CORVETTE COLORS
Red Corvette: Every Year, Code and How Many Were Built
Red on the Chevrolet Corvette, 1976, 1978–1982: what the color is, the GM paint code in every year, how many were built and what share of the year that was, the interiors it came with, a picture gallery for each year, the chart of its run and the colors that came before and after it.
Quick Nav: The Story · By Generation · Chart · C3 · Related · Paint Codes · More Red · Wallpapers · FAQs
The Basics
The Color: Solid red, the plain-named red of 1976–1982
GM Codes: 72, 83, 75, 70
Years Offered: 1976, 1978–1982 (6 model years)
Generations: C3 (1968–82)
Built: 25,550 with GM counts
Best Year: 1979, 6,707 cars (12.5% of the year)
Color Family: Red (every red Corvette color)
Also Called: Code 72 (1976, 1978–79 as Corvette Red), 83 (1980), 75 (1981), 70 (1982)
Paint Codes: 1976: WA4460; 1977–1979: WA4998; 1980: WA7195; 1981: WA7211
Pictures: 6 picture posts on the site, one per model year
By Generation: C3
The Overview
Red was offered on the Corvette in 1976, 1978–1982: 6 model years across the C3 generation. GM’s color counts put 25,550 Red Corvettes on the road, 6,707 of them in 1979 alone.
Solid red, the plain-named red of 1976–1982. Its share of a year’s production ran from 4 to 14 percent. It was a no-cost color. The interiors most often paired with it were Black, Charcoal. The chart below shows the run year by year; the generation sections carry every year’s code, count, share, interiors and picture.
This page has every year Red was offered with its GM code, how many were built, its share of the year and the interiors it came with, the site’s picture gallery for each year, a chart of the run, the related colors, and the FAQs. It is one of 77 color pages on CorvSport; the Red Corvettes page lists every red the factory ever sprayed, and Corvette Colors by Year has the full chart for each model year.
The Story of Red
Plain Red is the C3’s red from 1976 to 1982, with 1977 as Medium Red. Code 72 covered 1976 (sold as Red), 1977 (Medium Red) and 1978–79 (Corvette Red), so those four years are one paint with three names; 1980, 1981 and 1982 each had a new code. The best year was 1979 with 6,707 cars.
Bright Red took over for the 1984 C4. The site’s picture posts for 1976 and 1979–82 are titled Red and the 1977–78 ones Medium Red; both pages are here and link each other.
The Red Cars to Know
1979 Corvette Red (6,707); 1980 Red (5,714); 1982 Red Collector-year cars.
MORE: THE MOST POPULAR COLORS BY GENERATION / 70 YEARS OF LEAST & MOST POPULAR COLORS / ALL RED CORVETTES
Red by Generation
Red across the 1 generation it was offered on: the years, the GM paint code each generation used, how many were built with GM’s counts, the biggest year and the interiors most often paired with it. Each generation has its own section below with every year.
MORE: THE C3 HUB
| GENERATION | YEARS | CODE(S) | BUILT | BEST YEAR | INTERIORS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C3 Corvette | 1976, 1978–1982 | 72, 83, 75, 70 | 25,550 | 1979 (6,707) | Black, Charcoal |
Red by Year: How Many Were Built
GM’s production counts for Red in every year it was offered. The peak was 1979 at 6,707 cars; the full table for each year, with codes, shares and interiors, is in the generation sections below.
Red on the C3 Corvette (1968–82)
Red on the C3 (1968–82): offered 1976, 1978–1982 as code 72, 83, 75, 70. 25,550 cars by GM’s count, the best year 1979 with 6,707. Every year links to its research page (the full color chart, options and prices for that year) and to the site’s picture post for the color.
