The 1970 Corvette Got More Time To Develop, But Fell Short Of Hopes

Ultimately a strike proved costly which delayed the 1970 Corvette.

The 1970 Corvette’s production was delayed by a couple of months because of a strike from UAW. However, it did give the Chevy engineers extra time to create the first year of the 70’s generation and improve the muscle car. In the end, the delay in production proved costly as the sales dropped when the model year came to a close.

The 1970 Corvette did feature an abundance of changes both outside and inside, though the inside was more noticeable. The inside of the Vette and outside shell were altered most notably as follows:

Flared Wheel Openings: Chevy chose to flare out the wheel openings for the 1970 Corvette, since the body side tuck-under was notorious for its repeated stone damage.

Egg-Crates Galore: Instead of featuring horizontal bars on the grill, the 1970 Corvette featured egg-crate shaped grills and the front fender gills also got swapped to feature the egg-crate shape.

Tail Pipes: The 1970 Corvette changed the tail pipes of their styling from the well-known round shape to rectangular.

Parking Lamps: The 1970 Corvette featured a new amber color parking lamp which was designed to help improve visibility. The parking lamps were also a larger rectangular shape as opposed to the small round ones of the previous year’s model.

Upgraded Interior: The1970 Corvette added a custom trim package that sported a replica wood trim on the doors and the console and also featured cut pile carpeting.

In 1970 it seemed that like many other years of the Corvette, the big news would be the engine. The LT1 engine was now not so taboo and was made widely available. The smaller 350s came back to the 1970 Corvette though they were unchanged. Just as with the previous year’s model a big block was offered and made to accommodate the ever tightening emissions laws of the time. Depending on the type of engine that was purchased, a Corvette buyer could expect to get from 300 to 460 horsepower and all the engines offered for the 1970 Corvette were given life by a four barrel carburetors.

But for all its grace and beauty, the 1970 Corvette fell well short of expectations. Even though the model year was shortened, the 1970 Corvette still sold much less than anybody had anticipated. The total number of units sold for the model year was a dismal 17,316. This was a huge step back for the Corvette and represented the lowest sales figure since 1962.

The biggest damage though came from GM boss and president Ed Cole. His desire to eliminate low-volume options and his decision to make all engines run on 91-octane fuel doomed the once top speed producing machine. This combined with a slumping economy and rising insurance rates opened the door for some dark days that would lay ahead for the Corvette.

With the two extra months for preparation, the engineers were able to perfect the 1970 machine, but it still was not enough to help with the sales. The 1970 Corvette did fall a peg or two, but it would eventually bounce back to its thrown.

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