1970 LT1 transmission choices

[Robert M.]

Is there any way to determine how many 1970 LT1's were ordered with an M20 vs an M21. I would assume the vast majority of the 1287 cars came with the M21 close ratio box.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1970 LT1 transmission choices

Rob------

There's no way to know how many 1970 LT-1s were originally built with M-20. I would say that it's a safe bet that the MAJORITY of the cars were built with M-21. However, I think it's a lot less certain that the "vast majority" were so-ordered.

[Joe L.]

Addendum

Keep in mind that in 1970 a lot of Corvettes were ordered by dealers for STOCK rather than individually customer-ordered. Many smaller dealers only had an allocation of a few Corvettes and they were almost always ordered for stock. In other words, they would order them for stock, put them on the showroom floor to help draw in customers as a "halo" vehicle, and sell them when someone came along willing to buy at MSRP. Especially for the smaller dealers, the guy in charge of ordering might not have been "performance savvy". While the smaller dealers only got a few Corvettes each, there were a lot of smaller dealers.

Even at larger dealers with larger allocations, the guy ordering the cars for stock might not have been very performance-oriented, either. Not all large dealers were what one would call "specialists in high performance". The guy ordering the Corvettes might have been a guy who was very adept at ordering Impalas to please the traffic at the dealership but who knew little about performance issues.

[Robert M.]

Re: 1970 LT1 transmission choices

Thanks Joe, I was just wondering if there was a breakdown on the numbers.

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: Addendum

Joe,

how much of that goes on today do you think?

[Joe L.]

Re: Addendum

lyndon-----

Today, the options for Corvettes are so limited as compared to those of yesteryear that it probably does not make a whole lot of difference. However, I believe that today, like yesteryear, most Corvettes are ordered for stock rather than customer-ordered.

[John H.]

Re: Addendum

It's my experience, based on Chrysler data, that less than 4% of new cars are ordered by customers who then wait for them; the other 96% are bought out of dealer inventory. I've always been one of the "4%" guys.

[Joe L.]

Re: Addendum

John-----

For the most part, I'm the same way. A few exceptions, though: many years ago I owned 2 Hondas---an Accord and a Civic GL. Hondas, at least at that time, were not factory-ordered. There were no factory-installed options and interior color was determined by exterior color. So, dealers simply recieved a selection of colors and all options were dealer-installed. By the way, that Civic was one of the best cars I ever owned. Period. I still look back at it with very fond memories. I put almost 200,000 miles on it over an 8 year period. Believe it or not, it had great power and delivered an average of 38 MPG over the 8 years; I still have the fuel and maintenence logbook I kept on it (and all) my cars. When I sold it, it had virtually all of its original components. In fact, it still had its original battery and clutch!!!! Also, the service manual for that car (which I still have) was ABSOLUTELY the best service manual I've ever seen for ANY car. It puts any GM service manual I've seen to shame. Just absolutely extraordinary.

The other exception is my current driver, a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. I found nearly the exact car I wanted to order at a dealership. The only difference was that it had a sunroof which I specifically did not want. However, the dealership agreed to meet my price for the car which I based upon the exact same car without sunroof. So, I essentially got the sunroof for free. I still thought long-and-hard about it, though; I don't like sunroofs even for FREE. I have not used it more than a few times, but it has not been any kind of problem, either (i.e. leaks). So, I'm neutral on it now.