1968 Corvette front fender emblems

[David M.]

I have aquired a 1968 Corvette Convertable that has Stingray emblems in script, on the front fenders. When I look in the NCRS technical information and judging guide, third edition for 68 - 69 vettes, it states that 1968 cars had no emblems on the front fenders. My trim tag states the body build code as H21. I'm puzzeled as to why the emblems are there. Any ideas or infor will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Chuck G.]

Re: 1968 Corvette front fender emblems

Somebody added them? Front end replaced? I've never seen a 68, early or late, with "Stingray" emblems on the fenders.

Your body build date of H21 is the 8th month of production, 21'st day. March or April of 68. Don't have my books handy. Chuck

[David M.]

Re: 1968 Corvette front fender emblems

Thanks for the quick reply Chuck. They may have just added the emblems, although I wouldn't know why someone would want to do that. If they replaced the front clip with a '69, they did a great job with it. Everything looks nice and straight.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968 Corvette front fender emblems

Dave------

While not a common sort of addition, folks would do things like this to "update" their cars. A 1968 with the 1969 fender emblems would look more like a later model 1969. I'll bet that the addition of these emblems happened very early in the car's life, when "updating" the car was more of an issue to an owner. Just when they were installed might be roughly estimatable by the configuration of the emblems used which, without a change in part number, nevertheless changed several times in rather subtle ways over the years.

Another example of "updating": after the 1964 Corvette coupe was introduced with the "1 piece" rear window, some folks chose to "update" their 1963 coupes by having the rear window converted to the 1 piece. This, of course involved a lot of effort and expense, but some folks did it. I recall several cars in my area alone that did this (I was in high school at the time). In retrospect, it was an absolutely dumb thing to do. However, the priorities of a 1963 coupe owner in 1964 were a LOT different than they would be today.

[Jim T.]

Re: 1968 Corvette front fender emblems

Dave I have a original owner 68 convertible built in February 1968 and it has the Stingray emblems on the fenders. It did not come that way. Just looked to bare to me.