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American Shooting Brake: Wide-Body Corvette Wagon

c1

We’ve featured both wide-body “Greenwood” and station wagon Corvettes before, but I don’t remember seeing both conversions on the same car, with T-tops to boot! This highly modified 1975 C3 Corvette is located in Gig Harbor, Washington and is listed for sale here on eBay with a buy-it-now of $14,900 but lower bids are invited. 

c3

How many period custom touches can we see here from custom C3’s of the past? Sidepipes, wire wheels, white letter tires, Testarossa side strakes, extra tailights (and bubble ones!), rear spoiler, wagon conversion, wide body, t-tops, stalk mirrors, covered headlights and extra large hood bulge–do you see others?

c2

The conversion does appear to have been well-done at the time, even down to an electric opener for the rear hatch. It’s also quite obvious that it’s at the home of an enthusiast, which gives me some confidence to the claims that it really does run and drive well. The paint is a little faded in spots, and the owner calls it a “10-footer.”

collage

Here’s the diamond-pleated interior, also very period, with a surprise; someone tried to include rear seats! I was surprised to find this; are they in other Corvette wagon conversions and I just haven’t noticed? I can’t say the upholstery is exactly what I’d want, but it does fit the car’s image very well. Power windows and a tilt and telescoping steering column round out the package, but the seller points out that the air conditioning compressor is missing, so some work is needed there.

c6

Obviously, with a car as highly modified as this one, originality doesn’t matter at all. I like the finned period valve covers and the air cleaner, but I’m wondering why the intake manifold looks so shiny compared to the rest of the compartment. The seller doesn’t mention any recent work to the 350 cubic-inch V-8, but I’d want to inquire further. The alternator loos to be a fairly recent replacement part as well, complete with crimped connectors. A general tidying would work wonders here. Is this your dream Corvette? I know I really liked the wide-body conversions in my youth, and I think the wagon conversions are fun. Would you like this all-American “shooting brake”? Other than the hood, I think I could find room for this one–what do you think?

Comments

  1. Avatar Rancho Bella

    Hooo Myyy Gawd…………as if Corvettes weren’t bad enough someone goes out of their way to make them worse? I was going to write there are no words…………but there are.

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  2. Avatar Mr.Bond

    Might be a few good parts you could use.

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  3. Avatar RonEBee

    Kool! Lose the rear spoiler, modify the hood and testarossa side panels, put a modern drivetrain and throw some Minilites on this thing and it would be righteous

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  4. Avatar Blindmarc

    Would like it more if it wasn’t red.

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  5. Avatar Jason Houston

    Whoever said you can’t improve on ugly sure was proven wrong!

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  6. Avatar MH

    Why is that other corvette on the right trying to be covered up? What’s he hiding?

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    • Avatar Tom Member

      its the next corvette on a gurney Doctor! It is your next experiment! (Lightening flashes) Igor, open the roof! It is time to operate! Mu-ha, Mu-ha Mu-hahahahaha!

      Like 0
  7. Avatar Bill

    This is the Corvette version of the Wagon Queen Family Truckster station wagon from “Vacation”. Hideous.

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  8. Avatar sir mike

    new meaning of the word UGLY…rather have the 2dr Chevette

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  9. Avatar Bobsmyuncle

    This folks is why there are PROFESSIONAL car designers.

    Talk about busy, this is like looking at an epileptic dancing under a strobe light.

    I think RonEBee has it right smooth out the hood, lose the individual side stakes making it a single scoop, lose the wire wheels and maybe a silver respray would make a huge positive impact.

    Oh boy I’m beat, this thing is exhausting to look at.

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  10. Avatar jeff6599

    Why call it a wagon? If ever there was a sport utility vehicle, this is it! Can carry a quarter sheet of plywood and a small box of nails. Shore nuff, it’s an SUV!

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  11. Avatar Jonny the Boy

    Ever see that Simpsons episode when Homer designs a car?

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  12. Avatar Sukey

    Keep the wheels
    Toss the car
    I’d be ashamed to drive this unless I was in a white suit on my way to studio 54

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  13. Avatar Luke Fitzgerald

    Imagine the time & cost in 2015 $ – wow

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  14. HoA Howard A Member

    The car is just someone’s expression in taste, and while it does nothing for me, it must have taken a lot of work, and I can respect that. Being kind of a “newbie” here, has the term “shooting-brake” been discussed? I had never heard that term until recently, and quite frankly, doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. ( although, neither does a lot of British terms, for that matter)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting-brake

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    • Avatar Chuck

      They like foreign stuff on this site, so I just delete those entry’s & stick with the 50/60,s American stuff. Shooting Break has been discussed & explained, but I’ll be dammed if I can remember it. Guess I was not that interested.

