In the world of muscle and sports car owners, one group stands apart for calling out small details that supposedly make their car rarer or more special than another. Yes, I’m looking at you, Corvette guys, who can seemingly justify calling a car rare because it was manufactured on a Tuesday in July when Hank was running the paint booth and the moon was in waning crescent phase. Regardless, the Fairway Green Corvette is a genuinely rare car, with only 378 C5 models painted this color in 1997 and 1998. Find this 1998 coupe listed here on Facebook Marketplace for $15,900.
Green is a color that has become surprisingly limited. Personally, I remember when the Eddie Bauer Ford products became a big deal, and suddenly green was associated with everything high-end and luxurious. Then, green was everywhere. We were legitimately sick of seeing green on everything from sports cars to sedans. And in the late 90s and early 2000s, it disappeared. We, as a society, were done with green. Ironically, our phases of green infatuation are sort of like the phases of the moon, as many muscle cars in the 60s and 70s wore green paint before going out of style as 80s style took over.
When Fairway Green was offered, it was not exclusive to the Corvette. You might think it was a special order color for the top-trim models, or limited production offerings, but no – it was sitting there, ready for any Corvette shopper to order when the C5 was in showrooms. Other models of trucks and SUVs could be spec’d with it as well. Surprisingly, no one really did. I’m not sure if GM didn’t push it as a color, or if there was hesitation to do so knowing green ran out of public favor pretty abruptly. Regardless, it’s now highly sought after by Corvette enthusiasts, and unlike the way rarity is sometimes defined, this C5 is legitimately hard to come by.
The C5 is a terrific entry point to muscle or sports car ownership, as it excelled in both categories. Handling was excellent right out of the box, and straight-line speed was more than enough for most of us. The 5.7L LS1 V8 is a terrific engine, churning out 345 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque in stock form. This Fairway Green Corvette would be even more desirable if equipped with the elusive 6-speed, but even with the automatic, it would be an excellent cruiser with a stunning factory paint job. Mileage sits at just under 73,000, so it should be fairly cheap to live with for years to come.
Love the color!!!
Already sold too. Have never seen that color either but really like it.
I remember the 90s green rage and I did have a green car back then. It seems the current infatuation with grayscale will not die however.
Colors have always cycled through not only the car industry but clothes, furniture and just about everything else. Love these rare colors.
We recently picked up a similar C5 with extremely low mileage in Majestic Amethyst, also applied to less than 400 cars. This car is stunning in this shade of green. Great buy at the asking price.
IMHO, I can understand why only 378 in this color were built.
I Like the color, but not a fan of the C5 body style. I love the C4 and C6, C7 and C8. But the “big butt” C5 just doesn’t do it for me. The front end looks like another car, maybe a later Firebird. They drive great! So fun to drive because you don’t have to look at it while driving it. I know that I’m in the minority here. It bothered me ever since the C5 came out.
The thing about these low-run colors is that no two will be the same shade. I worked at the Corvette plant from 82/06 when I retired. The paint comes in 250 gallon Vats. as the paint ages in these Vats the paint will be a different shade over time. On colors like Black, Red, and White you won’t see a difference. I ordered one in the Green; there was an issue with the paint on one of the doors. Since I worked there & a Supervisor in paint knew it was mine, they were going to put a new door on it, rather than a re- spray. Guess what..that Green was a different shade. So we ended up re- spraying it & that was a job to match. 3rd time was a winner.
I’m not sure how the paint is applied in the assembly plants. But in about 2006 or so. I was at my desk looking over the new cars on the lot. (I had the best office in the dealership) And I don’t remember the color but on certain Yukons you could see a difference in the main body, the front end and the hatch. I went down and investigated and the Yukons built in Janesville Wisconsin were very nicely done. Where the ones assembled in Texas were the ones that were mis-matched. It wasn’t something that was glaring. But if you were paying attention. You could definitely see it.
This green does look nice. Seems like there are a lot less cars in other bright colors, white, black and greys all over, may have to do with the cost of paint. Long ago green was considered cursed, due to two accidents in early racing. https://www.jalopnik.com/how-the-color-green-became-a-deadly-bad-luck-superstiti-1763008917/
I do like black on Corvettes, on the green. Mine is one of 250! No wait, less that that, LOL.
I’m cursed with blue cars. (Used to be my favorite color) Every blue car I have owned has been totaled. I didn’t even have to be in the car! So my “new” favorite color (since about 1977) is now green. And that has color has served me quite well!