The A.O. Smith-body 1967 Chevrolet C2 Corvette is one of the rarest Corvettes to ever exist. That is, if you believe it actually existed.
Here’s the story behind this unicorn of a Corvette:
“The body was built in Ionia, MI, at A.O. Smith and shipped to St. Louis for assembly as a 1967 Corvette. The vehicle started the third and fourth day of production as VIN #365 and then went through a hold for over a week. The true experts have always maintained there were possibly a small number of A.O. Smith 427 Corvettes in the first week or two of production, with none later, and this is one of them. The week-later production offset between it and the other cars was probably the result of a management decision to restrict inspection in St. Louis of the hood stripe, followed by assembly hold and later management decision to restrict all 1967 big block orders to St. Louis bodies.”
The reason for the “decision to restrict inspection in St. Louis of the hood stripe” was based on the fact that the technique to create the stripping was rather difficult. This led to St. Louis being the sole producer of the Corvette, and that the A.O. Smith factory would no longer produce them. That means this is one of the fewer than 10 percent of  1967 Corvettes that were originally manufacture in the A.O. smith factory before being sent to St. Louis.
As if this ’67 Corvette Convertible were not already fascinating enough, it is also powered by a 427 Big Block V8 mated to a 4-speed manual transmission. It also has original body panels, original trim tag, and VIN plate, which have never been removed from the car even though it has had a frame-off restoration and build to factory spec. And just in case you’re still dubious about its authenticity, the car still has a copy of the original Corvette Order with the authenticity mark.
To top it all off, this Vette is also a two-time NCRS Flight Award winner, and there’s proof of that as well. Watch it cross the block at the upcoming 2015 Barrett-Jackson Hot August Nights Auction in Reno, Nevada scheduled for August 6-8.
See more pictures of the car here.
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