Earlier in the week I covered this 1974 Chevrolet Corvette and tried to sing its praises – particularly as they compare to earlier C3s, such as this 1971 example. From a market and collectibility perspective, it seems that steel bumper C3s (’68-’72; ’73 is a hybrid) is where the action is. So, with that thought, let’s look this ’71 coupe over, in detail, and note the comparisons with the ’74. Located in San Antonio, Texas, this clean Corvette is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $18,100 with the reserve not yet met.

The ’71 Corvette is essentially the same as the ’70 edition which was a facelift over the ’68-’69 models. Production was up slightly, to 21K units but not so much so, considering that ’70 was an abbreviated year and still managed to wrangle 17K copies. The biggest difference was under the hood as horsepower started to trend downwards as a result of lowered compression ratios – thanks to new Federal emission control standards. Comparison one, between this car and the ’74, is the engine. Both are outfitted with 454 CI V8s and three-speed automatic transmissions. The power ratings are similar though the ’71 has a bit more power. The comparison is confusing as ’71 was the last year that the SAE Gross rating was used and things had moved to the SAE Net rating measurement by ’74. But… we’re in luck as the ’71s were rated in both gross (365) and net (285) HP, which as stated, is close to ’74’s net rating of 270. Our subject car, however, has undergone significant modification to its original powerplant so the comparison is not really apples to apples. The seller claims, “The engine roars through the headers and out the rear of this beauty. There are roughly 500 miles on the rebuild since 2018“.

Comparison number two is the body style, today’s subject being the more popular coupe as opposed to the ’74’s convertible layout. In ’71 the coupe-to-convertible ratio was about 2:1 as opposed to ’74’s 7:1 measurement – convertibles seemed to be out of favor and I’m sure that helped drive the decision to end their production. Comparison three will be the bumpers – slim and sleek chrome-plated steel components in ’71 as opposed to soft plastic or “Endura” pieces as worn in ’74. I definitely prefer the looks of the steel bumper version, but I can tell you from my experience in ’73, working in a Chevrolet dealership body shop, that the steel variety, the front one in particular, offers very little in terms of protection. Front-end “touch-ups” thanks to misjudgments were Corvette repair job number one.

The seller tells us that the paint on his ‘Vette is a six out of ten but also states that his car underwent a frame-off restoration in 2018. That just doesn’t add up in my mind – I would think it would still be better than only a “six” after just five years’ time. Regardless, from what I can see, it looks fine.

The saddle tan interior shows quite well – no word regarding upgrades or enhancements so it may be original. Whatever the case, it looks fine and appears to need no attention. A few observations, this was an A/C-equipped car but it appears that the compressor has been removed (the evaporator line is still visible under the hood – far right). The radio is an aftermarket piece and there is a single auxiliary gauge attached to the lower edge of the passenger’s side of the dash – I wonder if the driver can read it from his perch.

There you have it, similar but different too. Knowing what you know about both cars and if you were in the market for a C3 Corvette, which would be your preference?