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My 1972 Corvette is 50 years old today, she’s been on the road for half of a century, amazing. Here’s the history of my ’72 as I have been able to research.
The build date was April 14, 1972 at the old Corvette plant, Natural Bridge and Union Blvd, St. Louis, MO.
My Corvette was ordered by Pappas Chevrolet in Kansas City, MO. for their showroom floor. They ordered it as: Base 350, 4-speed, A/C, PS/PB, tilt-telescopic, 3:36, one-year Bryar Blue with a non-recommended blue interior. Here is a picture of the Pappas Chevrolet showroom located at 71st and Wyandotte, Kansas City, MO. Based on the Camaros on the showroom floor, I would judge the picture to be circa ’67-’68. Unfortunately, the dealership was demoed and a USPS building now sits on the site.
Years ago, I was able to order a title search from the Missouri DMV back when they used to allow that and I got a history of all the owners before I bought it. So, I was able to contact the original owner and talked to him by phone.
Owner 1: He bought the Vette off of the Pappas Chevrolet showroom floor. The Vette didn’t sit on the showroom floor for very long because only 9 days transpired between the build date and purchase date. He traded in a ’69 Pontiac GTO. They were close on price and the salesman threw in a dealer installed luggage rack to seal the deal. I asked about the original window sticker/paperwork or any pictures but he didn’t have any of that. He drove it for 7500 miles before trading it in on a Ford Thunderbird at Ray Smith Ford in Kansas City, MO (no longer there) on Feb 1973.
Owner 2: Purchases the Vette from Ray Smith Ford trading in a ’71 Buick.
Owners 3 thru 6 were all car dealers and no private owners show on the titles for some reason but the Vette stayed in the western part of Missouri.
Owner 7: The Vette eventually made its way cross state back to its birth home to a used car dealer in a suburb of St. Louis (Ferguson, MO). There a man traded in a Plymouth Road Runner for the Vette on Sept 1973.
Owner 8: Me. At this time, I was driving a ’71 Plymouth 340 ‘cuda. I loved the car but it didn’t have A/C.
I always liked the C3’s since seeing the Mako Shark 2 concept car at a car show in Tampa, FL back in the 1960s. I figured the newest Vette I could afford to get into was a ’71 or ’72. It had to be blue, 350, 4-speed with A/C. I looked for 6 months for this combination but wasn’t having any luck in the whole metro St. Louis area. In desperation (because my younger brother was pestering me for my ‘cuda as he had just joined the workforce and needed wheels), I placed a wanted ad in the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper. I still have the whole newspaper car ad section from Sept 1974. I guess it was divine intervention because the Vette I ended up buying is listed just below my wanted ad (see picture below), LOL.
Interesting enough, in the Plymouth section is an ad for a 1970 Hemicuda for $3900. Now that would have been a great investment.
I called and set up a test drive for the Vette on a Saturday morning. What was bothering me was his asking price on the Vette was about $400.00 low for a ’72. We met that Saturday morning and I asked him why he was selling the Vette. Turns out he had taken up golfing and a golf bag wouldn’t fit in the Vette. So, he bought another Road Runner and was selling the Vette. Anyway, we do the test drive and I immediately see why he was priced low. On each shift there would be a clunk from the rear end. I figured it was mechanical in nature so it was either the rear end or u-joints, something I could deal with. We struck the deal and I was the new owner of the Vette. Driving home, I will always remember the view from the driver’s seat, looking out over that hood with the peaked fenders on each side. Mileage was approx. 36,000 miles. Here’s a pic from when I got home with it.
A couple of months later, I jacked up the Vette to investigate the clunking. I found that what was causing the clunking was coming from the differential pinion support bracket. Both thru bolts were loose and the holes thru the bracket were egged shaped. A new bracket and properly torqued thru bolts solved that problem and all was good again.
