Curated Content Editor

1968 C3 Motion Phase III GT was Hidden for 3 Decades
By John Pritchard

Hidden away for thirty years, this Corvette has some stories to tell.

SteveG75

Interesting mix of parts.

Rear glass and gas cap are the only parts that look Baldwin to me. Maybe side mirrors.

Doors are from a '69 up car. Louver trim was a 1969 part and the Motion cars had reversed louvers. Fender louvers were an Eckler's item. Dash is 1968 but center console is 1977-1982. Twin turbo hood which I don't think Baldwin ever used (their signature hood had what looked like a '67 scoop on top an LT-1 hood). Headlights look like the old Eckler's fixed lights, not the Baldwin units that were integrated into the front fender. Baldwin cars also had different taillights.

May be a '69 Baldwin car but if it is, it has been very molested.

Original documented Phase III GT, note the differences.

chazde3

Yeah, looks more like an Ecklers catalog parts car than a Motion Phase III.

69427

Looks like the 4WD offroad model.

dmaxx3500

doesn't look real

3JsVette

That does not look like a typical Motion car at all. That needs a Joel Rosen conformation for sure.

68ACADIAN

That car also has a newer tilt column in it. No tele/tilts in '68. Definitely not a Motion product- hands down. No pictures of engine bay...........

tobaccokid

Whoever wrote this article doesn’t have a clue about Corvettes, does not know the subject he purports to write about, and does not know about racing. As to the information provided, a misleading and as a resultsomewhat bogus article to begin with.

To state, as a generalization (a very dangerous approach in life when dealing with any subject) about racing, to state that “...1968 Corvettes were not a monster in racing..”, is 100% wrong. Specifically, when in comes to professional sports car racing on road racingtracks ,1968/69 Corvettes were tremendously successful. Considering their performance on sports car tracks like Sebring, Daytona, Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, Riverside, and many, many more, they were quite successful. As one individual example my 1968 Corvette came in 2nd at Daytona (actually came in first but that’s its own separate story, set a qualifying speed record of 222 mph at Daytona, qualified 8th and came in 16th at Sebring. Obviously I could write about many successes by 1968/69 Corvettes in sports car racing, and other racing venues, but I won’t.

cv67

Maybe the owner thinks its a Motion....looks like someoenes old hot rod to me

CiCiC3

I'd be curious to know about that suspension, it would have to be at least fairly stiff and what's supporting it?

leadfoot4

I'm thinking the lack of an engine, at a minimum.....

hope2

Hidden away for thirty doesn't mean squat for a 50 year old car.

mrvette

I agree, and a mystery to ME, is WHY?? why was it hidden...makes no sense to me....

Hell, I drove my custom '72 vert to the store yesterday....round trip was TWO MILES!!! and got talking cars by two different old farts in my age group.....age 75 here, so close enough, anyway....they always look askance at it and ask what YEAR is that??? I just laugh and tell them it's born in '72 but has vette parts from 65-94 on it.....plus a large/long collection of custom and non stock parts, most of witch is my own invention

68vet427

Hi all,
I am listing some facts about this corvette.
If anybody actually read the listing on e-bay they would have seen that this was never listed as one of the original ten cars.
Also, you will see that the car did not come from Baldwin Chevrolet.
I have not contacted Joel Rosen to see if any work was done at his shop.
First and original owner lived in or near Commack, long island .
I spoke with the second owner of this vehicle who lived on Long island and raced the car.
He bought the car from the first owner with the Motion GT headlights, slanted rear window mirrors ,gas cap flares, side mirrors and proper Motion hood scoop.
When he had this it had a 427 with an M-22 rockcrusher in it.
This second owner is the one that glassed over the headlights, put the greenwood hood, vents and rear wing on.
I believe he may also been the one that changed the doors, grills and put the telescoping steering column in along with all the "other" custom changes to body and interior.
I did ask him why he did those changes, he said he wanted something different... Duh...Hindsight is 20/20...
The car left long island and went to Vermont, where I got the car from.
That is where it sat under a pizza parlor since 1987, not in Macedon as stated above.
So, here is the e-bay ad.
---------------
68 Motion Phase III GT Corvette

Rare barn find ! Car has been stored since 1987.

I spoke to second owner who said this was an 11 second car ! He raced it on Long Island.

Original owner, who is unknown, converted car with Motion Body parts.

( I am told he lived about 18 miles from Motion.)

Motion Body Parts are as followed:

Slanted rear window,

Lemans Gas Cap,

Motion Phase III GT headlights

that were fiber-glassed over and are under the

Eckler's bucket headlights (Cool find!) see pics below.

and flared fenders.

Eckler's Greenwood hood, top fender vents,and Eckler's rear spoiler.

No engine or transmission.

Frame looks real good ! Interior needs new rugs and door panels.

Seats- pretty good shape. ( Driver has a small rip )

Non original Tilt and telescoping steering column-71 maybe?

Correct ignition on dash.

Trim tag shows original color to be International Blue code 978 ( 1968 ),

with Dark Blue Vinyl Code 411 ( 1968 )

NCRS shipping data report lists Dealer code 137,zone 27,Hull Chevy on Long Island-- not too far from Motion,

so it's possible it could have been modified at Motion Performance. Have not pursued documentation.

Will include a set of stock Corvette wheels ( Not the Ansen Wheels shown in photo).

Car sold as is

here are some pics






----------------------------
If anyone has any questions about this car, please let me know.
I hope I cleared up some questions for some of you.
Sincerely,
Joe

leadfoot4

Do you currently own the car, and if so what are your plans for it?

cv67

That car (paint scheme and the Turbo on the rear) look familiar. Has it shown up in a mag many yrs ago by chance perhaps when it was in its prime?

68vet427

Yes, I do own it. Are you looking for a project?

68vet427

It was recently in an article in Vette Magazine about another vette i have. May have seen it there.
I also had it on cragslist looking for the original owner.

cv67

CL maybe thats it. No $ right now just jogged my memory. I like those old 70s themed hot rods, or street freaks as the mags called them. Graphics, big scoops, flares, bass boat paint etc.Good stuff

I think that look could be popular, sure is different than the "ls and torque thrust" that everyone and their brother is doing. (not a bad thing)

leadfoot4

No, thanks....I've had too many of those, over the years, and furthermore, at this point in time, I no longer have the space for a project of that magnitude.