M/T Comparison: 1970 Chevrolet Corvette LT-1 vs 1970 Porsche 911E

[Brad2345de]

http://motortrend.automotive.com/144...ine-price.html


interesting read, hope you enjoy it!

[Rwm514]

Thx for the link. The corvette faired pretty well back then. Anyone know how the corvettes have held up over the years?

[NV Stig]

Typical GM transmission issues. A buddy of mine, actually Dad's, has a C3 Vette. He's the original owner. It's 1978 25th Anniversary model, a later model of the C3 with most of the bugs taken out of the design. I believe the C3 version went all the way through 82, check my dates. His car had 2 transmission rebuilds. One in the early 80's and one in the 90's. GM never honored them when it was in warranty. He loves the car, but always fought with the transmission issues. The '69S always held it's own in the turns against that Vette, and it's 9 years older. He gets me in the straight away's, like the article says, but get into the twisties, and it's buh bye Chevy

[M_deJong]

I partially restored a '69 convertible a few years back for a family member. Cured me of ever wanting one. Cool looking on the outside, crappy old chevy on the in/underside. I think the article's statement about lets see how it looks after 10 years was spot on. I can report that after 40 years and some decent TLC, my '71 911T is still pretty darn tight.

[Richard]

It is hard to compare these two cars because they are so different...even though they are both 1970 "sports cars". First off, the Corvette '70 LT1 -370 HP engine is legendary. (A comparison with an "S" rather than an "E" would have been a little fairer.) The '70 LT1 is sort of the last version of the race bred '67-69 Z28 302 cubic inch V8 engines. The big difference with the LT1 over the early Z28 engine is the increased displacement to 350 cubic inches. It has the same 30-30 solid lifter cam, same big heads, same high rise aluminum intake and holley carb and although not the same because of the displacement increase, it had all forged internal parts such as crankshaft and pistons just like the early Z28 302 engines. After 1970 almost all engines including the LT1 were watered down for insurance and emissions reasons. I believe this car came with a close ratio Muncie transmission and I am not aware of any transmission problems in these cars as mentioned above. The Muncie transmission is an extremely strong, close ratio 4-speed. It was used in hi-performance GM products for years and is not known for problems. Unfortunately, because the Corvette was about 30% less in cost than the Porsche 911E when new, it could not have the same quality at it's price. Also, because it was a fiberglass body built on top of a steel frame rather than a unibody chassis like the Porsche it could never be as stiff, rattle free or durable. However, with it's independent suspension and large tire footprint it could really handle so it's not surprising it did so well in the road test against the Porsche. It's a very different driving experience. The Porsche being small, light and nimble. The Corvette being noticably larger...especially looking out over it's long hood and heavier feeling (at 3200 lbs. vs. 2300 for the POrsche.) Although less nimble than the Porsche it was extremely fast on racetracks back in it's day. In summary, these cars are very different animals (and their owners are too), but they both are classics and both going up in value while lesser cars stay flat or loose value. I think the '70 LT1 Corvette probably wins the high value award right now...although an excellent condition 911; especially a 911S would be in the same ballpark in terms of todays value.