1998 CORVETTE
AZTEC GOLD
IN
1997 GM EXPERIMENTED WITH AZTEC GOLD. THIS WAS GOING
TO BE USED FOR CORVETTES 50TH ANNIVERSARY. AS THE STORY GOES, THE BOWLING GREEN FOLKS BUILT FIVE IN A ROW. AFTER
NOTICING SOME DIFFERECNCES THE TEAM STOPPED. THE PAINT EXPERT ENLISTED FROM DUPONT TO HELP ADJUSTED THE FORMULA, MADE FIVE
MORE, AND TOOK ANOTHER FORMULA CHANGING BREAK. THEN BUILT THE FINAL FIVE.
ALL 3 SERIES OF FIVE PROTOTYPES WERE PAINTED (AZTEC GOLD PAINT CODE
58U) FOR TESTING AND EVAULATION.
THE FIRST SERIES WAS PAINTED ON 10/22/1997.
THE SECOND SERIES WAS COMPLETED ON 11/17/1997.
THE FINAL FIVE WERE COMPLETED ON 11/26/1997.
EVERY SERIES HAD A SLIGHT COLOR DIFFERENCE FROM EACH OTHER. EACH PANEL WAS LAID OUT AND THEN MATCH
TOGETHER AND THEN MATED TO A CAR. IN ESSENCE EACH OF THESE CARS WAS HAND MADE.
THE WATER- BASED GOLD PAINT WAS JUST TOO UNPREDICTABLE. IT IS SAID THAT IF YOU DIDN’T
KNOW ABOUT IT, YOU WOULDN’T SEE IT. IT ONLY SHOWS UP FROM CERTAIN ANGLES AND IN JUST THE RIGHT LIGHT. GM HIGH QUALITY
REQUIRES 100 PERCENT CONSISTENCY SO THE PROJECT WAS TERMINATED. ALL 15 PROTOTYPES CARS WERE SHIPPED TO THE GM TECH CENTER IN WARREN MICHIGAN. THERE
WAS A PRIVATE AUCTION ONLY OPEN TO GM EXECUTIVES AND LIMITED NUMBER OF DEALERS.
THERE WERE ONLY 15 AZTEC GOLD PROTOTYPES
CARS PRODUCED.
THIS CORVETTE IS 1 OF ONLY 12 AZTEC GOLD COUPES PRODUCED. THIS CAR IS NUMBER 1
THE FIRST CAR PRODUCED IN THE 1 ST SERIES OF FIVE.
