The Missing Corvette

[NOBLNG]

Did any one watch this?  Actually it was called "The Lost Corvette". I think they did not integrate the split window into the body to make it look like it belongs there? It looks like they just put a fiberglass border on the existing window.

I have a model that I built of this version that I am not too thrilled with. Actually I think it is the most bland looking generation of the Corvette ever produced! I think I may have to de-construct it and do my own '83.

Edit: This would make a good challenge. Heh Heh!

Edited July 14, 2019 by NOBLNG

[Greg Myers]

I watched it. They debated Fiberglass into body vs this . Bunch of morons, typical TV car show monkeys 

[mredjr]

Doesn't do a thing for me with or without the split window.

[NOBLNG]

43 minutes ago, Greg Myers said:

I watched it. They debated Fiberglass into body vs this . Bunch of morons, typical TV car show monkeys 

 

41 minutes ago, mredjr said:

Doesn't do a thing for me with or without the split window.

Yeah. Hard to make that thing look sexy without some very extensive modifications

[Mark]

A lot of work to go to, to make it harder to see out the back.  The C3 had the split window only for '63, to please Bill Mitchell.  Duntov supposedly hated the split window.

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, Greg Myers said:

I watched it. They debated Fiberglass into body vs this . Bunch of morons, typical TV car show monkeys 

You sir, are a man after my own heart. 

[Richard Bartrop]

The thing about stuff like this is that any idiot can criticize after the fact, and any idiot frequently does.

Personally, the C4 is one of my favourite Corvette designs.  Where the C3 was over the top, the C4 was elegant.  The next generation with its bar of soap styling, is where things started to go wrong.

As far as exercises go, we already know what the 1983 Corvette would have looked like.  You can even peruse an example with your own eyes at the Corvette Museum.

The show was the usual manufactured drama, and I agree the split window added nothing.  Neither use nor ornament, as the British say.   The rest of the exterior mods were tastefully  done, and looked like they belonged.

 

 

[1972coronet]

I'm more intrigued by the export model's tail lamp setup : ambre-coloured turn signals / hazard lenses !  That's how the U.S. models should have been as well , but then I'm biased : I despise red-coloured turn signals / hazards ! If flashing red lights mean "stop" or "move-over" , why should that "command" be given by one's vehicle's tail lamps if they're changing lanes or are on the highway shoulder ? Kind of goes against the whole :

Amber = Caution 

Red = Stop ( or move-to-the-right for emergency vehicles ) 

But , I digress... That post-facto "split backlite" design looks horrible on any post-1967 Corvette .

[Snake45]

25 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

But , I digress... That post-facto "split backlite" design looks horrible on any post-1967 Corvette .

It looks horrible on any post -64 Corvette. 

I watched the show and enjoyed it. I see what they were trying to do with the split window (it was the 30th Anniversary Corvette and was meant to commemorate iconic features of the previous three generations), but they didn't do it well. IMHO the split bar should have been a bit thinner, and all the corners of the glass rounded off more. THAT would have greatly improved the thing. 

I like that they peaked the fender in homage to the C3, but they didn't go far enough with this. They should have peaked and "bulged" them even more. 

it would have looked better with a more '73-ish grille/bumper on it, too. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, Richard Bartrop said:

The thing about stuff like this is that any idiot can criticize after the fact, and any idiot frequently does.

Personally, the C4 is one of my favourite Corvette designs.  Where the C3 was over the top, the C4 was elegant.  The next generation with its bar of soap styling, is where things started to go wrong.

I agree about the C4, and with just minimal cleanup and shortening of its "full diaper" looking tail, the C5 can be pretty fine too.

The C4 is a much underloved car, and almost insanely cheap these days, especially if you find one with a bad engine. It's a fine basis to build one gorgeous, smoking fast, great handling hot rod, relatively inexpensively.

Edited July 13, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy

[cobraman]

I watched it. I don't think the outcome was worth the effort. Just my opinion.

[Richard Bartrop]

It's not even that the C5 is particularly ugly, it's just that it's not an improvement.  It looks like they ran a piece of sandpaper over the previous model without any real thought as to how it would look.  At best, it's a halfhearted concession to the fashions of the time.

What a lot of people seem to miss in trying to recreate Mitchell era designs is all the subtle tweaks that were made to get them to work.   They don't leap out at you, but they definitely contribute to the overall effect.  They're like the Parthenon that way.

 

Speaking of subtle mode.  One thing I didn't notice about the 1983 tribute at first was the extra peak on the front fenders, but it works.

 

 

[NOBLNG]

4 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

The thing about stuff like this is that any idiot can criticize after the fact, and any idiot frequently does.

And so can people with taste and style! I can't help that they didn't ask me before hand.

 

3 hours ago, Snake45 said:

It looks horrible on any post -64 Corvette. 

I watched the show and enjoyed it. I see what they were trying to do with the split window (it was the 30th Anniversary Corvette and was meant to commemorate iconic features of the previous three generations), but they didn't do it well. IMHO the split bar should have been a bit thinner, and all the corners of the glass rounded off more. THAT would have greatly improved the thing. 

I like that they peaked the fender in homage to the C3, but they didn't go far enough with this. They should have peaked and "bulged" them even more. 

it would have looked better with a more '73-ish grille/bumper on it, too. 

