so he wasn't around much longer after these pics were taken.

The 73 YJ8 option (Aluminum Wheel) was announced at the 1973 intro, but orders were put on hold due to porosity problems with the wheels. There were metal separation issues and problems holding air.

I have the opportunity to examine and photograph the original 1973 aluminum wheels that were installed on the 1974 big block coupe that Zora took with him when he retired (this car is now in the National Corvette Museum). This was in 1989 or 1990.

Two of the wheels had already been replaced with 76 and later wheels because they would not hold air. The two actual 1973 wheels (confirmed by part number and date code as actual 1973 YJ8 wheels) were in pretty sad shape. There was numerous locations where the aluminum was splitting / separating.

GM records indicate that 4 cars were delivered with the YJ8 wheels. So far no one has actually come up with an original car and / or paperwork that confirms that ANY 1973 Corvettes were actually delivered with these wheels.

My personal belief is that these cars ended up as GM engineering / press release cars, and that the wheels were replaced before they were sold to the public.

The hold on ordering the wheels was in place when 1973 production started, and continued through the entire production run, with the exception of a four day period in October of 1972 when the hold on ordering the YJ8 wheels was inadvertently lifted. Chevrolet sent out a memo indicating that the hold was still in place, and that the wheels should not be installed on cars. I have a copy of that Chevrolet memo around here somewhere.

gbvette62

Emccomas explained the situation with 73 YJ8's well.

The long lead press preview, usually took place around May. So cars used at those previews were usually pre-production, or "pilot line" cars. Often things like options, colors and other details, weren't even finalized at the time of the press preview. The same cars were likely used by GM Photographic for photos in the press package, sales brochures, various manuals, showroom posters, etc.

The tires pictured are interesting too. 1973 was the first year the Corvette came with radial tires. I'm pretty sure the OEM Firestone tire was the infamous Firestone 500 Radials. Those tires are badged as Firestone "Steel O Belt", reminiscent of the Firestone bias ply tire of the era, the Firestone "Wide O Oval". I don't recall Firestone ever offering a radial with the oval "O" in it's name or on the sidewall?

The light colored coupe, with the "454" badges on the hood and blackwall radials, on the far left in the first 4 pictures, is very likely the yellow big block coupe pictured on the 73 showroom poster and other 73 sales materials. It's interseting that all of the cars are coupes. Could it be that Zora and Chevrolet chose coupes for the press to drive, because they were tighter and more rattle free?

That definitely looks like C/D's Pat Bedard, in the striped shirt next to the PA speaker, in the 6th photo.

Geat photos, thanks for posting them!

Mike Ward

Agree with everything above.

Also interesting is the ride height of the cars in the photos. Much higher than most of the restored cars we see now..........

qwank

high ride heights are so.... 70s

AboveTheLogic

We've all seen higher!

Swimtexan

What an awesome group of pictures!

Ontario73

The official records show only 4 cars produced with the rims and your pictures are showing all 4 of them! As pre-production cars they were likely recycled after the press circuits.

gbvette62

I noticed that too, when looking at the pictures.

Two changes took place in 73, that did effect the ride height. 73 went from solid body mounts, to rubber ones, which did raise the car slightly. Also, 73's switched from F70 bias ply tires, to the slightly taller GR70 radial. This would effect the ride height too. Still, I don't remember those cars sitting that high when new.

Interestingly, if you look at the light colored coupe on the right in the third and forth pictures, it's definitely sitting lower in front, than the other cars. It's even more obvious in the pictures of the cars in the staging lanes. The light colored coupe is the first car in line, and has a noticeable (70's style) forward rake.

As pre-production cars, the production ride height may not have been finalized yet.

mike48750

Thanks for sharing the link! It was a fun read with lots of interesting pictures. Mike

Lakeside49

Notice how straight those body's seem, too, from what I can tell at the rear-on angles. Better than my stock 'last of the C3's. Though, they possibly block-sanded them for the press show to eliminate any minor imperfections. Also, those Rockwell-manufactured alloy wheels still look premium and modern decades later. GM's C3 designers just had it going on from start to end of that car's beautiful run. Thanks for sharing this photo-post. Dave