C3 Rear Spoiler
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,445
Likes: 353
From: Athens GA
St. Jude Donor '12-'13, '15- '16-'17-'18-'19, '21
Are you referring to the Chaparral is the 2J sucker car? The lexan skirts were connected to the suspension to keep them on the ground. It produced 1.5g of down force sitting still. By the help of two JLO fans driven by a single 45 hp two stroke twin snowmobile engine. McLaren argued that the fans where movable aerodynamic devices. Which had been outlawed a few years before due to failures. So the car was outlawed after one year. It was fast, but was plagued with mechanical problems. Always enjoyed reading about those cars.
Txs for the pic
Bman
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 6,936
Likes: 848
From: melbourne florida
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
it almost certainly had some effect, i think they thought the pace car spoiler was effective and helped the looks after the rear window was changed . doing it that way was more cost effective as it only used 1 redesigned part. a lot of people didn't like the big window and they needed to update the car.
i talked to a friend that was a engineer for chevrolet some years ago and he told me chevrolet originally wanted the big window on the 68 along with a one piece hatch on the coupe,they needed a support bar so went with a two piece hatch and the big window was too expensive to mold at the time. he wasn't sure it was completely true, and he is now gone. never the less it would be fun to know
i talked to a friend that was a engineer for chevrolet some years ago and he told me chevrolet originally wanted the big window on the 68 along with a one piece hatch on the coupe,they needed a support bar so went with a two piece hatch and the big window was too expensive to mold at the time. he wasn't sure it was completely true, and he is now gone. never the less it would be fun to know
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,717
Likes: 551
From: Seattle Washington
it almost certainly had some effect, i think they thought the pace car spoiler was effective and helped the looks after the rear window was changed . doing it that way was more cost effective as it only used 1 redesigned part. a lot of people didn't like the big window and they needed to update the car.
i talked to a friend that was a engineer for chevrolet some years ago and he told me chevrolet originally wanted the big window on the 68 along with a one piece hatch on the coupe,they needed a support bar so went with a two piece hatch and the big window was too expensive to mold at the time. he wasn't sure it was completely true, and he is now gone. never the less it would be fun to know
i talked to a friend that was a engineer for chevrolet some years ago and he told me chevrolet originally wanted the big window on the 68 along with a one piece hatch on the coupe,they needed a support bar so went with a two piece hatch and the big window was too expensive to mold at the time. he wasn't sure it was completely true, and he is now gone. never the less it would be fun to know
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,990
Likes: 183
From: Port St. Lucie Fl
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
The 80 rear on a mid C3 just makes it look too long in the rear and looks like an afterthought.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,353
Likes: 72
From: Graceland in a Not Correctly Restored Stingray
As for the late C3 rear bumper’s mini-spoiler, while the 80-82 body almost certainly had the least drag of all C3's (what with the big economy push in latter model years), the 78-79 PC kit likely generates a bit more overall downforce. IMCO, one thing you can bet the house on is that the General made for dang sure both the PC and 80-82 aero packages were balanced. ...something to which anyone who tends to drive fast very often should pay attention. OK, I’ve got to admit that's probably $.06 worth by now...
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 845
Likes: 54
From: Bangor, Northern Ireland
That's made my day!
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 215
Likes: 6
From: Mebane, NC
Spoiler on a '73
This is what the PO had done. I didn't like it, removed. It's still for sale if anyone needs one for their ricer.
Last edited by Capt Ken; Jul 16, 2013 at 09:08 AM. Reason: post picture
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,070
Likes: 5
From: N.Richland Hills Texas
I'm not sure this adds anything to the thread.. but it's lots of neat numbers ... http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...8new/aero3.jpg
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,716
Likes: 278
From: New York
In Mark Donahue’s book, The Unfair Advantage, he mentions rear wings totally transformed a car. How we would go about experimenting to find what works is beyond me. But then again, Mark Donahue was an engineer.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,024
Likes: 1,120
From: North tonawanda NY
I can decide if I'd like one or not on my 74 but in the end I decided to leave it alone.... It already came with the greenwood turbo hood which should send enough of the OCD restoration guys into a tizzy at the shows because its "not stock" and doesn't look like the other 22 c3's in the row at the show...
Last edited by augiedoggy; Jul 15, 2013 at 05:00 PM.