After 25 years of producing Corvettes, Chevrolet celebrated in style with a very special Corvette: the Silver Anniversary Limited Edition Pace Car. 1978 was a year of change for the Corvette. This was the 25th anniversary for the Corvette and Chevrolet introduced the most extensively redesigned Corvette since 1968. The silver anniversary brought a classic two-tone body scheme with a black upper and a silver lower, set off by sport side mirrors, red pin striping and aluminum wheels and 25th Anniversary emblems. A very easily distinguished fastback rear window, rear spoiler, and a front air dam reduced list by 215 pounds, increased fuel economy, and added 1.3 mph to top-end performance.
The early part of the 1970's took it's toll on engine performance marking a steady decline of both performance and quality to a low point of 165 horsepower in 1975. But by 1978 Chevrolet brought the base L48 350 engine horsepower to 185 (SAE net) and going 0-60 mph in 7.8 seconds and a top speed of 123 mph. The optional L82 350 at 220 horsepower was able to record a top-end speed of 133.7 mph. To handle the increase in performance, higher rate springs, larger diameter shocks and P255/60R-15 Goodyear GT Radials were added along with a new 24-gallon fuel tank.
The interior also had a makeover. The dash with new finishes, a genuine glove compartment, lots of storage behind the seats, and plush carpeting covered the floor and lower door panels to name just a few. When the Limited Edition Pace Car came on line in March of 1978 only 6502 Limited Editions were produced. Originally only about 2500 Pace Cars were going to be built, 100 for every year of Corvette production. But GM not wanting to create hard feelings towards dealers, built one Limited Edition per Chevrolet dealer, a few extra for executives and others for people who got their orders through pushing the number up to 6502 with their own VIN number sequence. The Wall Street Journal ran a front page article about the 1978 Indy Pace Cars, indicating they would be an excellent investment.
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