Rare 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Sportwagon Is Longing for Attention

The original maker of the Sportwagon conversion kit was Chuck Miller. He allegedly created the design for a drummer in a rock’n’roll band who wanted to fit his drums in the back of his Vette. There is no word of how many Sportwagons were built as the kits were mostly sold to homebuilders. Conservative estimates show only a few dozen were completed, and this is why they are quite rare in the C3 Corvette universe.

Since the C1, Chevy Corvettes had a fiberglass body and it was fairly easy to work on it. The Sportwagon kit included a new fiberglass rear roof section complete with the rear window that turned the C3 into a shooting brake. The design was undeniably attractive but not very practical since the trunk was still accessible only from the inside of the car.

Indeed, the rear window was fixed in place and there was no lid or hatch to access the cargo area. An improved design with an opening rear window was introduced in the 1970s by John Greenwood, but the C3 Corvette Sportwagon remained a very rare affair nevertheless. The example offered for sale on Bring a Trailer uses one of the rare original kits developed by Chuck Miller and it does not feature side windows.

The Sportwagon conversion kit was not the only modification this Vette got, as the retractable headlights were replaced by regular headlamps integrated into the grille. Also, later-model fender vents were added, while the exhaust pipes were relocated along the side skirts.

Of course, not everything is golden, and the seller mentions a lot of non-functional components. Among them, we count the parking brake, the air conditioning, and the reverse lights (no biggie) while the dash lights and the gauges panel are inoperable. Bummer. Nevertheless, this car is still rare, and if you’re willing to live without a trunk lid you might get a very nice piece of Corvette history. Right now, the highest bid is at $6,969, with five days still left to bid.