The 1970s Can-Am wide-body Corvette look is an acquired taste, but if you can dig it – and if you can hustle on out to Indianapolis next month – Mecum will be offering one with the performance to back up those far-out flares.
From the collection of Motion aficionado Dan McMichael of Indianapolis comes this 1974 Motion Can-Am Spyder Corvette prototype, serial number 0001, built by Joel Rosen’s legendary Motion Performance. It was the first of a run that amounted to just four Corvettes total: The other three were painted yellow with small-block power under their domed hoods, but this red one features a 530hp, 466-cu.in. big-block V-8 with a Muncie M22 close-ratio four-speed and a 4.11:1 rear gear. It boasts the fiberglass wide body kit, Plexiglas-covered headlamps, black rear window louvers, six tunneled taillamps and a set of 10-inch-wide tires on the rear, along with a hatch cut into the fastback body, a feature that Corvette coupes wouldn’t adopt until 1982.
If you think the exterior is shagadelic, poke your head inside for a look at the black diamond pleat upholstery (with buttons) lavished on the seats and door panels. And that lever poking out of the console on the passenger’s side? That engages the Hone-O-Drive overdrive unit that Joel Rosen installed on many Motion cars. It’s an auxiliary two-speed planetary transmission that gives you a 1.43:1 overdrive when yanked into gear.
Mecum’s pre-auction estimate for this one-of-a-kind Motion Corvette ranges from $150,000 to $225,000, but it seems like it could be anybody’s guess what this car will bring when it crosses the block at the 26th Original Spring Classic Auction, scheduled for May 14-19 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
For more information, visit Mecum.com.
UPDATE (20.May 2013): The Corvette bid up to $120,000, but didn’t sell.
