There’s nothing classic Corvette fans hate more than mods, and it can’t get more extreme than the famous shooting brake conversions. However, this 1968 C3 Corvette “Sportwagon” is the most expensive-looking built we’ve ever seen.
Nowadays, you see a lot of shooting brake renderings, and there’s even a C7 conversion from Callaway, the AeroWagen. However, the original C3 Corvette wagon conversions were created out of necessity.
In 1967, the third-generation Vette came out, and it had the fantastic body shape of a shark. This made it an instant hit. However, there was one problem with its shell: there was no trunk lid, which meant you had to access the (small) trunk area via the interior of the car.
For the most part, people were used to it, but some wanted to do… stuff in their Corvettes. And so, the fiberglass roof kits were developed, creating a tunnel over the cabin and increasing cargo space. These conversions packages were called “Sportwagons”, not shooting brakes, but you can see they resemble European 2-door coachbuilt exotics.
These were sold by a small number of American manufacturers, primarily Chuck Miller and then John Greenwood. Legend has it that the first Corvette Sportwagon was made by Miller for the drummer of a rock band who owned a C3 and wanted space for his equipment. But the first prototype didn’t have an opening hatch, so it wasn’t much better than a normal Corvette.
The C3 Sportwagon is America’s Ferrari Shooting Brake
Nobody knows how many were made, but it’s believed that a few dozens of C3 wagons were put together. This one is impeccably put together, unlike most of them, and it’s highlighted in a 4K walkaround video from Bullet Motorsports before they put it up for sale (BAT auction has started).
The fiberglass custom roof has been nicely molded into the rest of the body. Even though it’s such an unusual shape, you should still easily notice that it’s got widebody flared fenders at the back. The front is pretty unusual too. The pop-out headlights have been removed and replaced with round projectors at the bottom, supposedly to make this even more shark-like.
Because the rear window is fixed and the roof is not angled, I believe this is a Chuck Miller version, though a lot of custom fiberglass work obviously went into this Vette. The cargo space is accessed through the interior of the car. You have to open the door and then lean the seat forwards to put things in.
On the mechanical side, this went from great white shark to megalodon because a 572 big-block V8 found its way under that cowl hood. A 5-speed manual and 12-inch-wide tires had to be installed just to cope with the output. And she’s got side pipes, so you know the sound is awesome.
