Shark attack! In the 1968 model year, GM introduced the C3 Corvette with its shark-like body shape. Surprisingly, even though the 1968 body was a drastic change over previous years, each of the 28,566 cars sold was built on essentially the same chassis as the C2 “mid-year” Corvettes and outsold all preceding years of the Corvette.  

As the first year for the C3 generation, 1968 was something of an odd year. There were several features of the 1968 car that weren’t shared by other cars in the C3 era. The door opened via a button and a spring-loaded plate, and the wheels were all seven inches wide. 1968 was also the last year that Chevrolet installed its 327ci engine in Corvettes.

The 1968 Corvette also introduced several new Corvette features. First, t-tops were first available on 1968 coupes, and would continue to be available through the remainder of the C3 era. Chevrolet has continued to offer removable roof panels on nearly every coupe since 1968. The headlights on the C3 were truly of the “pop-up” variety, and were seen on Corvettes until the C6 debut. Third, the Turbo Hydra-Matic transmission was introduced. This three-speed automatic was a more modern pairing with the various engines available in the Corvette, and performed well in a variety of applications.