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1978 Corvette 25th Anniversary: Cheap Collectible

1978 Corvette 25th Anniversary

I’ve always liked the 25th anniversary edition Corvettes, despite the fact that everyone and their mother socked them away in hopes they’d be the only guy on the block with a low-mileage example. I liken it to finding out that every other kid saved that limited-edition comic book and now there’s 50 of them on eBay, all in the original wrapper. Maybe that’s why I like this example Barn Finds reader Mark H spotted here on craigslist, since it clearly wasn’t draped in plastic and used sparingly on sunny days. It appears rough cosmetically, but even that’s a bit of an exaggeration – I’m sure some buffing action would bring the paint back nicely. The manual transmission is a bonus and for $6K, it’s likely one of the cheaper 25th cars out there. From what I can see, the seats still look nicely bolstered, so if you’re near Jacksonville and regret not saving that comic book as a kid, this could be worth a look.

Comments

  1. Avatar JW454

    Crummy pictures.

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  2. Avatar jim s

    seller needs to work harder to sell this, more photos and text. still might be a good driver. interesting find.

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  3. Avatar The Chucker

    A manual transmission in this malaise-era of Corvette is a bonus, and would be even better if this had the L82 engine. However, the seller’s less than casual effort at advertising begs the question, at least in my mind, of how well this car was kept.

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  4. Avatar Blindmarc

    Unless it has severe rust, imo this is a deal.

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  5. Avatar Craig

    All 1978 Corvettes were 25th Anniversary cars, Some were BZ2 Silver Anniv. Editions and some others (fewer) were Indy 500 Pace Car replicas. This one appears to be the Pace Car edition judging by the seats shown in the picture, if the emblem on the hood says L-82 (& is legit) then this car is a bargain, with a 4 spd.,,,,,,,,,,,,,, only if the frame & birdcage havent been visited by the iron moths. Pace cars have a specific serial # from the others.

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  6. Avatar Mark E

    My interest in a late ’70s Corvette…um, well, I’m going to be positive here so I’ll just leave it at how their performance was a bit, shall we say, lacking. I always thought of them as fiberglass Monte Carlos.

    My best memory? Hm. Okay: Steve (who owned the 1969 911S that I was to buy in the future) and I drove up to Salt Lake City for a few hours. Had a late dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and headed back to Provo on I-15 about 10.30-11pm.

    On the way back we were zipping along about 70 when we whizzed by a new-ish Corvette coming down an entrance ramp. Ka-blaaaaaaa, you could hear that the Corvette’s driver mashed the gas and the automatic dutifully downshifted and went to max thrust. Steve gave me this ‘watch this’ look and pulled over into the left lane. He let the Vette catch up and then paced him, matching his acceleration. Then he looked at the Vette’s driver, waved goodbye, downshifted the Porche and, I kid you not, got rubber at around 90-100 and the highway went like when Han Solo put the Millenium Falcon into hyperdrive. It was at that moment that I decided to buy the Porsche, btw… ^_^

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    • Avatar Bobsmyuncle

      Must’ve been been bald tires and wet roads.

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  7. Avatar joeinthousandoaks

    Is that a stinger attached to the hood? VIN should be verified to see if it really is a pace car or made up to be.

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  8. Avatar Chuck F 55chevy

    I wish I found a 78 Porsche 911 for $6k! But I do love Indy 500 Pace Car replicas, and this 38k mile edition may end up in my collection, the owner is interested in my Chrysler Crossfire as a trade, wish me luck. I think I even saw this a couple days ago, and didn’t think much about it. What’s really interesting is there is also a 1971 Vette with 350 and 4 speed on Jax CList for $5k, too bad no pictures.

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  9. Avatar John

    I’ve never seen one with a louvered hood before. Kind of a neat old car. I like it.

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  10. Avatar Clay Bryant

    After market hood but probably a Pace Car.I don’t think anyone would go to the trouble of doing the Silver paint on the bottom but never know.Beats the hell out of all black and doesn’t show dirt as bad if you’re traveling.Also can’t tell that well in the pictures but looks like they put the red divider line between the two colors if it was a repaint.Whataya’ going to get for 6k anyplace else.Cookie cutter car.

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  11. Avatar OhU8one2

    This is when a little research pay’s off. All 1978 Corvette’s received the 25th Anniversary badge on the nose. But just by looking at this car,it lean’s more toward’s Indy Pace Car. The limited edition Corvette was tu-tone silver. It is well known that the late 70’s were awful time’s for horsepower. I think an L-82 Vette was 205hp.How ever with some old school knowledge you could squeeze a few more ponies out for cheap money. A cruising buddy of mine had a 77 Camaro LT with a 305 ci motor. He installed a Corvette L-82 camshaft,Hooker Header’s,and advanced curve kit in the distributor,a free flowing air cleaner,rejetted the carb and let me tell you. For it’s time it could beat the pant’s off any factory bone stocker out there. Surprise!

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  12. Avatar Cookie

    The Corvette yes all 1978 honored the 25th anniversary year with special flag emblems and dash emblems. Not all 1978 were the 25th Anniversary Editions, they were tu tone silver and gray with oyster,red,blue,or black interiors. You could order yours how you wanted. This look like the Indy Pace car replica the Silver leather was ONLY available on the pace car. The car in this pictures have a lot of problems. The hood has been replaced,this steering wheel is black a Pace car has a matching silver leather, plus it looks (for a bad photo) the rear fascia looks like it could be an 80,81,or 82. Also ALL Pace cars had power antennas this looks like a manual or stationary type.In short a lot of discrepancies.For what I see 6000 is high in my opinion. How bad is it if you don’t know what you are selling?

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  13. Avatar Al

    Saw the pic and thought about a garage I know that has an Indy Pace Car like this with 1300 miles..on one side is a 1 owner 70 AAR Cuda, on the other is a 68 Corvette 427 tri power. Owner told me they are part of his retirement plan! LOL

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  14. Avatar Al

    Saw the pic and thought about a garage I know that has an Indy Pace Car like this with 1300 miles.on one side is a 1 owner 70 AAR Cuda, on the other is a 68 Corvette 427 tri power. Owner told me they are part of his retirement plan! LOL

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  15. Avatar dj

    Aftermarket hood. Without seeing the two paint codes, you won’t know if it’s real or not. You can buy the interior and emblems all day long. And that’s bondo cracks on the rear end, not scratches.

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  16. Avatar Mike D

    needs better description, at least a few more pics.. How many miles are on it? how long owned? I agree with the others it looks like a pace car what has been replaced? what does it need?

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  17. Avatar Frank Thompson

    My cousin has owned a Chevy Dealership,for 52 years,,they(GM) made 5,499 Pace Car-replicas,,,one for each dealer (at the time),,of those,,,500 were 4-speeds,,according to the letter he has from, Chevrolet

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