Last night I had a little time so I decided to see how many possible matches there are to my newly acquired 1972 Sunflower Yellow Convertible. With little data on specific option combinations I decided to do it the old fashion way by calculating percentage potential for each option on my car. What is fun about this is my car has only two options on it; e.g. the original hard top and the AM/FM radio. It does not have A/C; it does not have P/S; it does not have P/B; it does not have power windows. Simply stated, it is a very very low option original car with 30,600 miles on it. I usually stay away from the word rare so lets just give you what I have learned. Total production for 1972 was 27,004 cars; and 6,508 or those were convertibles so we start with 6,508 and start applying the % reductions. 1,543 of the total production were sunflower yellow or 5.714%. If we apply that to my 6,508 convertibles one can assume (and yes, its an assumption) that 5.714% of the convertibles were also sunflower yellow; or 372 cars. We keep going. For A/C there were 17,011 of the 27,004 total so that is 63% of cars had A/C and 37% did not. Mine did not, so that means of those 372 cars only 37% had no a/c; or 138 cars. Mine did not have power brakes but 18,770 of 27,004 did so 69.5% had power brakes and 30.5% didn't. That means 138 times 30.5% would be 42 cars. Now 23,794 had power steering or about 88% meaning only 12% had no power steering. Apply that to my current 42 cars and it reduces my possible combinations to 5 cars. But we are not done yet. Two more options to consider. 19,480 cars had Am/FM only which my cars has or approximately 72% did so multiply my 5 cars by 72% and you have 3.6 cars. One more option to consider is power windows. Only 9495 total cars had power windows in 1972, so 65% had manual windows which my car has, so that means 2.35 cars had my combination of options. 52% of the cars in 1972 had tilt/tele steering columns and 48% did not. That means 1.12 cars match all of my car options. Now 64% of the total production had M20 transmission reducing this to less than one which we know there is at least one, I own it.

This is all fine, and well, but what does it really mean. If production at the Corvette factory was consistent and followed a pattern of consistency then one could take this data and determine, with a reasonable confidence, how many cars with specific options were produced.

So it is highly unlikely that there is a second 1972 Sunflower Yellow Convertible with No A/C; No P/S; No P/W; No AM/FM Stereo; No Tilt/Tele; with a base engine and M-20 transmission that has its original factory hard top. The odds suggest that you might have the same car without the hard top, but I have the tank sticker showing mine had only two options and the hard top was one of them.

This is as close to a 1 of 1 car that you can statistically get given the percentages they have provided for us to work with.
And with 30,600 original documented miles I think this one should be in a museum.

Going to take her through NCRS and see how she does.
Wish me luck.
David S. Howard
AllC34Me

 

All that is very interesting indeed. However, maybe, jyst maybe Yellow was more popular on convertibles than coupes. Maybe, just maybe am/fm radios were more popular on convertibles. Maybe, just maybe convertible buyers didn't like power brakes.
Maybe there are 20 cars just like yours out there. And one just down the street.
And then again, who knows.

 

I like it ,,nice simple car with nothing to break and fix, Where did you find it

 

I love the no-frills basic car and you have the factory hard top and tank sticker too. Wow! Pretty good chance (1 of 6,508) that there won't be another one like it at the NCRS judging event(s) once you get there.

 

Gotta love math – my cars are also 1 of 1s!

 

David,
That is really cool 😎.
Does this mean you’re going to make this 1 of 1, 72, convertible a trailer queen and stop driving it?
If so, you will need to build another!

 

That's pretty cool!

 

Hi David,
I too have a 72 convertible. Mille Miglia red.30,000 miles. But have P/S, P/W and AM/FM radio with telescoping tilt . The good thing about it is , there weren’t that many convertible’s built for our year & time has taken a toll for us. Still have the original paperwork that my parents had. I was there when they purchased her. Going to get her ready for judging in a year. Hopefully going to Carlisle to pickup a couple of original parts. Mine would be close to a 1of 1 also.

Thanks as always.

Mark F.

 

Here she is in her glory. Original paint. A few chips but nothing out of the ordinary. Still has the tank sticker in one piece on her. Not even going to try.

 

The C3 registry does the math for you. Mine drilled down to 2 cars.
Edit: at least I think that's what's going on here...

 

Here’s mine

. I am a proud member of the David Howard club

 

Another possibility. 0 cars were made with those (lack of) options and color. And that one is a figment of your imagination. So now David has an imaginary friend who is a Corvette…

 

I didn't do the math, and it doesn't make the calculations any more valid, but... If all coupes had the "custom shoulder belts" this 70% should not be factored in.

 

I agree. I will be posting in the 1972 Corvette Group on Facebook shortly (lots of members there) to see if any of them have one similar. The C3 Corvette Registry shows none, but you never know.
Thanks and best regards,
David

 

The owner contacted me back in February knowing I had seen the car in the past. Very happy to have it.
Thank you.
David

 

I have the tank sticker; the original protecto-plate; original warranty card; original license plate screw bags; original plastic seat shims; original owners manual; and more too. Amazing that is was preserved, and saved with the car through its lifetime. Fun stuff.
David

 

All bullshit aside, does sound like a very nice car to have.

 

LOL, I hear you.
David

 

I'm building my driving car now with hopes to have it out and about in the Spring. 383 stroker convertible with Vintage A/C; Borgeson power steering; Willwood Power Brakes; Electric Headlights; Tremec TKX Five Speed transmission; 3.70 rear; and more for scooting around. Should be fun.
David

 

Yours comes with more than history Mark, yours comes with family ties, and that trumps anything I can say about this one. Very cool. Own it for a lifetime and I hope you can pass it on in the family one day. Good luck with the judging. Stop bye my booth at Carlisle if you will be there. Bob K and I will be in E-73 through E-78. Thanks for sharing, very cool.
David