MORE: THE C3 HUB / THE 1979 RESEARCH PAGE / ALL C3 COLOR POSTS / ALL C3 COLORS
| YEAR | CODE | BUILT | SHARE | INTERIORS | PICTURES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 72 | 4,590 | 9.9%, #3 of 10 | Black, Buckskin, Dark Firethorn, Smoked Gray, White | Pictures | — |
| 1978 | 72 | 2,074 | 4.4%, #8 of 12 | Black, Light Beige, Oyster, Red | Pictures | — |
| 1979 | 72 | 6,707 | 12.5%, #4 of 10 | Black, Light Beige, Oyster, Red | Pictures | — |
| 1980 | 83 | 5,714 | 14.1%, #3 of 10 | Black, Doeskin, Oyster, Red | Pictures | — |
| 1981 | 75 | 4,310 | 10.6%, #3 of 18 | Black, Charcoal, Camel, Medium Red, Silver Gray | Pictures | St. Louis |
| 1982 | 70 | 2,155 | 8.5%, #4 of 12 | Charcoal, Camel, Dark Red, Silver Gray | Pictures | — |
Colors Related to Red
The colors that came before and after Red, the ones it is confused with and the ones that shared its slot on the chart. Each has its own page or a line on its family page.
MORE: EVERY RED CORVETTE COLOR / ALL CORVETTE COLORS / COLORS BY YEAR
| COLOR | YEARS | BUILT | FAMILY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium Red | 1974, 1977 | 4,057 | Red | See the Medium Red page |
| Bright Red | 1984–1992 | 70,860 | Red | See the Bright Red page |
| Dark Red | 1975, 1977, 1979, 1986–1995 | 31,728 | Red | See the Dark Red page |
| Mille Miglia Red | 1971–1975 | 8,013 | Red | See the Mille Miglia Red page |
Red Paint Codes: GM, WA, PPG and DuPont
The codes a body shop or a judge needs for Red: the GM order code on the trim tag or service parts label, GM’s WA formula number and the PPG / Ditzler and DuPont mixing codes where they are documented. Where a code is blank the sources did not list one; the notes say where a source disagreed.
MORE: THE RPO CODES LIBRARY / THE VIN DECODER
| YEARS | GM CODE | WA | PPG / DITZLER | DUPONT | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 72 | WA4460 | — | — | Solid red (non-metallic). (confidence: medium) |
| 1977–1979 | 72 | WA4998 | — | — | Solid red ('Medium Red' 1977, 'Corvette Red' 1978–79). (confidence: medium) |
| 1980 | 83 | WA7195 | — | — | Solid red. (confidence: medium) |
| 1981 | 75 | WA7211 | — | — | Solid red (Spectra Red). (confidence: medium) |
| 1982 | 70 | WA7717 | — | — | Solid red (Spectra Red). (confidence: medium) |
Red Corvette Wallpapers
Desktop and phone wallpapers of red Corvettes from the site’s wallpaper collections.
Red Corvette Wallpapers — the color collection
All Corvette Wallpapers — by generation and by color
FAQs
What years was the Corvette offered in Red?
1976, 1978–1982: 6 model years on the C3. Plain Red is the C3’s red from 1976 to 1982, with 1977 as Medium Red.
What is the GM paint code for Red?
GM used 72, 83, 75, 70 across the years; the code changed when GM changed its coding system, not the paint. The paint-shop codes are 1976: WA4460; 1977–1979: WA4998; 1980: WA7195.
How many Red Corvettes were built?
25,550 by GM’s counts (6,707 in 1979, the biggest year).
Which Corvette models and editions came in Red?
1979 Corvette Red (6,707); 1980 Red (5,714); 1982 Red Collector-year cars. In its years it was available on every body style and model unless the year’s note says otherwise; the year tables above say which.
Is Red a metallic, a tintcoat or a solid color?
Solid red, the plain-named red of 1976–1982. It was a no-cost color in every year it was offered.
What was the most popular year for Red?
1979, with 6,707 cars, 12.5% of that year’s production.
What colors are similar to Red?
Medium Red, Bright Red, Dark Red, Mille Miglia Red. The Red Corvettes page has every red the factory offered, with the years and counts side by side.
Where can I see pictures of Red Corvettes?
The site has a picture post for each year Red was offered — real cars photographed in the real color — linked from the year tables above and in the picture grids on this page; the Red Corvettes page and the wallpaper collection have more.
How does the Red page fit with the rest of the Corvette colors research?
Every model year has a research page with the full color chart (codes, counts, interiors and soft tops), the Colors by Year page indexes them, every color with three or more years has a page like this one, and the twelve family pages (Red, Blue, Black, White, Silver, Yellow, Gray, Green, Orange, Purple, Gold, Brown) list every shade ever offered.
