When I was 16 I learned to drive in my father’s 1971 Corvette with a heavy duty 4-speed manual transmission. As much as my father was fanatical about keeping the Corvette in showroom condition, he also felt it was necessary for me to learn to drive in a car with a manual transmission, the other option was my mothers 1976 Ford LTD with an automatic transmission, a car I HATED. The Corvette was the first car I ever drove at all, so I had nothing to compare it to. The only trouble I had was learning how to get going again after stopping on a hill without rolling or stalling. The car drove extremely well, and it was very comfortable. The view from the drivers seat was always a thrill.
Build quality in the old days may not have been great in the C3 but in 1971 most cars weren't all that good, and even for years later. The Chevrolet engineers working on the C4 got ahold of a Lamborghini to benchmark and were horrified by the ergonomics and how it was put together and the C4 was not without its issues! Glad to see a Corvette featured here. I love the exotics that Audrain shows--the Pegasos, the Cord L-29 etc.--but a C3 is something many people can afford and actually drive and maintain. The community is fantastic. I was not really a Corvette person but eight years ago bought a C6. It is fast enough to kill you but is an excellent Grand Tourer and has been impressively reliable.
As the proud owner of a Top Flight 72 LT1 convertible, I agree with Donald's sentiments! These are wonderful Driver's cars! The magic of the solid lifters working the 2.5 inch Factory STEREO exhaust notes are truly the best music you'll ever hear!
My dad and I just finished getting a 1971 corvette going that was a barnfind in Newport sitting for many many years. 1971 Ontario Orange convertible with the 270hp 350 sbc. Original down to the hose clams. Such a great driver!
My neighbor growing up had a 72 C3. He lived down the street. Everytime I would pass by. I would see that car. I dreamed of owning it. It was blue with the rally wheels. Beautiful car. I had to get used to all the other body styles. ❤❤🏁👍😎
Hello Donald . Your emotions are a reflection of mine . The chances of me driving one of these greats is probably zero . But my enjoyment of the european equivilents in past years allows me to at least imagine the raw power that only an LS1 can unleash ! Thankyou Donald .
Great video. I bought my wife her birth year Corvette, a 454 T-Top with AC. It has a custom paint job from 1983 which has a Star Wars theme. A T-fighter and space scene is airbrushed on the inside of the hood as the T-fighter flies away from you and on the front of the hood it is flying towards you. It's a former show car that has won 80+ awards. The paint is still in great shape except for two small areas where the paint has bubbled a bit. Color is Dark Cherry.
I was a teen in the late 80s but in Europe and no Corvette was a working man's sports car here, ever, with the blistering import expenses. The C4 looked like it was standing up and flexing compared to this hunched down predecessor of my childhood movies and video games hero. This car did impress Opel (=Saturn) enough to make a mini version for the Euro market called the Opel GT.
I was born in 1970. We had a gold 71’ Corvette with side pipes that my mom drove as our family car when I was very small. Not sure of the engine but it was a 4 spd. My parents were a tad…unconventional. I remember burning my little legs one day getting out of the car.
Oh wow. I was born in '67 and as a ten year old kid my favourite memories were of an American car garage I walked by every day on my way to the beach here in England. The side pipes and custom paint jobs are still strong in my memory. Loved Corvettes and also the Trans Am Firebird hood graphics just blew me away
As always, great commentary, Donald! All terrific points, especially regarding the experience of driving early C3's are what it's all about. Thank you!
I've got 2 1971 LT1's, a Brandshatch Green over black survivor coupe - NCRS Top Flight and 3 star preservation award. AND a Special Order 1971 LT1 Black with Black Leather - 20 letters back and forth with GM to get it built in black and they charged the original owner $88. I drive my Green car ALOT and take it to NCRS national shows, it gets driven to cars and coffee every month. My Green car is #21783 which is 18 cars from the end of production and is the last known 1971 LT1 built. PS PB PW. 3.55 M20. - neat thing about my hood stripe - it is slightly cocked, the point is 4-7/8" from the rear of the hood on one side and 5-1/8" from the rear of the hood on the other side.
