1977 was the last year of the vertical rear window between flying buttress sail panels for the Corvette. The next year would feature a new glass fastback. This was also the model year that the chrome script "Stingray" badges came off the fenders, replaced by crossed flags. In fact the combination of the tunneled rear window and the fender badges are how you can positively identify this Corvette Yellow C3 'Vette as a 1977 model.
The L82 badges on the hood bulge was one of 972 who sprang the extra $14 for the optional 210 horsepower version of the 350 small block, rather than the base 180hp version. The L82 featured different heads with bigger valves, a more radical cam, and four-bolt mains, among other changes. This gave it a thirty horsepower boost, although it made less torque than the base motor and the torque peak came a thousand RPM further up the tachometer.
When Road & Track tested a '77 Corvette with the L82 motor and the regular 4-speed manual (a close-ratio 4-speed was also available), they recorded a 6.8 second sprint to sixty, which was blisteringly quick for a stock production car in the dark days of the Malaise Era, no doubt assisted by the optional 3.70:1 rear end. The quarter mile took 15.5 seconds, doing 92.5 through the traps. Fully optioned, the test car stickered for $10,431 in 1977, which is the rough equivalent of $55,200 in today's money.
This one was snapped in June of 2025 using a Pentax K20D and an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens.
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