Cars Inwards Yards: 1974 Corvette, The Household Unit Of Measurement Automobile Fairy Tale Amongst A 4-Speed
Family machine Corvette. Imagine the ultimate Corvette fairy tale. One where dad decides to convey abode a hot rod instead of a grocery getter. We all want our dads would receive got done something similar this! Kent Roberts pulled off the all-time best excuse to purchase a 4-speed Vette.
Some guys are actually expert at math. Division is a peachy science to receive got when y'all receive got existent life math problems, such as Roberts' growing household unit of measurement shipping problem. He had a married adult woman as well as a missy as well as was well-nigh to receive got another. This sounds similar a really mutual occurrence. The ‘I need a household unit of measurement car-thing’ has happened to many of us machine guys. The exclusively work was, Roberts' chief trend of shipping was a motorcycle.
Now that TWO girls would live occupying the dorsum seat, his married adult woman was rather insistent.
“You must acquire rid of the motorbike as well as acquire a car!”
When volition wives as well as girlfriends larn that, with machine guys, y'all must live specific? She wasn’t. That was where she went wrong. Roberts got a machine all right. Oh, did he e'er — a 1974 Corvette consummate with an L82 as well as a 4-speed! So, with the motorbike already (technically) having 2 seats... he was exclusively a piffling to a greater extent than ergonomic.
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| Roberts bought a 4-speed Vette because his married adult woman told him it was fourth dimension to acquire rid of his motorcycle. |
Simple math
How does 4 separate into two? Despite non having an engineering degree, somehow for Roberts, it did. We figure that he must receive got had sense inward Chinese jigsaw, because it worked for him. H5N1 wife, 2 kids as well as a actually cool laid of wheels. Mr. Roberts — y'all are a king.
Let's give-up the ghost a piffling deeper into this household unit of measurement machine scenario. Roberts knew he wanted a 4-speed.
“Quadragear me!,” he declared.
Although, when Roberts was laid to search for a suitable replacement for the motorcycle, he wasn’t necessarily focused on a Corvette. But when he works life this 1974 example, it did indeed receive got proper criteria — the 4-speed. This was it. This was his car. Sold!
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| 1974 was the start yr for the body-colored parent bumper encompass on the Corvette. |
“What? I did acquire a car”
The Vette was equipped with the higher Equus caballus L82-350 engine. It was a cool ability works life indeed. Making 250 grocery-getting horsepower, it could acquire to softball practise inward a hurry. It was the lack of a commodious dorsum topographic point or body that was the problem. Roberts could indeed pick upwardly the child, but the glove as well as bat would receive got to hold off for the adjacent bus. Imagine the negotiating skills this human being must possess.
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| An L82 alternative 250hp/350-V8 is tucked beneath the fiberglass body. |
Digging deeper
1974 was a serial of start as well as lasts (see Fun Facts) as well as this Corvette was especial plenty for Roberts to concur onto for 38 years. The Vette was quick, fun as well as inward retrospect, actually didn’t utilisation likewise much fuel. Gearing was perfect! Nothing less than a 3:08 gear ratio was available on this car. This was impressive for 1974, but Roberts knew the potential authorisation of the minor block Chevrolet. He wanted more!
H5N1 novel laid of aluminum heads works life their way to the top of the L82, bumping the 9-to-1 compression upwardly significantly. The cam was already lifting those valves high enough, so Roberts right human foot was well-nigh to receive got a party.
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| Weathered emblem on olfactory organ of 1974 Corvette. |
Color me brown
We stance from a distance that this machine was some other color but this ’74 Vette was repainted at some milestone along the way. We (Ron) mistakenly stance it was the color nosotros can’t pronounce easily. Don’t brand us tell it, but if nosotros goof upwardly the holler Mille Miglia Red, forgive us, for nosotros similar a shot know this instance was born code 968 Dark Brown. Whew! We tin pronounce that one!
