1967 Chevy Corvette

1967 Chevy Corvette

1967 CHEVY CORVETTE UNIQUE FEATURES
1967 was the last year of the 2nd-generation, or C2 Corvettes, also known by the nickname “Midyear Vettes”. The ’67 is unique among the midyear cars and easy to spot because, among other things, it has 5 vertical “gills” on the front fenders, where the ’65 and ’66 had 3, and the earlier C2 had 2 horizontally. So, the 5-gills are unique to the ’67 model. The parking brake handle was also moved from under the dash to the drivers side of the transmission tunnel, next to the drivers seat. There was a new 31” fixed-length radio antenna, and the backup lights were now above the rear license plate. The ’67 had decidedly less chrome and trim than the previous years, giving it a cleaner, more menacing look. Lastly, this was the first year for four round red tail lights, a theme that would continue off and on in the Corvette’s future.

1967 Chevy Corvette COUPE

1967 CHEVY CORVETTE KNOCK-OFF WHEELS
The alloy “Knock-Off” wheels ceased to be true knock-offs, although they continued to be called that. True Knock-Offs are called that because instead of holding the wheel to the axle or spindle with conventional lug nuts, the wheel slides onto a splined shaft which has threads on the end of it. A large nut, usually with 2 or 3 “wings” on it, is screwed on and tightened down. Then a hammer or mallet is used to hit the wings to tighten up the wheel. To remove the wheels, the mallet is used to “Knock Off” the nut and thus the wheel, hence the name. These were considered desirable in racing at the time, as they were faster to remove and reinstall during a momentary pit stop than a 5-lug arrangement. With all that said, prior Corvettes could be ordered with honest-to-goodness Knock-Off Wheels. But for 1967, these were changed over to conventional lug nuts. However, they were styled to look like the Knock-Off wheel, with removable center caps covering the lug nuts and giving the appearance of the old wheels. Only 720 ’67 Corvettes were ordered with them at $263.

ABOVE: EARLY-STYLE GENUINE KNOCK-OFF WHEEL. The spinner actually held the wheel on.

BELOW: LATE-STYLE “KNOCK-OFF”. Chevy called them “Cast Aluminum Bolt-On Wheels” starting in ’67 because the spinner is now just for looks. The entire center cap pops off to reveal 5 conventional lugnuts. The giveaway is how the spokes continue all the way to the center of the wheel, where the early-style genuine knock-off (above) is smooth-centered.

1967 Chevy Corvette CONVERTIBLE

1964 Chevy Corvette INTERIORS

1967 Chevy Corvette ENGINES

1967 CHEVY CORVETTE ENGINES
The list of 327 small blocks remained more or less unchanged. However, there were a few new additions to the stable of big blocks. 1967 was the first year for the aluminum-head L88, a high performance version of the already powerful 427 V8, that was laughably rated at 430hp. It’s actual output was more like 550hp+. It was an expensive option at $948 (at at time when the whole car only cost $4,240), and it really wasn’t very drivable as a street car, so only 20 were ordered this year. However, with the conservative published horsepower figure this mighty engine wasn’t even the top-rated performance motor that year. That honor went to the 435hp L71 427 Tri-Power, which used a bank of three Holley 2-barrel carburetors. Itself a $437 option, for an additional $368, you could add a set of L88 aluminum heads (RPO L89) to your 427 Tri-Power, perhaps creating the best of both worlds: L88 grunt with Tri-Power drivability. This is perhaps the rarest option of them all with only 16 takers in 1967. Big block Vettes got an actual hood scoop for 1967, not just a power bulge as before.

390hp 427 V8 w/Single 4-barrel

435hp 427 V8 w/Tri-Power

Keyword: 1967 Chevy Corvette