Just 22,000 miles! All original! Runs great! If you like late C3 Corvettes (no judgment), this ’78 checks a lot of good boxes—and it’s even a Pace Car edition, too…or is it? That part may not quite add up, but even if it doesn’t, maybe the $10,500 asking price will. Let’s check it out here on craigslist out of Kingsport, Tennessee, with appreciation to Rocco B. for the find.
I’m not a hard-core Corvette person by any means, but I count myself among those who has a soft spot for the late C3 (there may be a correlation there), probably in large part because I’m a sucker for the spoilers and other styling fripperies automakers add to try and keep old designs looking “fresh” toward the end of long life cycles. Cash-strapped small players like Saab, AMC, and British Leyland used to be particularly adept at this approach, but at times even mighty GM has used it when development dollars for new Corvettes or other niche models were scarce. For ’78, the decade-old C3 was updated with a much more attractive one-piece wraparound rear window and, on the Pace Car edition, front and rear spoilers—which are conspicuously absent on this purported Pace Car.
Other missing Pace Car features include the side decals—which weren’t delivered installed, but a collector would want included in the sale—slotted alloy wheels, and, notably, the silver leather interior with a new sport bucket seat design. The T-tops are never shown in place, except in the rear view above where they’re barely visible, so we can’t tell if they’re the Pace Car-specific glass units or the standard fiberglass ones. Also, sellers, you don’t have to claim your car’s “never been smoked in,” but at least empty the ciggy butts from the ashtrays before taking pictures.
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So it seems likely that what we have here is a standard-issue ’78 Corvette coupe with the Pace Car edition’s good-looking two tone paint job. Not the worst thing in the world if you’re not a stickler for originality, but kind of a weak effort at trying to pass it off as the real thing. There were 6,502 Pace Cars built in 1978 (one for every U.S. Chevrolet dealer, a shocking number compared to 2018’s still-high 2,987) compared to 24,991 standard coupes, plus an additional 15,283 25th Anniversary editions, so rarity takes a big hit if this isn’t a Pace Car. Still, if the mileage is legitimately only around 22,000 and the overall condition is good—which it certainly appears to be—the $10,500 asking price is right in line with Hagerty and NADA values for a base Corvette in good condition. Taken on those merits, I’d say, Pace Car or no, this Corvette is still a solid deal; what do you think?
Clone. No way that’s a PC. Would check the VIN to verify.
If its a clone thats a damn fine hard to do paint job id be inclined to think it is real w spoiler delete pkg.
spoiler delete,
silver interior delete,
slotted aluminum wheel delete
as well?
There are several 1978 pace cars with similar mileage, often less, that have sold recently on eBay for around the same price, though usually a few thousand dollars more. However, they all had front and rear spoilers plus the correct wheels. If someone really wants a pace car, there is no reason to consider this car for the asking price.
Steve R
I’m not a Corvette enthusiast but this is one good looking car.
Good point Steve R, but have you ever bought a car for the asking price? Once this car sits unsold for a few weeks the seller will be happy to reduce the price.
I don’t believe that is a factory paint job compare it to 78 pace car pics on the internet… the spacing of the silver vs the black over the wheel openings doesn’t look right to me
It seems of late it’s either a Buick GN coming out of the woodwork or one of these ’78 Pace Car Corvettes.
Wrong wheels to start with.
No way that is a Pace car. Simple as that.
Nasty cigarettes in ashtray, deal killer.
No spoilers, no manual trans, no deal!
Outside of the fact the red pinstripe is at the edge of the black and not “in” the silver, the Pace Car badging is non-existent, the wheels are from an entirely different year, the spoilers are missing, and the seats are incorrect…hell, yeah, she’s a Pace Car.
There could be all kinds of reasons for the wrong wheels. Maybe the owner prefers the rally wheels. He could have sold the aluminium wheels to make some money. My favorite was when I was working at a Lincoln Mercury dealership in 1985. A very good customer didn’t like the black wall tires on his brand new Lincoln LSC. The owner of the dealership swapped the complete wheels and tires with a Lincoln Continental. That must have kept the tire shops in town confused for years.
That is not a Pace Car.
To start with, it’s not painted quite right. ALL Pace Cars also came with a silver stripe that wrapped around the hood’s power dome. ALL Pace Cars came with a unique silver interior, with Pace Car only “clam shell” seats. ALL Pace Cars came with the front and rear spoilers, they were part of the Pace Car package, and could not be deleted. ALL Pace Cars came with a “Limited Edition” sticker under the front fender flags, and the Indianapolis Speedway “Winged Tire” logo sticker on the rear quarters (only the “Official Pace Car” door labels were delivered uninstalled). ALL Pace Cars came with a chrome Pace Car plaque installed on the console shift plate, just below the power window switches. Glass T-tops were part of the Pace Car package. Finally, all Pace Cars came with Pace Car specific polished aluminum wheels, with a red stripe around the rim.
The Pace Car was a complete package. There was no choice of interior color, they all had silver interiors. The only choice was leather or cloth. A buyer had no ability to order a Pace Car with a different interior color, or to order one without spoilers. In fact, neither customers nor dealers, could even order a Pace Car. Every dealer automatically got one Pace Car, but had no idea what engine, trans or radio the car would have, until it hit their floor.
A real Pace Car is easy to identify, as Pace Cars had a unique VIN. The 8th digit in the VIN of the Pace Car is a “9”, while regular 78’s have a “4” as the 8th digit. Pace Cars can also be identified by the trim tag. The paint code on all Pace Cars is 19U 47M, and the trim code is either 15C (with cloth) or 152 (with leather). These codes were only found on Pace Cars, and not on any other 78.
And that’s it in a nutshell!
So, all of that to say, a misrepresented but decent car for a decent price that you can drive every day, with no fear of wearing out a rare “original”.
Why would you trust a seller after they have already misrepresented the car. Late-80’s Corvette’s don’t sell for much money. This car isn’t anything special, it has the base engine and an automatic. I’d wait until something else comes along from a seller that is honest.
Steve R
Not a real pace car. And why in the world would the seller leave those nasty cigarettes in the ash tray? The vast majority of us are not smokers, and a smoked in car is an automatic no.. In other words, a terrible presentation for this car.
$3K deduct for the stinky interior.
I don’t think that there are butts in the ashtray. What I see is a shiny unused ashtray. If that’s a real pace car then I’m a 21 yr. Old Olympic runner. Need the vin. # to verify but if it checks out maybe it’s a rebuilt theft or something ? Nice C3 tho
Even if it was real, 22K might legitimately be considered high mileage for one of these, given it’s the most over-collected car ever made!
P.S. I still rather like these when in L82/4-speed form…
FYI- The front spoliers were installed by the dealers. They were shipped in the car. The spoiler would not clear the ramps on the transporter trucks. It’s all documented in a recent issue of the NCRS Restorer magazine. Oh, and It’s still not a Pace Car
When did Goodyear stop making GTII tires – 30 years ago?