1974–77 Plastic (Not So) Fantastic ’Vettes

1975 was the nadir. The base motor was down to 165 hp—the lowest since Chevy abandoned the Blue Flame Six in 1955

by Rob Sass

The 1970s included some great years for the Corvette—Corvette fans still get slightly dizzy at the mention of the L88 and L71 engine options. Unfortunately, those were the other ’70s, the pre-disco, Vietnam-era early ’70s that were really more like a brief encore to the ’60s. The real ’70s, the post-1973 Watergate/disco ’70s, were not especially kind to America’s only sports car.

The twin whammies of bumper and pollution legislation hit all the major manufacturers with full force in 1974. They responded with varying degrees of success. Nobody got it completely right. Among the worst was MG. A terrible response to the bumper regulations and power that went from adequate to a joke. Porsche seemed to do best. Their answer to the bumpers was excellent, and electronic fuel injection plus a displacement increase coped with the pollution issues while keeping power up (only later did owners discovere that the engines cooked and disassembled themselves)....