emccomas

This is car #40274?

Oops, sorry, I just looked at the pictures. Clearly 40274.

I have often wondered if the ultra low mileage never driver 78 Silver Anniversary or Pace Cars have turned out to be good investments.

I know that is not why some people do it, but there are those that speculate on these cars.

The car was roughly $20K new; today the car is worth what?, maybe $25K, or perhaps even $30K.

So a $10K profit from $20K over a 40 year period, or $250 a year.

OK, enough financial analysis.

I, for one, am very glad that some people had the foresight and the resources to buy these cars and store them away.

I recall one collector that bought a new Corvette every year starting in 1974. He would get the most options, and highest horsepower cars that he could order. The cars were then trailered to his climate controlled storage facility. None of these cars were ever titled or driven, then were all put up on jack stands.

I lost track of this guy and his collection many years ago, and I have no idea what happened to him or the cars.

csherman

I dont see any real difference other than alot of "creative" writing on the car
The rear crossmember says " OJ Kickin"
The RH frame says "Gerbies car"
All kinds of crayon / grease pencil marks

csherman

The detail should be done this weekend - I will put it back on the ground and roll it out side....

BKarol

In 78 one of the rear end codes is OJ which means 3.70 gears. Perhaps that is what is meant by the Kickin comment.

Usually came on the L82 4spd.

csherman

This is a L82 4 sp car
Good call.

daavette

I am the original owner of my Silver Anniversary. It has 1200 miles and is all original. I have all the paperwork that came with it..I was incidental at the factory on a tour the day it was built. I have numerous dealer and aftermarket items pertaining to the SA: billboard, jackets,hats,T-shirts,belt buckles, etc. I’m thinking about getting it ready for the road or ?

Desvette 63

Will you post some pictures of your car all prepped for Bloomington?

csherman

Yes I will
I am putting the final touches on it tonight and tomorrow - then load it up and head to Bloomington - We will be in Garage C7 in the paddock - the car will go for Gold, Survivor and Benchmark. Stop by - I will have a bunch of factory photos of the car being built plus the order sheet and signed letter from Jack Gerbic

csherman

The car did great at Bloomington and received ALOT of attention
The car earned a Bloomington Gold, a Gold Survivor and a Benchmark
So many people stopped by
I appreciate it
Thank you for all the interest in the car and its story
We are going to take the car to NCRS and get its Top Flight
I promised photos and I will get some up

Chris

KingRat

Congratulation. Very nice meeting you today and hearing the story of the car.

Paul Borowski

Hey csherman, just got home(few minutes after midnight)after a 640mi round trip that I left @ 4:45AM for Bloomington from Massillon, Ohio. You sir, have ONE SUPER stunning '78 SA, just got to briefly say Hi as I believe you were leaving to do your Survivor "track laps". Your last '78 built SA car is superb, just superb. Wish I could've got back to you and chatted a bit about your car !!! The photo of the oil filter above is exactly what I saw in the early 2000's on a 4.3 mile(not a typo, 4.3 mile)Silver An. '78 in Cumberland, MD NCRS Meet. He drove the car backwards on & off the judging field probably 1/2 round trip!!! Did'nt want to dare rollover that 4.3miles to 4.5miles!!!!!.

Paul Borowski

guess we know now on the frame where it says "Gerbies car"??? Was Gerbie there when it was built or did the assembly line people know it was going to someone named "gerbie"???

csherman

Jack Gerbic was the plant manager at the time. The cars order sheet and window sticker have delivery printed as the St Louis plant - so the car never left the plant - the car was intended for Jack. We think Jack walked this car thru the line - reason why we have so many photos of it in production. The year before, Jack also had the last 77 - that car was sold when new to the this owner. So he owns the last 77, the last 78, and the last 78 pace car. We are going to try and find out if Jack is still alive and get the story of the car being built. So... the frame in grease says "Gerbics car" - It is an unreal story

csherman

Great meeting you !!!!!!!

C3 4ME

Very cool story, and very cool that you got the accolades. Sounds like it was well deserved. Now hurry up and get all those pics up, lol!

jts90vette

Desvette 63

Priya

Silver anniversary - breathtaking.

I should have left my 79 stock and painted it like that.

hunt4cleanair

I spent half of my free day with csherman and its owner, while it poured around us. The cars were tucked up under the stadium seating. Great stories but I'll share one of my observations that also serves as a lesson learned for those engaged in judging.

The 547-mile car has a trim tag date code of L24 or August 24th, Or...last built but simultaneously, 1979 must have begun as well as records show production began in August of 1978. So, the gas lid bezel was black, typical of 1979 production while the gas cap was also the 1979 556346 style. Roll underneath and look at the frame stencil and we see an orange paint stencil that contrasts to the typical yellow paint seen on all other 1978s. We see orange paint used for frame stencils after 1978 in both 79 and into 82.

These observations challenge the NCRS tech manual but the lesson here is the application of the judging philosophy that "the benefit of the doubt goes to the owner!" Do you go by the manual and ding the owner with an obviously original car or do you give the car the benefit of the doubt? Indeed, 1978 production overlapped 1979 production with probably both model years on the production line simultaneously and to keep the production running, 1979 parts are used to complete assembly on that 1978 car. An experienced judge will see the obvious signs of originality and work to understand these production deviations in the context of both the car and the period of its assembly.

The most visible sign of obvious extra attention given to the last 1978 Anniversary Corvette was paint...and lots of it. The paint was thick and on a silver car, paint thickness, or lack of becomes rather apparent. This particular Corvette has a deep gloss, along with minimal orange peel, but obviously original acrylic lacquer paint. But also has paint flaws on lower panels typically where no one looks. One unique feature I noticed that I've also seen on Pace Cars is the triangle where the factory worker masked the nose to paint the smoke gray lower half.. On Pace Cars this is the silver paint. The picture below shows this quite unique but distinctive sign of originality. The NCRS Corvette Restorer published an article titled "1978 Pace Car: The Final Process" this past winter that details the final process for paint and decals (link below to online version).

I could go on but you get the feeling from this post and those above how special this 1978 is. Sherman and its owner were more than gracious for all its visitors, sharing the stories and artifacts of its production. Great job!

http://hunt4cleanair.net/Articles/finalprocess.pdf




Note the black 79 style bezel and cap


Note the worker masked straight down rather than follow the bumper/fender curve.

Easy Mike

Congratulations.