Wednesday, July 24, 2024

1971 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe


Here's a 1971 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe in War Bonnet Yellow with a black interior. It's got the base L48 350cid small-block, which saw its compression lowered to 8.5:1 for the '71 model year so it could run on lower-octane fuel. Rated at 270 SAE gross horsepower, this one's putting its power to the rear wheels via a 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic slushbox.


Car and Driver tested a 1971 L48 Stingray coupe with the 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic and the standard 3.08:1 rear end and recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 7.1 seconds and a 15.6 quarter at 90 miles per hour. With air conditioning, power brakes, AM/FM radio, and power windows, the nicely-optioned base 'Vette stickered at $6,539.

1971 was the last year that GM used SAE gross horsepower numbers in their advertising. For '72 the L48 would be advertised with a 200hp SAE net output, despite being identical in terms of carb, cam, and compression.

These photos were shot in September of 2023, using a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens.

2 comments:

  1. I always loved the look of this style of 'vette. I was born in '71, so I saw a lot of these growing up in the late '70's and '80's. These and Trans Ams were my favorites.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They've grown on me over the years. I really started noticing cars about the time the 4th Gen 'Vettes debuted, so C2 Corvettes were cool and old and C4 Corvettes were new and modern, and these were just "meh". But as time's gone by I've become a big fan.

      Delete

1978 Pontiac Bonneville

Parked out in front of The Jazz Kitchen one summer Sunday afternoon a few years back was this super-straight '77-'81 Pontiac Bonnevi...