There’s no shortage of C3 Corvettes on the marketplace, just hit enter and they’ll pop up, trust me. Of course, most are beat up, automatic transmission, low power editions. That’s fine and dandy and all, given they can be reasonably had for around $10,000 in running condition. But what you might not be able to find (not that you were looking in the first place), is a Corvette stationwagon. A what? You read that right. More appropriately though, the Corvette Sportwagon.
The Sportwagon was an aftermarket kit introduced by Chuck Miller in 1967. It was relatively simple to install, as the fiberglass body could be cut and mended with ease if you were handy with silly putty. Maybe that’s putting it lightly, but you get the point. When it first came out, the shooting brake (2 door station wagon) design didn’t feature a functional rear door. That changed with the second iteration, which seems to have come from John Greenwood. That design is what is found on this 1973 Corvette Sportwagon for sale on Craigslist near Los Angeles.
c3 Corvette Sportwagon for sale
While many people purchased these kits in the 1960s and 1970s, word on the street is that there’s less than a few dozen survivors out there. Given it is not a factory option, it’s pretty hard to keep track, but that does not seem unreasonable. This particular example does fit the “survivor” category, as it looks like it survived a battle or two.
Despite a bit of body filler on the front end, the rest of the exterior appears to be in decent shape. Furthermore, the sportwagon kit itself looks to be properly installed. Despite me saying it’s easy, it certainly is not easy to do properly. What we can tell is that they hydraulics that hold the rear hatch open don’t appear to work anymore, but that probably isn’t your biggest concern with this car.
What’s great about the C3 Corvette for sale is that it has a manual transmission. Personally, a rear-wheel-drive stick shift wagon with a V8 is about as good as it gets. That four speed speed is linked to a small block 350. It may not be the most exciting engine, but by 1973, the horsepower wars were winding down. Besides, this thing isn’t about HP, it’s about Sq FT. Just look at all that storage. In any case, the seller doesn’t say if it runs. They do mention it has power brakes, power steering, 18 inch wheels, starts and runs, HEI distributor, power windows and is a non a/c vehicle.
Did Chevy ever produce a factory Corvette station wagon?
As mentioned, this Chevy Corvette is a kit and it needs a bit of work, inside and out. But could you ever just go out and buy a Corvette station wagon from the factory? No, but they did build a concept once under the name Nomad. The 1954 Chevrolet Nomad that debuted at that year’s Motorama had a Corvette front end and a stationwagon body. Other than that, there’s no such thing as a Corvette wagon from the factory.
This Corvette Sportwagon for sale in LA is likely your best bet of owning a Corvette station wagon. It can be found on Craigslist with a very fair price of $7,250. That’s a sweet deal for a 1973 Corvette at all, especially given this one has a sought after stick shift. Shoot, I if anyone is in that area and feels like driving in the PNW, drop me a line.
