Third-generation Chevrolet Corvettes are rarely more sought-after than C2 versions. And the cars that enjoy such status must pack big-block V8 engines or rare features from the golden muscle car era. The 1969 example you see here is not one of those cars, but it’s one of the very few rigs that have been in long-term storage and are still highly original.
Unearthed by YouTube’s “Classic Performance,” this early C3 Corvette has been hiding in a remote building for decades. Specifically, it was parked back in 1991, meaning it spent no fewer than 33 years in storage. That’s long enough to turn any classic into a pile of junk, but this C3 took more than three decades of sitting like a champ.
Granted, the drop-top shows signs of wear. The white paint has seen better days, and the soft top is damaged, but the ‘Vette is definitely salvageable. It’s not all good news, though. The car had its front end smashed before it was put into storage, so the C3 will need a new nose to become road-worthy again. Fortunately, the headlamps and the hood weren’t damaged in the crash. And needless to say, 1969 Corvette front fascias aren’t impossible to get.
It’s unclear if the paint is original, but the tag confirms this Corvette left the factory in Can-Am White. It could very well be the initial coating, but if not, at least the car was repainted in its original hue. The red interior, which is also factory-correct, doesn’t show significant damage, but it will need proper TLC to shine again.
As for what’s under the hood, the C3 has good news and bad news. The good news is that the V8 appears to be numbers-matching, according to our host. On the flipside, this Corvette doesn’t pack one of those very desirable 427-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) big-block V8s. Instead, it was ordered with the 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) small-block unit. This one appears to be the 300-horsepower version, which was the entry-level powerplant at the time. Chevrolet also offered a 350-horsepower variant.
And now for the big question: how rare is this Corvette? Well, Chevrolet sold 38,462 units in 1969, a record for the nameplate at that point. As sales dwindled during the early Malaise Era, the 1969 version remained the best-selling Corvette until 1975. But I digress. Of the 38,462 examples delivered that year, 16,633 were ordered with a soft top.
There are no statistics on how many of these convertibles were fitted with the base 300-horsepower, but we know that Chevrolet sold 9,783 of these mills in the Corvette that year. I guess it’s safe to say fewer than 4,500 convertibles got this lump. The automatic transmission could narrow it down to fewer than 1,000 examples, but there’s no definite way to know.
All told, this Corvette may or may not be a rare classic, but it’s a vehicle that would not spark a lot of interest next to a 427 version. However, this doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be rescued and restored. Until that happens, check it out in the video below.