corvettes of fresno - Description: Description: Description ...

March
June
• The driving team of John Greenwood, Ron Grable, and Mike Brockman drive a Corvette to a win in its
class at Sebring, and taking third place overall, the best ever showing for a Corvette at Sebring.
• Corvette Corral, forerunner to Bloomington Gold, is first held, in Bloomington, Illinois.
September 13
• General Motors show a 266ci two-rotor Wankel-engined test Corvette at the 45th German Motor Show in
Frankfurt, Germany. The car is called Corvette 2-Rotor, (code name XP-897GT) with a steel body.
October 4
• General Motors premieres the 390ci mid-engined Corvette Four-Rotor prototype at the Paris Automobile
Salon in France. The Corvette Two-Rotor is also shown. Both use rotary engines based on Wankel
technology.
Although 1973 VIN's run to 34464, only 30,464 units were built; the 4,000 serial numbers
between 24001 and 28000 were never used.
The 1970 - 1972 Corvettes were the last to feature chrome bumpers front and rear. In 1973,
due to front impact legislation requirements, the front bumper was changed to a body-colored
flexible plastic. In 1974 the rear bumper followed suit.
In 1973, aluminum wheels were again listed as an option. However, their inability to maintain
air pressure (much like the problems which plagued the early 1963 aluminum knock off
wheels), kept them out of the hands of customers until 1976.
Government mandated safety regulations that made their first appearance in 1968 became more
intrusive with the introduction of the 1973 Corvette. New laws required all cars to be able to sustain
a five mph impact on the front without damaging lights or other safety gear. The bumper system
consisted of a injection molded urethane cover, which, due to the flex agent in the paint, was often
a slightly different shade than the rest of the car. Also gone was the "ice cube" style grille and the
fender louver, which was replaced by a rather bland and untrimmed recess.
A new hood made an appearance in 1973 and the new design eliminated the need for the moveable
panel that was raised to allow the windshield wipers to do their thing. The mechanism was
troublesome so it probably wasn't missed.
The rear window would no longer be removable. The idea was to give a more open feeling, but
excessive wind buffeting meant that it was little used.
Some steps were taken to make the Corvette a quieter place to drive and ride in, including the
addition of sound deadening material on some inner panels, a hood pad and improved chassis
mounts.