Motor Trend’s 1978 Corvette Test: Why It Was a Sensation

by Scott · Published June 9, 2026 · Updated June 9, 2026

Chevy’s beautiful Mid-Cycle Refresh is complete, just one thing was missing – HORSEPOWER!

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD: 1978 Motor Trend 25th Anniversary Corvette Road Test
Read the original comparison of the Base 350, LT-1, and LS5 454 Corvette exactly as enthusiasts saw it in 1978.

The Corvette community was not expecting this!

Back in the days before the Internet, one of the delights of every autumn was the anticipation of the arrival of the next year’s new cars. It didn’t matter if you were a Chevy, Ford, Mopar, or whatever fan; the car companies did their best to splash their “new and improved” vehicles.

I was there, and I can tell you that no one anticipated what they saw when Chevrolet unleashed the 1978 Corvette. As a designer and illustrator, I’m always aware of my immediate reaction to a new design. A car has about half a second to grab me. I want that instant “WOW!” reaction, and that’s exactly what the 1978 Corvette fastback delivered.

When the 1968 Corvette debuted, I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t look more like the Mako Shark II show car, particularly its dramatic Sting Ray-inspired boat-tail roof. But I got over it very quickly. As the car evolved and 2-1/2-mph crash bumpers became mandatory, I liked the Corvette designer’s solution, the soft, body-colored bumper covers. Oversized chrome bumpers on the C3 would have killed the car.

Get FREE Access to the Latest Posts

A beautiful mid-cycle refresh!

I was very happy with the overall look of the new Corvette as it entered its 11^th year of production. The new glass fastback blended perfectly with the soft front and rear bumper covers. The new roof looked as natural as the C2 Sting Ray’s pointed, Adler-Trumpf-inspired “boat-tail” roof.

Corvette Generational History

The 1968–1982 C3 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. Car and Driver first splashed the 1978 Corvette in their October 1977 issue. Motor Trend put the refreshed Corvette on the cover of their December 1977 issue and also gushed all over the car. The actual car in both stories was the same, a preproduction magazine pool car, dressed to the nines with its optional new 25^th Anniversary ($399 in September 1977, or around $2,200 in 2026 dollars) paint, fat P255/60R15 Goodyear tires with raised white lettering, and $340 ($1,850 in 2026 dollars) aluminum alloy wheels.

The car was so handsome, we didn’t fret over the optional performance L82 350 (a $525, or $2,850 in 2026 dollars) 220-horsepower engine.

The L82 replaced the LT-1 in 1973 and remained the Corvette’s sole performance-engine option through 1980. Horsepower climbed gradually from 205 hp in 1975 to 220 hp in 1978 and eventually reached 230 hp in 1980. Considering the emissions and fuel-economy regulations of the era, any horsepower increase was welcome news.

Dave McLellan became the new Corvette chief engineer in 1974 when Zora Arkus-Duntov retired. The 1978 mid-cycle refresh was the first new production Corvette with Dave’s fingerprints. In hindsight, we were fortunate to have a Corvette still at all, let alone a performance engine option. Corvette engineer, Gib Hufstader, was on record saying in 1976/1977, “Even we weren’t sure if Corvette would continue.”

McLellan and his team knew the Corvette’s ground-pounding days were behind them and shifted their focus. Chevrolet’s new focus emphasized the Corvette’s improved refinement, practicality, and new fastback rear-window design rather than outright performance.

I will be making a PDF version of the Car and Driver road test soon.

Both articles equally praise the 25^th Anniversary 1978 Corvette, but there’s one thing that they’re missing. Neither has a statistics box. Here are the likely reasons. The car featured in both articles is most likely the same. They both have the white interior, an automatic transmission, and the optional AM/FM Stereo with CB Radio (a $391 option for 1978, or $2,100 in 2026 dollars!)

The automatic transmission may be the biggest clue that the magazine pool car was powered by the standard 185-hp L48 engine rather than the optional L82. Had the car been equipped with the L82, both publications almost certainly would have highlighted the fact. That may explain why neither article included the traditional performance-data box readers expected from a Corvette road test. This may explain the absence of a traditional performance data box in either article.

Regardless of the missing performance data, both reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Compared to performance cars and sports cars of the time, the 1978 Corvette’s handling, brakes, comfort, amenities, and movie star good looks added up to an outstanding Grand Touring car for 1978.