I saw a delivered in primer 75 at Carlisle years ago and believe the trim tag said PRIME. The car was shown in gray primer and the rubber bumpers were painted silver. Not many of those either! 😀
Funny this video comes out now. I JUST bought an 1971 LT1 last week. My friends all thought I lost my mind because they all know me as a Mustang guy for the last 35 years but when I decided to get into a weekend car and saw the prices of Mustangs I was a bit put off at how expensive they are. I ended up with a C3 Corvette for about 2/3rds the price of a similar mileage and optioned Mach 1 mustang of the same era. I see some C3's for under 20K, decent shape and ready to go.
What a great video. I was fortunate to own a 71 Convertible and while it had an automatic with the base 270hp 350 I still smiled each time I drove it. The connection is only one a Corvette lover would know. I fully agree that if more people drove a good one, they would change their opinion. The LT1 is a spectacular balance of power, weight and balance. I felt like I was in the passenger seat. Well done!
Yes. The LT-1 is a weight-saver, that still puts out a lot of power. I've heard that a hobby mechanic can build them relatively easily, and the result is what really made the LT-1 famous.
Great video, had a few C3’s the last was a 69 L46. I think the only thing I like more about 69 was the side gills. Everything until 73 was better like LT hood, flared fenders, exhaust bezels, and honeycomb grill.
They early C3 Vettes were awesome in many ways. Priced about the same as a Chevy Caprice yet all had fiberglass bodies, a full frame, powerful engines, fully independent suspensions, and 4 wheel disc brakes. Servicing & maintenence were not all that difficult. The nearest competition at that time was the Jag XKE which cost considerably more and had a 6 cylinder base engine. The C3 has a great view from the driver's seat but you don't actually see where the front end begins. This has caused many to have sustained front end damage from misjudging and pulling up too closely to something ahead.
Donald is correct....best looking Corvette ever! I was hit end on in a Series 1 E-type, totaled it, broke some bones and I spent a month on the couch looking at these. Silver roadster with chrome blades is the very best....actually looks slightly European.
I have an unmodified orange 74 which everyone seems to dislike cause of the rubber bumpers. Same car, just transgresses with those bumpers. It has the L82 T-code, which is an LT1 but with hydraulic lifters...very torquey like the one in the vid...the highest redline for 74. Very fun to drive. C3's seem to elicit strong opinions...love them or hate them. I love them
Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking close up photos of the car while it was stopped. Loved seeing that engine and dash board gages. The C3 has always been my favorite body style, I just wish they were more practical. I have a C5 and I love it, it's a great car: lots of room, huge trunk area, a real glove box, etc. Oh, and 30mpg plus it's faster than a 1970 LT-1.
Around 1986-87, when I was 22-23 years old, I test drove a Donnybrook Green 1971 454 Corvette that I wanted to buy. The only thing that stopped me was... He wanted $9500 for it, which was a little to steep for me at the time😂
Love it! Got me a ‘69 and never letting go. Thank you for sharing all these. Btw us Maineah’s already put the Vettes away bub, too many leaves get stuck in the grill… time to hibernate. Cheers! 🍻
C2 and C3s were my favorite Vettes.. Thru 72..Didn't like the rubber baby bumpers and less power from 73 on...And when I retired couldn't afford either so got an 06 Silver Base with stick.It's been a good and reliable car but miss those chrome bumpers and honestly would prefer a 4 speed versus 6. PS..I think the C2s had the neatest interiors...
I use driving shoes, but you already know that. I have seen cars that a normal human can’t drive because the pedals are so close. There are a few in our Club that barely drive their cars. My favorite is a 67!
You do a great job of course, but I wish when you were driving something like the C3 LT-1 you'd rev it out in 1st and 2nd, or so so we can hear how it sounds.
Enjoyed your video. Of course having one almost exactly like it, except saddle interior, drew me to it. Still enjoy getting it out. If I wasn’t going to drive it, I’d get a poster.
LT-1 redline 6500 RPM, 370 HP solid lifters aluminum intake. L-46 redline 6000 RPM, 350 HP hydraulic lifters castiron intake. Love my L-46, all stock but going to add hookers and new exhaust soon...
The c3 definitely looks better in its early years. I didn't realize that the impact bumpers are what make them ugly. My excuse is that I wasn't around in the 70s.
