What year/engine vette was the slowest production Corvette ever?
S.

 

I am not sure about this but I did see in Time magazine that the 1980 305 California Corvette was in the top 50 worst cars of all time. The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

 

How about the 1/4 mile in 17.9 secs

1953 Corvette, 150hp, 2 spd auto.

 

I like the 53's.



But I like all year vettes anyways.

 

I have never understood the degree of hate for the 305. I have had a couple cars with them, and overall, not a bad engine with decent economy. They did the job.

I've also driven enough worn out 350's in "good running" cars to wish that I had a 231 V-6 in the engine bay.

 

my guess just based upon configuration that the 53 has to win hands down as it was produced for curb appeal and not performance. i would also suspect once you got past that early non-performance mentality, the cars of the later 70's and early 80's (78-81) had to be the worst overall as a group. remember it was during this time that they were having all types of struggles with EPA/CAFE and the future of the line was in doubt and almost discontinued. somehow the engineers/management was able to convince the government that most manual drivers would shift from 1st to 4th for the fuel economy necessary to meet the numbers necessary (hence the shift light even carried through our C5s).

 

I was going to guess mine an 80, only had it once down the track 1/4 mile at 87MPH for a time of 16.8 !

 

For C3s I would have bet on the '75 L48/Auto.

 

Yeah and that is just plain stupid to call that one of the worst cars.

 

53 and 54.

 

Hi,
It could well be the 53-54 cars. Slow but such style!!!
Regards,
Alan

 

I'd have to agree. While those cars might have been the slowest Vettes, look at it this way; you got to take a long time running down the drag strip, but you were looking really good doing it.

 

The dude was just quoting an article, I knew someones feelers would get hurt. :O)

 

Discounting the 53 & 54 & the 305 Cali car that I don't know much about, what about the 75's? The first year of the catalytic converter & emission controls. Weren't they like 165HP? Seems like I read that recently. Unfortunately, I know the L48 79s were only 195HP.

 

I checked out that Time Magazine list and I don't put too much faith in their judgement, or lack of same.

They included the 1961 Corvair on their list because it was a rear engine with a swing axle, making it downright lethal. That configuration would also include the contemporary Volkswagen and Porche, both of which had swing axles, hinged at the transaxle. The only difference is that Ralph Nader wasn't moved by social justice to trash those two cars. I had a 62 Monza coupe when I was in college, and it was a great car. A little unpredictable if you were really trying to kill yourself (a.k.a. powering into a very sharp curve), but, otherwise, a very acceptable little sporty car. BTW, Nader published his book in 1966, after the Corvair rear suspension had been converted to a dual U-joint setup like the IRS Corvettes, that eliminated the unpredictablilty.

Further, they failed to mention the Fiat 124 at all. I had one of those too. A new one in 1970. The car was a performance wonder and an electrical and material nightmare. The car would flat outrun the contemporary MGs and TRs with its 1135cc DOHC 4 cyl, but the paint, interior and electricals were absolute crap and the quality of the mechanical parts was high grade pot metal. Mine ate four starters and two steering boxes in 45K miles. I replaced it with a 240Z and was a happy camper.

 

I thought the same thing. Hadn't considered the 53-54's

 

100% - I owned one - 165HP - It was a dog performance wise.

 

Wasnt that still the fastest American production car that year though?

 

Not saying it was the fastest, but in 1975 the Pontiac Trans Am was still available with a 400 CID engine - with a whopping 185HP. I had a 74 Trans Am (455) at the time and I remember how far off both the TA and Corvettes fell in performance in 75. I don't think much of anything out of the US was "fast" in 1975.

 

OK in 20yrs time , if the same question is asked but with a twist which one if the fastest, what changes will happen and which car will it be,Ron