My car payments were $50.00 a month (lol) and that would prove to be wise because I was laid off about a year later at the start of summer. I had a close friend/family in Vallejo, CA and decided to visit them. I was on ET alum slots at the time and sold the original Rallye wheels (mistake) to help finance the trip. I drove the northern route from Illinois skirting a snow storm in WY and arrived in the San Francisco Bay area. Back then, the Bay/Vallejo area was a great place. The whole summer, I parked my Vette on the street and I couldn’t even see it from the house I was staying at. I don’t think you could do that today, LOL.
While in the Bay area, I decided to take it down to Fremont Dragstrip. I didn’t run it hard because I had no money if I broke it, it was my only way back home and with 3:36 gears, it wasn’t going to ET anyway. I still have the timeslips, see picture below. In the 6 months in the Bay area, I got 2 speeding tickets and a warning. Those motorcycle cops were good, I never saw them until they were on my tail, lol.
After 6 months, my unemployment ran out and I headed back to Illinois, stopping in LA, visited the Meteor Crater and made it back home. The ole Vette never missed a beat.
I got another job and around ’79 decided to add a 600cfm Holley, Edelbrock Torker intake and Hooker sidepipes. That woke it up a little bit.
Around year 2000, my boy started to be able to see over the dash so I started planning on doing the Hot Rod Power Tours with him and running the car down at the Talladega Speedway. I ordered up a mild 383 from American Speed in Moline, IL. 9.5 compression for any crappy gas I might run into, mild .467 lift Crane cam, Edelbrock alum heads and 650 DP Holley. At the same time, I got in on the Corvette Forum Keisler Tremec TKO600 transmission CF group buy from Keisler if some of you were around on CF back then will remember. The 383 engine/ OD transmission combo really woke the Vette up even with a mild 383 for power.
I ran it at the old Gateway Dragstrip outside St. Louis to see what it would do. I didn’t expect it to ET well with 3:36 gears but it ran 13.01 at 107.5 with tire slippage, so I knew it would run a high 12. Next run I gernaded the driver’s side u-joint and for the first time in it’s life, she was trailered home. Other than that one instance, it’s never stranded me the entire time I’ve owned it.
I’ve done a bunch of Power Tours all the way up to Iowa, thru out the Midwest and far down as Mobile, Al over the years, I’ve put a ton of miles on it and it’s never missed a beat. Its just a great car.
My boy and I have done a bunch of runs at the Talladega Speedway in Alabama over the years, driving it down there from Illinois, hitting 140-145 on the back stretch all day long and we drive it back home, never misses a beat. Great car.
It’s got approx 160,000 miles on it now so I’ve put about 124,000 miles on it during my ownership.
I bought a new 2017 Grand Sport so I don’t drive the ’72 as much nowadays. Just local car shows, Cars and Coffees, etc. I’ll never sell it even if it ends up sitting in the garage because gas gets too high. My boy will end up with it anyway.
Hope you enjoyed this long-winded history of my ’72 but hey, they’re only 50 years old once, right?
And as your car hits 50 years, post up something. We’d all love to hear about it.
If you liked this post let me know, I’d appreciate it.
Regards, Charles
Last edited by Mako72; 04-15-2022 at 06:57 PM.
Reason: txt
That is some fantastic history plus all the detail about that time period. Road Runners, 'Cudas, and Corvettes being used as daily drivers. Those were the days.
That classified clipping is great as well. 1966 coupe for $3200!
That is some fantastic history plus all the detail about that time period. Road Runners, 'Cudas, and Corvettes being used as daily drivers. Those were the days.
That classified clipping is great as well. 1966 coupe for $3200!
Thanks. I grew up in Tampa, my dad was stationed at MacDill.
I grew up in Tampa too, went to Ballast Point Elementary in 1st grade, then moved to the north side of Tampa.
My '71 turns 51 next Tuesday but no interesting story like yours. Bought it from the original owner in '75 and rest is history.
Love your '72!
04-14-2022, 12:41 PM
Mako 72-----She's 50 years old today!!
Here’s the history of my ’72 as I have been able to research.
Looks good for it's age!