Thanks for featuring an American classic. While I never liked the C3s, preferring the C2s and C7s, there's no denying that the LT1 is a pure driver's car. Thanks again.
I'm a C3 Corvette guy, but I actually prefer the 1974-1977 models. Normally I don't like urethane bumpers, but on the Corvette they cleaned up the body lines and eliminated the clutter of the chrome bumpers.. I love the downward slope of the rear fascia better than the flip up lip on the steel bumpered cars. I have a white 1976 model with the buckskin interior, my favorite color for the '74-'77 cars. In 1978 they completely destroyed the body lines with that horrible bubbleback window. They had perfection, and they just had to ruin it. But they weren't done. In 1980, they added front and rear spoilers, an ugly new front grill, got rid of the cowl hood, and used blacked out transparent roof panels. It looked like something that was pieced together out of a junkyard. I also prefer an automatic transmission and quiet exhaust on a C3. I have a couple of hot rods with manual transmissions and loud pipes. But the '74-'77 Corvette has a futuristic look that those things just don't go well with. To me a mid '70s Corvette is a cruiser, not a sports car or muscle car. The looks alone just blow me away, especially in white. I think it's the best looking car ever made, period. Nothing like that will ever be made again. The mid year Corvettes, '63-'67 fit right in with the manual transmission loud pipe thing. They have a muscular look compared to the swoopy curvy look of the C3.
Unfortunately, that 928 was on loan for the exhibition and is an out-of-state car. We hope the chance for a driving video arises, but we can’t make any promises.
“Sir, you disappoint me and many of the viewers. When you’re driving the camera is on you. Why do you do that? I want to feel like I’m in the passenger or drivers seat and see the glorious hood slope and see the road.I don’t get it.”
We make a lot of content without Jay as well as with Jay. Check out the channel for a variety of videos, and stay tuned for the upcoming season of Mansions & Motorcars starring Jay and Donald!
Seat is pretty low and a different seating position than normal. I remember my Dad's exact quote the first time he rode in my 72 back in 82, "that thing is horrible!" 😀
![Megan Thee Stallion - Neva Play (feat. RM) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TpYTyAaTRts/mqdefault.jpg)
When I was 16 I learned to drive in my father’s 1971 Corvette with a heavy duty 4-speed manual transmission. As much as my father was fanatical about keeping the Corvette in showroom condition, he also felt it was necessary for me to learn to drive in a car with a manual transmission, the other option was my mothers 1976 Ford LTD with an automatic transmission, a car I HATED.
The Corvette was the first car I ever drove at all, so I had nothing to compare it to. The only trouble I had was learning how to get going again after stopping on a hill without rolling or stalling. The car drove extremely well, and it was very comfortable. The view from the drivers seat was always a thrill.
I love this guy . He is a great car guy . Nice to see him outside of Leno's show .
We have plenty of Donald on this channel! If you haven't already, please consider subscribing!
Build quality in the old days may not have been great in the C3 but in 1971 most cars weren't all that good, and even for years later. The Chevrolet engineers working on the C4 got ahold of a Lamborghini to benchmark and were horrified by the ergonomics and how it was put together and the C4 was not without its issues! Glad to see a Corvette featured here. I love the exotics that Audrain shows--the Pegasos, the Cord L-29 etc.--but a C3 is something many people can afford and actually drive and maintain. The community is fantastic. I was not really a Corvette person but eight years ago bought a C6. It is fast enough to kill you but is an excellent Grand Tourer and has been impressively reliable.
As the proud owner of a Top Flight 72 LT1 convertible, I agree with Donald's sentiments! These are wonderful Driver's cars! The magic of the solid lifters working the 2.5 inch Factory STEREO exhaust notes are truly the best music you'll ever hear!
My dad and I just finished getting a 1971 corvette going that was a barnfind in Newport sitting for many many years. 1971 Ontario Orange convertible with the 270hp 350 sbc. Original down to the hose clams. Such a great driver!
Congrats on being a classic savior, well done, sir.
Hope to see it at our Cars & Coffee come Spring!
Vettes are always appreciated.
