We’ve seen the wild Greenwood conversions of 1970s-era Corvettes many times over the years, but this estate sale find of a 1979 model introduced a new wrinkle in the company’s history (for me, at least). This particular car was built by a former partner to Greenwood, a company called ACI out of Ohio. ACI apparently built a short run of Corvettes converted to Greenwood specs before the partnership ended, and this is one of those cars. The seller will need to provide documentation to that effect, but for now, it’s listed here on craigslist for $12,900 or best offer in Raleigh.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader EJ for the find. The Greenwood Corvettes have an interesting history, especially as it relates to the multiple variations and builders of these swoopy kits. The most significant detail is that Greenwood was not just in the business of building and selling kits for C3 Corvettes, but also undertaking significant competition endeavors on the road course circuit via the celebrated Can- Am series. Greenwood would also introduce turbocharging kits that made the out of the box performance more in keeping with the C3’s aggressive looks. One detail that’s bothering me, however, are these taillights: they look like the design found on the Eckler’s CR-II kit.
This is not necessarily a knock on the seller; after all, Eckler’s and Greenwood were closely linked in the 1970s when Greenwood moved its operations to Florida. And even so, some owners may have specified kits in a specific format – for instance, an Eckler’s customer may have decided to retain the stock bumper instead of the triple taillight panel despite specifying the wider rear fenders. Whatever the exact history of this Corvette is, it seems like the seller knows more than he’s letting on here given the ACI anecdote. The seller also notes this example was a show car of sorts back in the day, complete with lots of crushed velvet.
The seller claims the Corvette runs and drives great, and it looks fairly clean in the engine compartment. It rides on American Racing Torque Thrust wheels on new tires, and while they seem slightly “blingy” – I’d much rather see some painted turbine-style wheels on here – the seller notes they are the correct offset for the car. The biggest issue it has is being in need of a paint job, but the seller promises there are no cracks in the bodykit and that the conversion was “…done correctly.” What do you think – is this a Greenwood or an Eckler’s conversion?
Wasn’t the Can Am series.It was the IMSA Camel GT series.
Cool Vette I seen these as a young man. Never enough HP. Pull engine and transmission. Put in a stroker 383 trick out 350 trans. And it would fly! Good luck to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸
You need wings to fly, non here. C3s were comfortable sport GTs. . Great for cross country travel, not for the drag strip or the street light wars. The stock HP was just fine for that. Why ruin a good thing?
Price dropped to $10,500
Someone needs to secure that fuel filter before the whole thing goes up in flames. It’s not pretty and it’s definitely not for me, but I wouldn’t want to see it become a rolling inferno.
Not a Greenwood Corvette. Only cars built by Greenwood, and carrying a Greenwood number, are Greenwood’s. ACI is a company that makes Corvette fiberglass body parts, including parts for Greenwood (and the 80’s Duntov Turbo conversions). Additionally, to my knowledge Greenwood only did conversions on new cars and if this car is a 79, the conversion has an 80-82
nose on it, indicating that the conversion was done in the 80’s.
Of course, it’s not priced like a real Greenwood, indicating the seller knows the difference and is just hoping to capitalize on the Greenwood name.