      Like 0
    • Avatar 64 bonneville

      Howard A, shooting brake is British for station wagon. makes the car sound nicer in advertising copy, I guess.

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      • Avatar Jamie Staff

        Specifically a 2-door station wagon.

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      • Avatar Bobsmyuncle

        I’m doubtful that “shooting brake” was coined in advertising. I could be wrong of course but I think it is more a term adopted by journalists. Touring is usually used to describe wagon models in Europe, though that might be more common on the continent.

        Nevertheless there is no confirmed origin of the term nor any specific descriptor defining the number of doors. I believe there was an exhaustive discussion a number of years ago on Jalopnik.

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      • Avatar Jesse Staff

        What’s not to like about a shooting brake? There’s room for your dog and your shot guns in the back. In fact, Aston Martin used to build a few so I bet more than a couple DBs saw some pheasant hunting action!

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  15. Avatar Donnie

    street freak

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  16. Avatar MikeG

    I think it’s pretty cool in a 70’s kitsch sort of way. Sweet faux Testarossa wagon.

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  17. Avatar BrianR

    I don’t like to knock other people’s cars…. but, Wow! Just wow. Quite a tribute to ’70’s excess and bad taste. You must be wearing polyester, unbutton the top 5 buttons of your shirt and be wearing gold chains and big rings to drive this.

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  18. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    I have a really cool polyester shirt with a groovy “lovers on the beach at sunset” motif that would be perfect for this car. I used to wear the shirt to Halloween parties dressed as a 70s lounge lizard. Anyhow, the shirt is too small now (always was, even 30 years ago!), so if the buyer will contact me, I’ll send them the shirt.

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  19. Avatar AMCFAN

    I have to give credit where it is due. Back when this car was built it had to be one sharp and over the top Corvette and I think it still is. Believe it or not Corvettes even in the 1970’s were a status symbol. Good or bad the Corvette sold very well. The builder addressed all the shortcomings with the stock design. Added room with a back seat even gave it a look of the prancing horse down the side. This has to be one of one. Too bad others don’t get it.

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  20. Avatar Dolphin Member

    There’s no other way to see this as anything other than a bunch of poor styling additions to what was a decent looking—for the 1970s— Corvette body. On top of that, it’s advertised in the Ebay listing as a Greenwood car, but it isn’t. I think it’s actually a bunch of ripoffs of other people’s names and designs. For one, the side strakes and widened fenders look like they were borrowed from the 1984 Ferrari Testarossa. If that’s right, then this isn’t the “LATE 70’S” conversion that it’s claimed to be in the Ebay listing. I’m guessing that this car was done after the 1970s.

    This is called a “1976 GREENWOOD CAN AM CORVETTE WAGON – CUSTOM” in the Ebay ad subtitle, but I don’t think it’s a John Greenwood design or build.

    The same car is advertised here [http://topclassicsforsale.com/chevrolet/61413-rare-greenwood-style-sport-wagon-can-am-1976-corvette-stingray-custom.html] as a “RARE Greenwood Style Sport Wagon Can Am 1976 Corvette Stingray Custom”.

    The description there is OK because it’s said to be a “Greenwood Style” design, not a Greenwood design. Calling it a Greenwood car in the Ebay ad looks to me like the seller is trying to trade off the name and reputation of John Greenwood, who built some very impressive Corvettes. There is no documentation mentioned or offered for the car being connected to John Greenwood on either the Ebay listing or the Classic Cars For Sale website.

    Maybe the seller is doing this because the car has not sold on the Classic Cars For Sale website at an $18K asking price. The $14.9K asking in the Ebay listing doesn’t seem to be working either.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Doug Towsley

    Good Lord that thing is Cheesy. Would be fun to take to some car shows, Wear Bell Bottoms, Polyester shirt. Puka shell necklace. Some of those half tinted sunglasses. I saw a white kid the other day with a huge Afro. Looked like the drummer from the rock band Boston. So maybe this style is coming back. Just need some 8 track tapes. I am willing to bet you would find some old Snow Seals under the seats or in nooks and crannies. (how many know what those were?). Im cleaning out my old magazine and literature. I have some 1970s and 1980s car magazines and this car fits right in. I have a couple “Show car world” annuals with cheesy early 1980s women models and many of the cars in those look a lot like this. Someone spent a lot of money back in the day to make this look that way. Like it or not. It is super fun to look at. and thus, while we can laugh, its a great posting for this site. Takes me back to my own bell bottom days. Crank up the Van Halen and Ted Nugent.

