There were few visible differences between the 1970 and 1971 Chevy Corvettes except the latter were starting to feel the early changes to improve engine emissions. This ’71 has both hard and soft-tops as the convertible edition, with a numbers-matching engine and transmission. With its aftermarket side exhaust and wire wheels, this Corvette has a bit of a “gangsta” look to it as it awaits a cosmetic restoration. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, this Chevy is available here on eBay where the bidding stands at $16,000.

One benefit to the 1970-71 Corvettes being virtually the same was that the production crew at GM’s St. Louis, Missouri Corvette plant had more time to focus on product improvement. After all, the ‘Vette was Chevrolet’s “halo car” and it deserved both performance and quality engineering. The changes they did have to work with were the ones where the engines were being tuned to run on lower octane fuels going forward. The reduction in octane ratings translated into a reduction in compression ratios to 8.5:1. That meant the basic 350 cubic inch V8 was down from 300 to 270 hp.

The seller’s ‘Vette is one of 7,121 convertibles built in 1971, a decline from the past after the C3 Corvettes added T-tops to the mix. It has that standard 350 and the seller says the car, with a 4-speed manual transmission, runs great. The odometer reads about 80,000 miles, which is low by today’s standard but not so much the way cars were built 50 years ago when the drivetrain warranty was usually 12,000 miles.

Under what may be faded grey primer is the car’s original Mulsanne Blue Poly paint, according to code 976 on the cowl tag. The interior is mostly good, but it will need new carpeting and a rework of the upholstery, at least on the driver’s bucket seat. The seller has a video of the car in driving mode from a cold start which is available upon request. If I bought the ‘Vette, I’d probably go back to stock exhaust and wheels, and tires without white walls.