1978 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe



John and Burt Greenwood built quite a few race-based street cars in the '70s. Although they had developed their own unique Corvette suspension and aerodynamic systems to support their racing program, these technologies eventually found their way into production autos as part of an effort to offset their high tooling costs. Initially, the street cars were offered with minor aerodynamic improvements and exaggerated styling cues, but they quickly evolved into nothing short of high-speed endurance racers for the road. Between 1975 and 1981, approximately 43 custom-made street cars based on five distinct body styles were produced under the umbrella of Greenwood International.



For consignment a Corvette Collectors dream showing up in the form of a 1978 Vette complete with a Greenwood Turbo GT redux. Street car come Can Am racer, many additional body panels are seen, along with a rear spoiler, louvered rear window cover, and a major engine upgrade. Custom seats for the interior, and we present to you ONE OF 3 Examples ever built...Yowza!!



Exterior

We are in rare air with this Greenwood bodied and power planted 1978 Corvette. On the red exterior the front quarters now flare out to accommodate the deep mag wheels and wide tires. Side shark-like gills are just behind these flares with 5 vertical openings. The front of the car remains much like an original 1978 version save for the hood, which now is a Turbo hood with more screened slats, a rear facing scoop and an NACA duct on the right side of the hood. As we move rearward, a "T" top with removable panels remains like the original. Rear quarters are now much wider, and flare outward from the doors, eventually ending up framing the rounded rear with its dual iconic round taillights, with a large screened air outlet. From these grows a wide tail fin which reaches upward, and around the rounded rear. For the greenhouse glass in back, black louvers have been added. As for badging, we see a round Greenwood badge on the B pillar/rollbar, and above the 5 "gills" on the front quarter a TURBO graphic. On the front is the Corvette 25th anniversary badge. Deep curved inward spoked dish mag wheels with gold inserts are wrapped by 225/60R15's upfront, and 275/60R15's on back and are all in like new condition.



Interior

RED would be the operative work here with pristine red door panels draped in red vinyl and red carpeted lower panels. Nice chromed handles and a mirror toggle as well as a door lock golf tee is hidden in the door pull. Turning to the passenger's seats, there are now Recaro racing high backed seats with multi earth shades of brown to yellow to white inserts surrounded by black bolsters. The panels with the Recaro screened on badges, leave no doubt as to who produced them! These seats float in pristine red carpet all clean and deep pile for your enjoyment and comfort. In the center a console races toward the dash and turns to black. This houses the gear shift lever, window toggles, and more Greenwood badges. As it moves upward and morphs into the dash it is met with a cluster of 5 gauges, an AM/FM radio, and temp. and airflow controls. In front of the steering wheel, an upswept dash houses the speedometer and tachometer, and has a molded in boost gauge to the drivers right.



Drivetrain

The original engine (still retained and will go with this car) has been replaced by a 355ci Blueprint Racing engine in V8 layout. This has Blueprint Racing Engines Aluminum heads. This engine now has a Holley EFI set up perched on top to meticulously control air and fuel being fed into the mill. A turbo sits on the right side of the engine and feeds compressed air to the EFI unit. On back is a modified TH400 3-speed automatic. This was tweaked to handle the extra power. All tubes and wires, as well as surfaces show no corrosion or aging and hoses are all supple and black.



Undercarriage

Underneath is looking all good, with some areas of slight surface rust, but overall, very sound. A stainless exhaust has been added, as have rear coilovers for the suspension, to add to the 4 link system. Independent coil springs are up front, and power disc brakes are all around.



Drive-Ability

Hopping in this car I felt like I was readying to drive the 24hrs of Daytona. Looking sleek and cowled with flaring and a fin, it fired right up, and I was immediately introduced to the back of the Recaro racing seats. Plenty of raw power here and the flow through turbo was working just fine today. Nice handling, and all the creature comforts were working excepting the A/C which was removed. I saw an aftermarket digital panel readout of various functions installed and a CB radio...Breaker 1-9...Break! For such a rare car it ran swimmingly, as usually these are not run frequently.



1 OF 3 is all we have to say, and you can glean just how great this car is from the ab

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