Chevrolet’s gamble paid off. Corvette production soared to a then-record 46,776 units for 1978, proving that buyers were just as captivated by the new fastback styling as the automotive press. – Scott

Read the full December 1977 Motor Trend report…

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD: 1978 Motor Trend 25th Anniversary Corvette Road Test

One of the best things about the 1978 25th Anniversary Corvettes is that if you love the look, you can get a driver-quality car at a fraction of the cost of a newer Corvette. Below are our findings from www.BringATrailer.com 1978 25th Anniversary Corvettes from June 2025 to June 2026. Unless you are interested in street rodding the car with a 383 Stroker or another Chevrolet Performance Crate Engine, you will have a handsome cruiser.

After some elbow grease, spit, polish, and detailing, you’ll start hearing, “Hey, Man. Nice Vette!”

Condition	Regular 1978 Corvette	1978 25th Anniversary Corvette	Description
Needs Help	$8,000 – $12,000	$12,000 – $17,000	Running project cars needing paint, interior, mechanical work, or restoration.
Driver Quality	$12,000 – $18,000	$16,000 – $25,000	Good drivers with presentable cosmetics and solid mechanical condition.
Excellent Driver	$18,000 – $28,000	$24,000 – $35,000	Low-mileage examples with strong documentation and desirable options.
Show Ready	$28,000 – $40,000	$35,000 – $50,000	Outstanding examples suitable for local and regional shows.
Exceptional Survivor	$40,000+	$50,000 – $65,000+	Ultra-low-mileage, award-winning, highly documented collector cars.

Market Note: Bring a Trailer sales from June 2025 through June 2026 suggest that 1978 25th Anniversary Corvettes generally command a premium over comparable standard 1978 Corvettes. According to Corvette Magazine’s June 2026 Market Report, the Anniversary package can add approximately $2,000 to $9,000 to a car’s value, depending on condition, originality, mileage, documentation, and equipment.

Here is Chevrolet’s published performance data for the 1978 L82 4-speed Corvette:

Performance Category	1978 Corvette L82 4-Speed
Engine	L82 350ci V8
Horsepower	220 HP @ 5,200 RPM
Torque	260 lb-ft @ 3,600 RPM
Transmission	4-Speed Manual
0-60 MPH	6.5 seconds
0-100 MPH	17.9 seconds
Quarter-Mile	15.2 seconds @ 95 MPH
Top Speed	132 MPH

By the spring of 1978, Chevrolet started a firestorm when they announced that a very special 1978 Corvette would pace the Indy 500 and that there would be 300 Corvette Pace Car Replicas available. Dealers howled because they all want one! Then the customers piled on. Ultimately, 6,502 Pace Car Replicas were built at a list price of 13,653 ($72,750 in 2026 dollars).

Corvette Generational History

Our 1953–1962 C1 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

The 1962–1967 C2 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

Also, 1968–1982 C3 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

The 1984-1996 C4 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

Here’s a craze Corvette factoid from 1978. For only $11.50, shipping included (about $62.00 in 2026 dollars), you could buy a full-size billboard kit with 12 “easy to assemble” sheets that, when glued together, would measure 21-feet wide by 10-feet tall. The ad copy suggests that you could display your assembled billboard in your “family room (your wife will love it!), office, garage, basement, workshop, or dorm”. “Offer expires March 31, 1978. Sorry, no C.O.Ds”.

Chevrolet expected the giant 21-foot-by-10-foot Silver Anniversary Corvette billboard to be a novelty item. Instead, demand was so strong that Chevrolet reportedly had to return to the printing press twice to fill customer orders. While the total number sold remains unknown, surviving unopened billboard kits still occasionally surface among Corvette collectors nearly 50 years later.

Personally, I find the ad hilarious.

Here is a fascinating clue from the man who created the promotion.

In a 2008 blog post by former Chevrolet advertising executive Jim Bernardin, he discussed the exact Silver Anniversary Corvette billboard promotion shown in the ad. Bernardin wrote that the offer appeared only in the December 1977 issue of Car and Driver and that demand exceeded expectations: “It was more than we expected. We had to go back on press twice to fulfill all the orders.”

That is a pretty remarkable statement.

While he didn’t reveal the actual number sold, “went back on press twice” tells us:

Chevrolet underestimated demand.
The initial print run sold out.
A second print run sold out.
A third printing was required.

That’s far more successful than I would have guessed for a 21-foot-wide paper billboard.

The 1978 Corvette wasn’t just another model-year update. Chevrolet created enough excitement around the fastback redesign and Silver Anniversary package that enthusiasts were willing to mail-order a giant paper billboard and hang it in their house. That’s peak Corvette fever.

What’s even more interesting is that surviving examples continue to surface. Collectors on Corvette Forum, Etsy, and other sites still occasionally find unopened billboard kits in their original mailing sleeves.

Here’s one on Etsy (June 2026) with an asking price of $315.00!