When did this catch on? And is it necessary to say "my 72 c3" on a c3 website? Sorry, but it seems redundant and I wonder if it's the new to the hobby folks who say it or if it's everyone.

 

I don`t know when it "caught on", but you wouldn`t have to refer to it as a "72 C3", because a 72 IS a C3. But all C3s are not a 72, so using "C3" refers to the whole group from 1968 to 1982.

 

I don't remember ever hearing the C term until they came out with the C4. The music had already died and evidently the general decided they needed a way to differentiate all the new "Corvettes" from their predecessors. Anybody care to guess what/when the last one will be? Hey...nothing lasts forever.

 

Hi B,
I don't think I ever really called the 68-82 cars C3s, nor do I refer to them as 'sharks'.
For years people who had them referred to them as 'late models'. (Straight Axles were the 53-62 cars, Mid-Years were the 63-67 cars , Late Models were the 68-72 cars.
There were a couple of show cars called Mako Shark, but the production cars were always Stingrays.
Regards,
Alan

 

I guess my 73 is a half-breed and doesn't belong to any group. Half chrome and half rubber bumper.

Donnie

 

I'll just bet that Alan meant to say '82 instead of '72....

 

Mines in the avatar and was always called a 68 or the Yellow Vette...And never a sting ray or a c 3.....I have my own ID`s for the toys....I just described the 68.Vette above, but the Camaros by the year





















.

 

GM called the Stingrays in and out for some years, but the guys always called the SHARKS, that is the way is WUZ......


age 71 , car guy for near 60 years.....

 

I agree that as the fourth generation came along the term seemed to come into use. I think one reason the term is so widely used now is that with each passing generation there is less to differentiate each year within that generation. A 69, 77, 82 etc. all look different. I also own a C5 and a 97 looks just like an 04. An 05 C6 looks like a 13. So classifying by generation probably makes some since especially with the newer cars. That's just my guess though.

 

Thanks gentlemen. Good insight to the way it used to be.

I work at a high school and I find it amusing yet satisfying when an inner city youth asks if that's my stingray in the parking lot. Not sure if they just read the fender emblem or if they actually knew, but these kids don't even use the word corvette. If I tried to tell them it's a C3 they would probably think we changed the subject and we're talking about carbon.

To me, it's "the Vette".

 

I can't stand the "C" terms, and never refer to any 53-82 as a C anything.

I was at a swap meet once, and a person came up to me and asked if I had a nose emblem for a C3. I asked him three times, what year, and three times he told me "C3"! I eventually told him no, and let him walk away. There were 9 different nose emblems used between 68 and 82. If the guy didn't know what year his car was, then how the heck would I?

The first time I ever remember hearing or seeing the term, was in 1996, when the book "All Corvettes are red" came out. The book was written by James Schefter about the development of the new 97 Corvette. In it he related how the GM designers and engineers referred to 84-96's as C4's, and the upcoming 97's as C5's. The reason for this was that there were people working on similar components (such as fuel injection or suspension), for two different generations of Corvettes, and to avoid confusion they needed a term to differentiate, which generation they were working on.

I have to agree with Alan. I've been playing with Corvettes since the early 70's. I've belonged to numerous clubs, and subscribed to just about every Corvette magazine, at one point or another. I never heard a 68-82 called a "shark", until it started showing up here on the Forum, some years back.

53-62's were either Solid Axles or Straight Axles, 63-67's were Mid-Years or sometimes "Three to Sevens", and 68-82's were always Late Models. When the 84's came out, they were new cars or 84-96's. The 68-82's continued to be Late Models, even though they really weren't anymore.

 

Chevy marketing came up with the "C" identification as part of the C5 intro. Prior to that you had the Solid Axles, the Mid Years, the Sharks, and the Current Model (the C4).

Tom...

 

I started using the C designations when looking for parts on the internet because that is how they were/are often listed, particularly on eBay. Before the internet I just used the year.

 

back in the early days, as I recall, there were straight axles, mid-years, and late models. prior to 68, there were corvettes, and corvette sting rays. then the 84's came out. I really never heard the "C" generation term until the C5's came out in 97. I'm thinking GM designers referred to the 84-96 models as C4's though, and that may have started the whole "C" thing -

 

My 74 is a STINGRAY

 

Hi FR,
I actually meant 72.
Back then a lot of the car people I knew, including myself, stopped paying attention to what Chevrolet was doing to the Corvette each year after 1972.
Regards,
Alan

 

Same here, I stopped following American car models around '72.

 

As an FNG, when I started looking for a car, the ones I like are the 68-82 styles. Or, the C3. Since I don't know any better, that's what I call that year group.

 

When I tell people I own a Corvette I often get asked if it is a Stingray. These are not Corvette people so it is hard to explain that starting with my model year, they dropped the Stingray emblems from the fenders. They get confused and the explanation ensues where they usually end up hearing more about Corvette history that they really wanted to know. It gets even more confusing in that my 77 was thoroughly massaged by Bubba before I bought it, so the only original 77 parts on the body are the doors and rear bumper cover. It's not perfect, but it's MINE. :-)

 

Same here. Prior to the C4, there was no "C" designation in the media. When the media picked up on the C4 as the next generation car, the three previous generations acquired "C" status. 100% media hype.