My neighbor growing up had a 72 C3. He lived down the street. Everytime I would pass by. I would see that car. I dreamed of owning it. It was blue with the rally wheels. Beautiful car. I had to get used to all the other body styles. ❤❤🏁👍😎
The old lady across the street from my childhood home had a yellow 75. I’ve never been the same.
Absolutely beautiful Corvette and country road! Thank you Donald!
When I was a young teen, my brother had 1970 350hp/350 4 speed, and I've been hooked ever since.
From all the leaves blowing around your car thought you might be chasing a Morgan that was not quite broken in !.
Donald, you're awesome!
This car just has it all. It looks great sounds nice and its powerful.The C 3 Corvette before those plastic bumper were added just looks the part.
1971 stingray is my dream car!!!
Hello Donald . Your emotions are a reflection of mine . The chances of me driving one of these greats is probably zero . But my enjoyment of the european equivilents in past years allows me to at least imagine the raw power that only an LS1 can unleash ! Thankyou Donald .
LT-1 C-3 'Vette... definitely one of our favorites. Thanks Adrian! 👍
Great video. I bought my wife her birth year Corvette, a 454 T-Top with AC. It has a custom paint job from 1983 which has a Star Wars theme. A T-fighter and space scene is airbrushed on the inside of the hood as the T-fighter flies away from you and on the front of the hood it is flying towards you. It's a former show car that has won 80+ awards. The paint is still in great shape except for two small areas where the paint has bubbled a bit. Color is Dark Cherry.
This C3 version always gave me the sense of machine stripped down to an engine on wheels and a place to sit and control it.
You do a great job. I grew up with these cars. Tell that comedian guy to get his own show…. ❤️
I was a teen in the late 80s but in Europe and no Corvette was a working man's sports car here, ever, with the blistering import expenses. The C4 looked like it was standing up and flexing compared to this hunched down predecessor of my childhood movies and video games hero. This car did impress Opel (=Saturn) enough to make a mini version for the Euro market called the Opel GT.
Excellent, thoughtful video. The old LT-1 engines have a lot of character.
Miss you in Sports Car Market Donald.
You Sir - are Da MAN!!
I was born in 1970. We had a gold 71’ Corvette with side pipes that my mom drove as our family car when I was very small. Not sure of the engine but it was a 4 spd. My parents were a tad…unconventional. I remember burning my little legs one day getting out of the car.
Now, that’s a proper family car! Hats off to your mom.
You must’ve had a tiny family. Are you little people?
Oh wow. I was born in '67 and as a ten year old kid my favourite memories were of an American car garage I walked by every day on my way to the beach here in England. The side pipes and custom paint jobs are still strong in my memory. Loved Corvettes and also the Trans Am Firebird hood graphics just blew me away
As always, great commentary, Donald! All terrific points, especially regarding the experience of driving early C3's are what it's all about. Thank you!
I've got 2 1971 LT1's, a Brandshatch Green over black survivor coupe - NCRS Top Flight and 3 star preservation award. AND a Special Order 1971 LT1 Black with Black Leather - 20 letters back and forth with GM to get it built in black and they charged the original owner $88. I drive my Green car ALOT and take it to NCRS national shows, it gets driven to cars and coffee every month.
My Green car is #21783 which is 18 cars from the end of production and is the last known 1971 LT1 built. PS PB PW. 3.55 M20. - neat thing about my hood stripe - it is slightly cocked, the point is 4-7/8" from the rear of the hood on one side and 5-1/8" from the rear of the hood on the other side.
Very cool on the Black LT-1, curious though what's on the trim tag for paint?
@@thud9797The paint shows -SPC -
My brother and local friend also have special order Black Corvettes and none of them have the same thing on the TT.
@@TheJagjr4450
That's awesome.
I saw a delivered in primer 75 at Carlisle years ago and believe the trim tag said PRIME. The car was shown in gray primer and the rubber bumpers were painted silver. Not many of those either! 😀
Funny this video comes out now. I JUST bought an 1971 LT1 last week. My friends all thought I lost my mind because they all know me as a Mustang guy for the last 35 years but when I decided to get into a weekend car and saw the prices of Mustangs I was a bit put off at how expensive they are. I ended up with a C3 Corvette for about 2/3rds the price of a similar mileage and optioned Mach 1 mustang of the same era. I see some C3's for under 20K, decent shape and ready to go.
