Haven't been on the forum awhile..my call sign is actually Gumpy but it wouldn't allow me to sign in...1974 corvette convert...the towanda plant number is T0528CWR... can someone decode it...454cuin...big block...th


anks

 

Hi Gumpy, I remember that name from not that long ago. (I just changed my handle from 67:72 to barkingrats.)

T0528CWR+
Your car should have a build date around June 10th-ish.

 

Barkingrats pretty much told you all there is to learn from the Tonawanda stamping. I assume you know there should also be a shortened version of your VIN number on the engine pad too?

The Dark Brown Metallic on your 74 sure brings back a lot of good memories for me. Shortly after I bought my first Corvette in February 76 (the 62 in my avatar), I joined a local Corvette club and one of the first guys I became friends with had a Dark Brown 74. His was a convertible too, with a saddle tan interior, but with the base L-48 and a 4 speed.

I've never seen any production numbers for 74 colors, but for a one year only color the Dark Brown must have been fairly popular because I've seen a lot of them over the years. Besides the one I mentioned above there was a second one in our club, a 454 coupe, and there was a guy in my area I knew with a brown 74 small block coupe. When I got engaged in 79, the first thing I did was start looking for a Corvette for my then future wife. One of the cars we looked at was a Dark Brown 74 automatic L-48 coupe. My (now) wife wasn't crazy about the Dark Brown, but the real deal killer for her was the car had a silver interior, which was just a weird color combination. We weren't restricting our search to any particular year, but we did end up with a 74, a white coupe with saddle interior, an L-82 and a 4 speed.

Welcome (back) to the Forum!