Chevrolet allowed GM to receive got their way with the interior colors. H5N1 handsome saddle hue inward leather was the selection of the master copy owner. Chevrolet allow y'all pick the outside color, but the interior was only slightly negotiable. Only 4 colors were available to accent your favorite Corvette flavor. That narrowed it downward a lot. Sometimes they offered v choices, but for the most utilisation Chevrolet dictated that 4 was plenty enough. Whomever picked this combination did an exquisite chore and had impeccable taste.
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| Only 6,690 L82-equipped Corvettes were produced with the 37,502 full inward 1974. |
Roberts has shared the life run a jeopardy with this machine long plenty for it to acquire utilisation of the family. He cranks it regularly as well as has no intention of parting with it anytime soon. (Editor’s Note: This did non halt Ron from shamelessly handing Roberts a listing of potential buyers, which was cypher more than a slice of newspaper with Ron’s holler on it.) We hither at Junkyard Life understand.
Thank you, Mr. Roberts for showing us a actually cool machine with an fifty-fifty ameliorate story!
Ron Kidd
— Junkyard Life: The Story Beneath the Rust
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| Brown velour seats inward the 1974 Corvette. |
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| Tachometer was replaced from a vehicle with electronic ignition when Roberts swapped ignition organisation from points as well as condenser. |
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| Front as well as parent bumper covers were replaced after Roberts bought to Vette around 1981. |
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| 1974 was the terminal yr y'all could purchase a Corvette without a catalytic converter. |
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| Saddle interior components complement the 4-speed stick within Roberts' 1974 Corvette Stingray. |
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| Unmistakeable profile on these third-generation Vettes. |
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| The Corvette shift plate alerts all to the horsepower nether the correct foot. The L82 350-V8 pumped out 250hp as well as 285-ft lbs of torque. |
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| Stingray emblem is long gone but non forgotten. |
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| A base of operations sport coupe Vette toll around $6,000 inward 1974. Looks similar whatsoever "old" Corvette volition eventually live worth to a greater extent than than MSRP. |
Junkyard Life’s 1974 Corvette Fun Facts
- 1974 was the terminal yr for the optional LS4 454 engine. It was advertised at exclusively twenty to a greater extent than HP (270) but admitted to a tire shredding 380 ft-lbs of torque at exclusively 2800 RPM.
- 1974 was the start yr with 2 non-chrome bumpers. This gave us an stance of what the Corvette had inward shop for us aesthetically inward the coming years of the 1970’s.
- 1974 was supposed to live the terminal yr for the ultra cool as well as dare nosotros tell sexy finned cycle covers-but it wasn’t! They stopped offering them inward 1973. Boo. We arrive at honey the Corvette specific 15x8 Rally Wheel. Okay, fine. They are enticing equally well.
- Junkyard Life was incorrect well-nigh the initial color of this machine past times a long shot. How could nosotros error Mille Miglia Red for Dark Brown? This was non the "Little Red Corvette" that Prince told us about.
- Roberts entertained the stance of icon the Vette a pearl white. He fifty-fifty started some of the color alter process. Then he experienced some bird of sticker daze when he works life out how ridiculously expensive the pearl-based pigment is.
- For drag racers, a Corvette was a certain path to the famed “4-bolt main” engines. This agency at that topographic point were 4 bolts on the chief caps belongings the crankshaft downward instead of two. More insurance your motor volition non wing apart at high RPMs.
- Corvette’s holler was defined equally a highly maneuverable warship used equally an escort. The association was non lost on American Airmen, equally the Corvette proved to live very popular with pilots.
- There is an irony to the rootage of the (Ron’s false color) Mille Miglia. This is a reference to an Italian endurance race that covers ane K miles. The race began inward 1927 as well as when it was resurrected, it express the cars entered to live produced no afterwards than 1957. The irony is that the 1974 Corvette would live likewise “new.” (Editor’s Note: Ron got the color then wrong, nosotros made him hold off upwardly the rootage of the name)
- During the infinite race, at that topographic point was a fourth dimension when astronauts were presented with a novel Corvette.
Share your machine story? Send us details as well as we’re on the way! Send emails to Jody Potter at junkyardbull@gmail.com & Ron Kidd at Kidd403@bellsouth.net
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| Stick shift Corvettes ascendency our attending no affair the vintage. |