You are currently viewing our page for 1978 Corvettes and 1979 Corvettes. Both of these years brought exciting events for the Corvette industry. 1978 was the 25th year Anniversary, or the Silver Anniversary. Because of this occasion, you will find designs and features unique to 1978 Anniversary Corvettes. 1979 saw little changes from 1978, which turned out to be wise, as this became the biggest selling year for Chevrolet Corvette to this day.

If you are perusing 1978 Corvettes, some of the features you may find include the 25th Anniversary emblem (which adorned all 1978 Corvettes), a compound curved window, two tone silver paint on the anniversary model, the first genuine glove box, upgraded instrument panel housing, and armrests that are screwed to the door as opposed to being molded to the door as in previous years.

A specific Corvette model you may find, is an Indy 500 pace car replica. In 1978, to commemorate the Silver Anniversary, Chevrolet reached out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and negotiated for Corvette to serve as the pace car for the 1978 running of the Indy 500. After designing the perfect Corvette for the occasion, Chevrolet decided to produce and sell replicas to the general public. The replica pace car featured a two-tone paint scheme, with black on top and silver on the bottom, separated by a red pinstripe. Beyond the special Anniversary and Pace Car paint schemes, 1978 Corvettes came in Corvette Red, Black, Corvette Yellow, Light and Dark Blue, Classic White, and less common shades like Silver, Mahogany, and Dark Brown.

1979 Corvettes saw little change, but many optional features became standard including tilt-telescopic steering columns, air conditioning, and power windows. The trim around the fastback window, which was chrome on 1978 Corvettes, was now painted black.

Mechanically, the 1979 Corvette L48 and L82 engines both received a 5 hp increase as a result of a new “open flow” muffler design. In addition, the low-restriction, dual snorkel air intake that had been introduced to the L82 engine was now added to the L48 engine. This increased the L48 output by 5 hp again, bringing it to a total output of 195 hp and the L82 offered 225 hp.

View our Full 1978-1989 Corvette Series History.