The 1977 Corvette

The Overview

The 1977 Corvette is a 1976 with the Stingray name taken off and the detail work done. The fender script that had been there since 1969 gave way to crossed-flags emblems, the first time since 1968 the car carried no name but Corvette, and the only other outside change was a luggage rack (RPO V54) shaped to carry the T-tops. Glass roof panels were announced as RPO CC1 and then cancelled over a dispute with the supplier; they arrived a year late. Inside there was more: a new console that took the full range of Delco radios, including the first factory 8-track stereo, restyled instruments, a leather-wrapped steering wheel on a column shortened two inches, a longer shift lever that cleared the parking brake, a single ‘Smart Switch’ stalk for the dimmer and wipers, visors that swung to the side glass, a mirror glued to the windshield and the alarm switch moved into the door lock. Leather seats became standard, with cloth and leather a no-cost alternative.

Mechanically nothing changed: the L48 at 180 hp and the L82 at 210, the four-speed standard and the Turbo Hydra-Matic a no-cost option that 84 percent of buyers took. What did change was the paint on the engine. Between August 23 and September 7, 1976, Flint stopped spraying Chevy Orange and started spraying GM blue, so an early 1977 has an orange engine and a late one blue, and both are correct. The L82 went into 6,148 cars, the aluminum wheels, now $321, onto 12,646, twice the 1976 number, and the price rose by more than $1,000 to $8,647.65 as power steering and brakes, leather and the alarm were folded into the base car.

The 500,000th Corvette, a white coupe, left the St. Louis line at 2:01 p.m. on March 15, 1977, with Chevrolet general manager Robert Lund at the wheel; the first 250,000 had taken sixteen years and the second fewer than eight. Production reached 49,213, a record that stood two years, in a market that had lost almost every other American sports car. Today the 1977 sits with the 1975 and 1976 at the bottom of the C3 price range, and it is the better car to drive: the ergonomics the 1978 and later cars are praised for arrived here, a year before the fastback glass pushed prices up.

The 1977 Corvette Story

A significant milestone coinciding with the arrival of the 1977 Corvette happened in a year that was full of impressive milestones. On May 25, 1977, the film world would be changed forever as audiences were transported to a “galaxy far, far away” in George Lucas’s outer space epic, “Star Wars.”

Just four days later, race car driver A.J. Foyt would become the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times. Apple Computer would officially begin its rise to global fortune and fame while the Commodore company introduced the world to its first personal, all-in-one computer, the “Commodore PET”. Even rival automotive manufacturer Porsche was reaching new milestones with the introduction of its first front-engine, V-8 powered car, the 928, at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

For Chevrolet, however, the 1977 model year marked a significant manufacturing milestone – the production of their 500,000th Corvette. It had taken Chevrolet sixteen years to build the first 250,000 Corvettes, but less than eight to build 250,000 more. While the 250,000th Corvette had been a Riverside Gold convertible that had been built on November 7, 1969, the 500,000th Corvette was a white coupe, which was driven off the production line by (then) Chevrolet General Manager, Robert Lund on March 15, 1977.

Ironically, the Corvette had nearly been pulled from Chevrolet’s lineup in those early years of its production, despite the prosperous post-war economy of America in the mid-1950s. Adding to the irony was the fact that the Corvette had actually flourished throughout difficult economic times, even in periods when rival automotive manufacturers were pulling the performance-car models from their ranks.

While it was true that the Corvette’s performance had certainly dwindled – especially over the past couple of years, to a modest shadow of its big-block older brothers from the 1960s, there was no question that the car’s appeal had only grown with each passing year.

The 1977 C3 Corvette arrived with only a few, modest modifications from its previous year. Outwardly, the car was virtually identical to the 1976 model, save for the introduction of a reworked luggage and roof panel rack (RPO V54) that could be used to transport the car’s T-tops (instead of placing them in the Corvette’s lidless trunk.)

Did you know? The 500,000th Corvette, a white 1977 coupe, rolled off the St. Louis assembly line at 2:01 P.M. on March 15th, 1977.

With regard to the T-tops, glass roof panels were introduced as a new option at the start of the model year, though General Motors later canceled the option because of a reputed dispute with the supplier over sales rights. The most notable change from 1976 to 1977, however, was the removal of the Stingray nameplate from the Corvette’s front fenders. It was replaced by Corvette’s traditional crossed-flags insignia.

The changes to the interior were equally subtle, though there were a few more modifications worth noting. First, the interior center radio console was redesigned to accept a broader array of Delco audio decks (including an AM/FM stereo with an 8-track tape player, RPO UM2, for the first time). The instruments on the dashboard were restyled to provide drivers greater visibility. The climate controls were simplified.

Moving down the center column, the manual transmission lever was lengthened, placing the shifter ball higher up in relation to the disengaged handbrake. Previously, the shorter shifter shaft had caused interference when drivers attempted to actuate the parking brake lever. By lengthening the shifter lever, the parking brake accessibility was improved, making it easier to engage and disengage.

Elsewhere, the steering column itself was shortened by two inches to allow for more of an “arms out” driving posture, (which helps drivers reduce the risk of injury during a potentially dangerous situation.)

Additionally, the shorter steering column made it easier to get into and out of the new Corvette. Mated to the steering column was a new leather rimmed steering wheel. For those consumers that ordered the optional tilt-telescopic steering column (RPO N37), the 1976 style steering wheel remained the only choice. While tilt and telescopic adjustments remained optional, Chevrolet did introduce a new feature to the 1977 Corvette – namely the new “Smart Switch” – a steering column stalk that combined the headlight dimmer and wiper/washer functions with the turn signals.

The alarm switch was moved again and was incorporated into the left door-lock button assembly. Additionally, the sun visors were revamped to allow them to swing from the windshield to the side windows. Even the mounting location of the rearview mirror was shifted from above the windshield to the windshield itself. Lastly, for the 1977 model year leather upholstery came standard with the Corvette while cloth seats with leather bolsters were an optional no-cost alternative.

Mechanically, the 1977 Corvette went essentially unchanged from the 1976 model year. As in 1976, the 1977 Corvette came standard with a 180 horsepower, 350 cubic-inch, small-block Chevy engine mated to a 4-speed, wide-ratio manual transmission. Also like the 1976 model, the new Corvette could be ordered with an optional 210-horsepower engine (RPO L82), which California buyers could have only with the automatic transmission.

While the engines remained the same, there was an interesting turn of events within General Motors that occurred early in the 1977 model year’s production run. Between August 23 and September 7, 1976, Flint Engine (the plant where the small-block 350 was manufactured) began using blue paint in place of the traditional “Chevy Orange” paint that had normally been applied to Corvette engines. Thus, early 1977 model year Corvettes continued to feature the familiar orange, while later production engines were blue.

Production Volumes

The 1977 Corvette set another new sales record at 49,213 units. The popularity of the Chevy Corvette throughout the 1970s was proven time and again by the year over year increase in sales numbers despite the dramatic increases in cost.

In 1974, the base sticker price of the Corvette had crossed the $6,000 barrier for the first time (it was actually $6,001.50). With each year, the price increase had been notable – $6,810.10 in 1975, $7,604.85 in 1976, and $8,647.65 in 1977, due to the inclusion of so many standard comfort and convenience features. Despite this, there was no question that the popularity of the Corvette was still on the rise – which was remarkable given that the C3 Corvette was a decade old.