Ah, 1971 - Vietnam was raging, Twiggy was IT! & I was 7 & as happy as I'd ever be in life....
What a great video. I was fortunate to own a 71 Convertible and while it had an automatic with the base 270hp 350 I still smiled each time I drove it. The connection is only one a Corvette lover would know. I fully agree that if more people drove a good one, they would change their opinion. The LT1 is a spectacular balance of power, weight and balance. I felt like I was in the passenger seat. Well done!
Yes. The LT-1 is a weight-saver, that still puts out a lot of power. I've heard that a hobby mechanic can build them relatively easily, and the result is what really made the LT-1 famous.
Great video, had a few C3’s the last was a 69 L46. I think the only thing I like more about 69 was the side gills.
Everything until 73 was better like LT hood, flared fenders, exhaust bezels, and honeycomb grill.
They early C3 Vettes were awesome in many ways. Priced about the same as a Chevy Caprice yet all had fiberglass bodies, a full frame, powerful engines, fully independent suspensions, and 4 wheel disc brakes. Servicing & maintenence were not all that difficult. The nearest competition at that time was the Jag XKE which cost considerably more and had a 6 cylinder base engine. The C3 has a great view from the driver's seat but you don't actually see where the front end begins. This has caused many to have sustained front end damage from misjudging and pulling up too closely to something ahead.
I'm surprised that Donald drives, for these episodes, in street shoes. Donald, I love you buddy, keep some driving shoes handy. 😘
Beautiful C3. Gotta love those high revving LT-1’s!! I’m fortunate to have a 71 LS5 4spd. Love the Big Blocks!!
My favorite body style of the Corvette. The '68,'69 are the best. This is coming from a basic Ford guy. Thanks for the vid!!
Donald is correct....best looking Corvette ever! I was hit end on in a Series 1 E-type, totaled it, broke some bones and I spent a month on the couch looking at these. Silver roadster with chrome blades is the very best....actually looks slightly European.
I have an unmodified orange 74 which everyone seems to dislike cause of the rubber bumpers. Same car, just transgresses with those bumpers. It has the L82 T-code, which is an LT1 but with hydraulic lifters...very torquey like the one in the vid...the highest redline for 74. Very fun to drive. C3's seem to elicit strong opinions...love them or hate them. I love them
Awesome content ! Thx .
Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking close up photos of the car while it was stopped. Loved seeing that engine and dash board gages. The C3 has always been my favorite body style, I just wish they were more practical. I have a C5 and I love it, it's a great car: lots of room, huge trunk area, a real glove box, etc. Oh, and 30mpg plus it's faster than a 1970 LT-1.
Great commentary. 71 color is code 983 Brands Hatch Green.Most ordered color next to 989 War Bonnet Yellow for 1971
Around 1986-87, when I was 22-23 years old, I test drove a Donnybrook Green 1971 454 Corvette that I wanted to buy. The only thing that stopped me was... He wanted $9500 for it, which was a little to steep for me at the time😂
Love it! Got me a ‘69 and never letting go. Thank you for sharing all these. Btw us Maineah’s already put the Vettes away bub, too many leaves get stuck in the grill… time to hibernate. Cheers! 🍻
C2 and C3s were my favorite Vettes.. Thru 72..Didn't like the rubber baby bumpers and less power from 73 on...And when I retired couldn't afford either so got an 06 Silver Base with stick.It's been a good and reliable car but miss those chrome bumpers and honestly would prefer a 4 speed versus 6. PS..I think the C2s had the neatest interiors...
Very well done. Next level.
Hello. My friend has a 69 427 for speed.
Fun episode Donald!
I use driving shoes, but you already know that. I have seen cars that a normal human can’t drive because the pedals are so close. There are a few in our Club that barely drive their cars. My favorite is a 67!
You do a great job of course, but I wish when you were driving something like the C3 LT-1 you'd rev it out in 1st and 2nd, or so so we can hear how it sounds.
Enjoyed your video. Of course having one almost exactly like it, except saddle interior, drew me to it. Still enjoy getting it out.
If I wasn’t going to drive it, I’d get a poster.
