Black original floor mats.

[August M. Heilig]

My 67' came with clear mats,what years did they switch to
the same mat but in black?

Thanks,

Augie!

[Mike M.]

Re: Black original floor mats.

no midyears utilized black floor mats and the clear ones were either dealer installed or repos installed later. the original dealer installed clears are considerably more firm and unyielding whereas the repos are rather limp and like to reposition themselves when one enters and exits the c-2. the originals also tend to have discolored a light tan by now whereas the clear repos tend to remain clear. mike

[Jack H.]

Re: Black original floor mats.

According to MF Dobbins in his Corvette Fact Book series, the clear floor mats were dealer items for mid year cars and the black mats were used in Shark era. Of course, once a part's shipped and in dealership inventory--a part's a part so you might find black mats bought over the counter after initial sale in mid year cars and clear (left over inventory) in Shark cars.

Bottom line, expect the clear mats to discolor from sun exposure while black mats are pretty stable. In either case, the mats have to come out for judging because these were dealer vs. factory option items, so take your pick!

[Terry M.]

Re: Black original floor mats.

I would guess that Dobbins calls out black only for C3 because that is all that is listed in the official Chevrolet options book. I've never made a comparison of the shape of mid-year mats to shark era mats. Has anyone else?
My dealer was real happy to sell me clear floor mats for my 1970. I didn't think the black mats went well with the bright blue interior. My hunch is that there was nothing "old stock" about the mats I bought, but without comparing the shape to mid-year mats, I can't be sure.

[Dave S.]

Re: Black original floor mats.

The mid year style clear mats and the black shark era black mats are completely different in both appearance and size. The clear mats must have been a real PITA in the shark car besides the fact they are way to narrow. The black mats also had a small triangle cut out for the auto transmission cars in the passenger side mat. As Jack mentioned the reproductions of both styles are quite inferior.

[Terry M.]

Re: Black original floor mats.

Just as I suspected Dave. My clear mats (now yellow) fit the floor contours just fine, and are the same shape as the shark black floor mats. This confirms my suspicions that they are not left over mid-year pieces. I'm not sure why the clear mats didn't make the official options book (at least for 1970), but they certainly were available from the dealer. We don't often get into the details of accessories, since for the most part we don't judge them.

[Mike M.]

Re: Black original floor mats.

what about that ZR1 option that was offered for two milliseconds in early 61? we ought to investigate that phenomenae. mikie