I recently bought my 2nd Vette (I sold my '78 in 1982) and was told by the seller that it is one of only 450 produced. They said it is a Bowling Green Special Edition. I can find no information on this. It's two tone beige over dark bronze. Good lookin' car! Is anyone familiar with this? Any information would be appreciated.

Ive heard about it I actully just saw it in a corvette book at Borders books so check around the book store I forgot the name of the book but it was pretty thick.
rj

I don't believe there were any "special" Bowling Green cars. He may have been referring to the fact that St. Louis did not paint any "two-tone" cars in 1981. Only the "two-tone" '81s came out of Bowling Green. I believe at this time it is NOT "known" of the number of "two-tone" paint cars in '81, although they seem to know the number of two-tone '82 Corvettes produced in Bowling Green.

I appreciate both of your replies. I'll try the bookstore and see what I can find out. The Corvette Museum website doesn't list the number produced. Thanks again.

I live in Bowling Green and belong to the "Corvettes Limited of Bowling Green" Corvette Club. We are having our Christmas party at the National Corvette Museum tomorrow night, so there will be quite a few folks there to talk with. I know alot of the old guys that have worked at the Corvette Plant in the past, such as Paul Schnoes (Director of Operations and then General Manager from 1980 to 1994), Dave McClellan (Chief Engineer - Design) and some of the old guys that were Paint Shop Supervisors through the years. I'll start some conversations about your issue and get you an answer. If nothing else, I'll talk with Rick Robbins (present Director of Quality) who is a good friend of mine and we'll see if we can get a paint chart or history of paints for your 1981. Let me see what information I can get for you.

Pete

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Ranrich55,
Saturday evening, I talked with some of the present and former management folks at the Corvette Plant here in Bowling Green concerning your comment about a 1981 Bowling Green Special Edition. All of them commented that you may have a vette with an unusual paint scheme that didn't get many orders in 1981 due to the lack of customer interest in that particular color scheme. Therefore, there were probably a limited number of vettes produced with the two tone beige over bronze scheme. However, there was never a "special edition" designator attached to the low number of vettes produced with the beige/bronze color scheme. I bet it's a beautiful vette, though; can we see pictures of it? A little history - 1980 was the year that GM decided to set up processes to finally close the St. Louis Corvette facility due to an old and inadequate facility that couldn't be expanded and that had a poor paint shop. The Chrysler AirTemp (air conditiioners) facility in Bowling Green, which is the present Bowling Green Corvette Plant, became available. So, by 1980-1981, GM completed the opening of the Bowling Green plant and in 1981 decided to perform one color paint schemes in St. Louis and two-tone paint schemes in Bowling Green on their Corvette line. This is what I found out, so take it for what it's worth. You may want to contact the NCM at 1-800-53VETTE and talk with Bobbie Joe in Communications about your quest. She should be able to get you in touch with somebody that can give you facts and specifics about the number of vettes produced with your paint scheme. I hope this helps you.

Pete E.

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Flyboy...Thank you for going to so much trouble! It's really great that vette enthusiasts like you are willing to help each other with questions concerning their "pride and joy". The color, I'm sure, is probably the basis for the "special edition" tag told to me by the seller. How many were manufactured in this color combination is anyone's guess. I wish I had pictures! One just like mine just sold on Ebay. You can go to Ebay and where it says "search" enter 2445915835 and our twin sister appears. Thanks again...Ranrich55