My thoughts exactly...and fill in that seam where the new rear window frame meets the body!

[highway]

5 hours ago, Mark said:

A lot of work to go to, to make it harder to see out the back.  The C3 had the split window only for '63, to please Bill Mitchell.  Duntov supposedly hated the split window.

The 63 split window was a C2, not a C3. 

As for watching this show, I did watch it but I didn't care for it the way it was done either. I personally thought instead of incorporating the C3 styling cues like the 72 front fender scoops and the remolded C3 style edges to the top of the hood/fender, the builder should have kept with tradition and had the car be a C3 with some hints of what was to come with the C4. GM did that with the 62 incorporating the new C2 style rear clip to the C1 body and just feel a C3 with C4 styling cues would have made a much better looking 83 Corvette. The split window was a nice thought but could have been much better executed to make it more a part of the car as the 63 was, and the "Stingray tail" in the center of the roof if used at should have just been included in the split window itself. It just looks stuck on with the flat roof panel of the C4 because with the C2 roof there was more curvature not only front to back but side to side that made the "tail" look more natural.  

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, highway said:

The 63 split window was a C2, not a C3. 

As for watching this show, I did watch it but I didn't care for it the way it was done either. I personally thought instead of incorporating the C3 styling cues like the 72 front fender scoops and the remolded C3 style edges to the top of the hood/fender, the builder should have kept with tradition and had the car be a C3 with some hints of what was to come with the C4. GM did that with the 62 incorporating the new C2 style rear clip to the C1 body and just feel a C3 with C4 styling cues would have made a much better looking 83 Corvette. The split window was a nice thought but could have been much better executed to make it more a part of the car as the 63 was, and the "Stingray tail" in the center of the roof if used at should have just been included in the split window itself. It just looks stuck on with the flat roof panel of the C4 because with the C2 roof there was more curvature not only front to back but side to side that made the "tail" look more natural.  

Here's a C3 with a C-4 tail. I don't think it looks particularly good.  Maybe better if it didn't droop so much.

As for the split back window. It's awful. I didn't watch the show, I've only seen pics on the net but I thought it was one of the kits you can buy. They make a lot of those and for every generation Vette.

Probably could have looked more natural if it was molded to the body without the seam but then the hatch couldn't open.

 

Aside from the silliness of the hatch, I like the mods and I've always liked that generation 'Vette anyway.

[DPNM]

I had to work the next morning so I turned the TV off just before the show started. I'm pretty certain I'm glad I missed it. This car doesn't represent what I would have hoped the '83 would/should have looked like. There is too much that looks "off" to my eye. I'd list some but quite a few have been mentioned here already. Ugh.

Suffice to say I'm not a big fan of this generation Corvette. It might well have been a step forward in a more current (at the time) design but the only thing this generation means to me is you can own a Corvette dirt cheap.  I understand some people like this generation. That's all well and good. To each their own.

And this is very true:

12 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Edit: This would make a good challenge. Heh Heh!

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by DPNM

[DPNM]

Couple different views for those that may not have seen it.

 

[espo]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This split window on this wide of a body just doesn't look right to me. The proportions are just all wrong. I understand there may be those who think it looks great, I just wouldn't be one of them.  

[martinfan5]

Oh god, that is horrid looking.

[MrObsessive]

No, I don't like that at all. Some designs are just "meant" for certain cars and the split window for the '63 'Vette was just meant for it. Like the '71 Boat tail Riviera, that design looks correct for it. .

Personally, I liked the C4 'Vettes especially the later ones with the rounded tail. Unfortunately, I have a hell of time getting in and out of one with those horrendously high door sills due to the chassis design. I'll take a C6 as that to me was a nice looking evolution from the C5. I've sat and driven one of those and to me it's MUCH more user friendly than the C4.

I never quite got used to the C7's.....just a bit too over the top for me. Nice cars, but it bordered on being overstyled IMO. Then there's the upcoming C8 which seems to have the automotive press on its ear. It'll remain to be seen how that one will work out against the relatively short lived C7.

I'll take a 2013 Corvette Grand Sport if you please!

[NOBLNG]

3 hours ago, DPNM said:

Couple different views for those that may not have seen it.

The front end isn't too bad. I think a hood scoop styled after the '67 big block cars could add a little pizzazz.

[DPNM]

8 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

The front end isn't too bad.

I agree with you Greg. To me, the front end is the only good looking part to this car. Incorporating the '67 scoop would have added nicely to the look. I have my own idea how I would have done it.

[Classicgas]

No thanks.

[NOBLNG]

23 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

I watched it. They debated Fiberglass into body vs this . Bunch of morons, typical TV car show monkeys 

Yes, unfortunately the main goal was to make a TV show...NOT an '83 Corvette.

Edited July 14, 2019 by NOBLNG

[Greg Myers]

On 7/13/2019 at 8:20 AM, Richard Bartrop said:

The thing about stuff like this is that any idiot can criticize after the fact, and any idiot frequently does.

I'd like to thank all of you idiots for contributing your thoughts, ideas and opinions.

Personally i find all the talk about all those "C"s confusing at times.  Guess my 70+ year old mind is just about full up.