LT-1 redline 6500 RPM, 370 HP solid lifters aluminum intake. L-46 redline 6000 RPM, 350 HP hydraulic lifters castiron intake. Love my L-46, all stock but going to add hookers and new exhaust soon...
Yep that be the year .
Those leaves got everywhere, even in the car down his back haha
The c3 definitely looks better in its early years. I didn't realize that the impact bumpers are what make them ugly. My excuse is that I wasn't around in the 70s.
Great video Donald its Brands Hatch Green!
Love your work Donald, but PUT YOUR SEAT BELT ON!
Just lap belts in this one. And although impossible to see with Donald’s jacket, it is being used.
@@AudrainMuseumNetwork I knew it was lap belt only - just didn't see it in the few glimpses available. My mistake - I "sit" corrected :)
@@patrickperry9690 No worries, we appreciate the concern - safety matters!
What happened to the shoulder belts? It absolutely came with them as did ALL 1968 and newer Corvette Coupes.
Thanks for featuring an American classic. While I never liked the C3s, preferring the C2s and C7s, there's no denying that the LT1 is a pure driver's car. Thanks again.
Donald, at the 3:07 mark, you spoke about the 1958 Corvette, but you showed an image of a 1956 or '57 Corvette. Trying to see if anyone would notice?
The seats look funny
I'm a C3 Corvette guy, but I actually prefer the 1974-1977 models. Normally I don't like urethane bumpers, but on the Corvette they cleaned up the body lines and eliminated the clutter of the chrome bumpers.. I love the downward slope of the rear fascia better than the flip up lip on the steel bumpered cars. I have a white 1976 model with the buckskin interior, my favorite color for the '74-'77 cars. In 1978 they completely destroyed the body lines with that horrible bubbleback window. They had perfection, and they just had to ruin it. But they weren't done. In 1980, they added front and rear spoilers, an ugly new front grill, got rid of the cowl hood, and used blacked out transparent roof panels. It looked like something that was pieced together out of a junkyard. I also prefer an automatic transmission and quiet exhaust on a C3. I have a couple of hot rods with manual transmissions and loud pipes. But the '74-'77 Corvette has a futuristic look that those things just don't go well with. To me a mid '70s Corvette is a cruiser, not a sports car or muscle car. The looks alone just blow me away, especially in white. I think it's the best looking car ever made, period. Nothing like that will ever be made again. The mid year Corvettes, '63-'67 fit right in with the manual transmission loud pipe thing. They have a muscular look compared to the swoopy curvy look of the C3.
Still waiting for that 928 to be driven!!!!
Unfortunately, that 928 was on loan for the exhibition and is an out-of-state car. We hope the chance for a driving video arises, but we can’t make any promises.
The 68' looked just like the 71' so why is the 71 your favorite?
Just get a pair of Grandprix Originals Shoes !!!! Handmade
“Sir, you disappoint me and many of the viewers. When you’re driving the camera is on you. Why do you do that? I want to feel like I’m in the passenger or drivers seat and see the glorious hood slope and see the road.I don’t get it.”
Nice video, can you review C4 ZR1?
We do not have a C4 ZR-1 in the collection, but if one ever finds its way in, we'll be sure to make a video on it.
@@AudrainMuseumNetworkYay more C4 love.
C2 the best
This is all very informative and entertaining but, I want to see Donold drive that VW bus and eat pizza.
While Donald sadly does not eat pizza in the video, stay tuned for a video on the VW Bus!
What kind of socks are those?😊
Where Jay at?
We make a lot of content without Jay as well as with Jay. Check out the channel for a variety of videos, and stay tuned for the upcoming season of Mansions & Motorcars starring Jay and Donald!
I give you total respect sir but respectfully have to disagree. Tan interior would ruin it.
Not busting on you but are you short or is the seat just that low?
Seat is pretty low and a different seating position than normal. I remember my Dad's exact quote the first time he rode in my 72 back in 82, "that thing is horrible!" 😀
Which car did it make you realize you really hate this guy?
LT1=350ci.
stick to classics, you dont know much about Vettes based on your comments...
It’s just as easy to keep scrolling as to be a troll.
Since when is voicing an opinion being a troll...would appear you are the actual troll. @@marcoluoma3770
rock on dude
He is riding the clutch the entire time.