    Like 0
    • Avatar leiniedude Member

      Doug, I will look into the dark crevices of my 72 Stingray. Pretty sure I will find a couple of Snow Seals. Take care, Ted the Sledge.

      Like 0
  22. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    OK, what’s a Snow Seal?

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    • Avatar Doug Towsley

      You can Google Images, Police are trained to look for drug paraphenalia, and i havent heard or seen any in decades but it used to be common in the 70s and 80s Coke was sold in little folded up paper with a treated inside, and a picture of a seal balancing a beach ball on its nose on the outside. “Snow seal”. Used to find them in cars all the time even in wrecking yards. Sometimes taking apart a car from this era you still found drugs in them. If the drivers were really high or had been pulled over by Police people tended to panic and hide things everywhere. Early 80s I worked at a wrecker for a while and also drove tow truck. My boss was philosophical and said “God will provide”. Sooner or later whatever you are looking for will show up in a car. We found money, guns, drugs, porn (really), and things you would never imagine. You learned to be very careful not to stick your hands where you cant see. Needles sometimes. I was broke and several times I found money when i most needed it. On my birthday I found a unopened flask of Southern Comfort. The lord truly did provide. 12 mile auto wrecking. They had one room at the shop office filled with porn magazines. Jeff, the counterman bundled them in stacks of 5 and resold them at the front desk. We made a lot of money that way. Seems weird now, but in the recession of 1982 you did what you could to make ends meet. My buddy was selling a 9mm he found in a car at his other job. A local outlaw MC club member also worked there and wanted the gun. But he only wanted to pay $50 for it. Dennis told him no, I want $150. The guy told him. “Its only worth $50 because i will only use it once” Dennis lied and told him he had already sold it to get out of the deal. Scary stuff.

      Like 0
      • Avatar leiniedude Member

        Doug, thanks for picking up the ball, saved me a confession. My first gig out of school was at a boneyard. The stuff hidden away was sweet! Loved that job. Moved on but I still like the junkyards. Hard to beat Black Oak Arkansas and Southern Comfort. Great to see that another Brother has survived the seventies. I knew many that did not. Can you tell us who you saw in the concert mentioned in you other post? I am sure it was not Molly Cyrus! Happy New Year to you and Blindmarc and the rest of the BF gang. Take care, Ozzie.

        Like 0
  23. Avatar Blindmarc

    Doug Towsley Has the right idea……and the drummers name was Sib Hassen,

    Like 1
    • Avatar Doug Towsley

      Yep, and it was a MAGNIFICENT afro. Neil Schon from Journey used to have quite a fro as well. Also Magic Dick from J. Geils band.
      Look up some period pictures from Black Oak Arkansas. Jeff Lynne from E.L.O got pretty huge hair there for a while. I was at a concert a couple months back and there was several girls and a guy with them. early 20s, and man,,,, they were not even born yet but they had found some FUNKY late 1970s or early 1980s clothes. Total time warp. People really noticed. Lot of people took pictures.
      I bet these girls would KILL for a Corvette like this. So dont knock it. My nephew is in his late 20s, I showed him some of my old record collection including some I stole from his mom when she moved away. We still laugh at his incredulous look on his face and his comment “Mom used to listen to Black Sabbath?” Boggled his mind. Retro will always have a market.

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  24. Avatar Blindmarc

    Lived the life also Doug, from 77′- 93′. Started at 16 to age 32. Was a very good life….

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  25. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    Doug that is hilarious that they bundled the porn mags and re-sold them at the junk yard. And yes, I do now recall the folded paper containers for Captain Juan’s Marching Powder, but we orugami-ed them out of pages from Good Housekeeping magazine! Ah the 70s.

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  26. Avatar Blindmarc

    2 keys with the Madeline cartel stamp on them, and 10k cash got my 1971 cuda 440 six pack convert completely restored. Trying to find the pics, but they’re up in the attic right now.

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  27. Avatar Birdman

    I thought for a moment it was the Corvette Summer car…

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  28. Avatar Billy Speed

    Get out the buffer and send this beauty to barrett-jackson. Should bring over six-figures on Friday night after a few adult beverages.

    Like 0

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