Frequently Asked Questions about 1968-1977 Corvette Door Panels
Can you give a basic overview of 1968-1977 door panel designs?
Easy! Corvette left the St Louis Corvette Assembly Plant with either a vinyl or leather interior. Other than 1968, all Vinyl Standard Interior Corvettes had one style of door panels and Leather Interior Corvette had an upgraded version of the same door panel. This changed several times during these years of Corvette production.
What years of C3 Corvettes have different styles of Door Panels and why?
1968 is a one year only door panel with only one version.
1969 was also a one year only door panel and had 2 versions, one for Standard Vinyl Interior and one for Corvettes ordered with optional Leather Interiors.
1970-1976 Standard Vinyl Interior Door Panels are all the same.
1970-1975 Custom (Deluxe) Interior Door Panels and came with Corvette with Leather Seat Covers.
1976 Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim Door Panels and came with Corvette with Leather Seat Covers.
1977 Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim Door Panels were all the same.
What is the difference of the Standard Interior and Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim?
1968 Corvettes came equipped with standard Vinyl Seat Covers or optional Leather Seat covers and all door panels were the same.
1969 Standard Vinyl Interior Corvettes had Door Panels with the upper area of the door panel consisting of a Comfortweave pattern dielectrically embossed / molded into the door panels.
1969 Corvettes with the Leather Interior Option had Door Panels with a separate special Insert of Comfortweave Material attached to the door panels.
1970-1976 Standard Interior trim was vinyl seat covers and door panels without the upper trim bezel or lower door panel covered with carpet and chrome trim.
1970-1976 Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim option consisted of leather Seat Covers, Cut Pile (Plush) Carpeting and special door panels with a wood trim insert on the upper 1/3 of the panel and carpeting on the bottom of the door panel. The shifter console also had matching wood trim. Strangely there was no RPO option number for Custom (Deluxe) Interior Tim.
1977 Corvettes were equipped with the “Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim” package as standard equipment.
What is the difference between 1970-1977 Corvettes with Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim Door Panels?
1970-1975 Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim Door Panels consisted of a normal door panel plus an upper chrome bezel insert with Walnut Wood Trim and a lower chrome trim accenting the Plush Cut Pile carpet at the bottom of the door panel.
1976 Custom (Deluxe) Interior Door Panels consisted of a normal door panel plus an upper chrome bezel insert with Teak Wood Trim and a lower chrome trim accenting the Plush Cut Pile carpet at the bottom of the door panel.
1977 Custom (Deluxe) Interior Door Panels. All 1977 Corvettes had the upgraded Custom (Deluxe) Interior option as standard equipment. The 1977 upper chrome bezel insert was painted Gloss Ebony and was NOT a wood tone.
Is it possible to convert a Standard 1970-1977 Door Panels into Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim Door Panels?
In a simple response - YES. Each separate component piece is available as a Corvette Reproduction Part and every door panel has the same backing and allows for the addition of trim parts. Your old or used hardware can also be transferred to a NEW door panel.
How many Corvettes were equipped with the Optional Custom (Deluxe) Interior Trim option?
Year
|
Production
|
With Option
|
% Production
|
|
1970
|
17,316 |
3,191
|
18.4% |
|
1971
|
21,801 |
2,602
|
11.9% |
| 1972 |
27,004 |
8,709
|
32.3% |
| 1973 |
30,464 |
13,434 |
44.1% |
| 1974 |
37,502 |
19,959 |
53.2% |
| 1975 |
38,465 |
N/A |
N/A |
| 1976 |
46,558 |
36,762 |
79.0% |
| 1977 |
49,213 |
ALL |
100% |
I see 1968-1977 Standard Door Panels listed as both Basic and Standard. Why?
Over the years, we have sold door panel with NO TRIM attached and referred to them as “Basic”. These allowed customers to transfer their old door panel trim to new panels. We also sold the Standard Door Panel with the U-trim and lock plate attached at factory and referred to them as Standard. This was confusing to the customer and we now refer to Door Panels as:
Standard – for vinyl interior cars
Deluxe for leathers interior cars