The 1978 movie “Corvette Summer” probably doesn't win any nostalgia awards in either the mainstream or car-guy audiences. Even Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars” just before taking his role in this movie, could not save “Corvette Summer” from the the failed-car-flicks category. However, plots and acting aside, the film stars a movie star car embodied in a wild '73 Corvette.
According to
CorvetteFever, while the Corvette is a genuine movie star car, the actual movie seems like it should be a Saturday afternoon filler between featured programs.
Images: CorvetteFever
Seeing as how the movie doesn't have many great points to talk about, the car is the only thing worth focusing on. The Corvette started its career as a '73 Corvette with an L48 350 and Turbo 350 auto-tranny. It quickly made its way to the graveyard after being rear-ended and declared a total loss. Here, Matthew Robbins and Hal Barwood, producer and director respectively, found the Corvette. The damaged car suited the role for the premise of the movie. Mark Hamill's character is a high school student who builds a car, and this particular car was already halfway there.
The project was then taken over by Dick Korkes of Korky's Kustom studios. Here, it was given the star-car appearance as shown. The engine was given an
Edelbrock dual-quad high-rise and a pair of vacuum secondary
Holleys. The frame was also redone in order to fit camera mounts. Also modified was the steering position. To take care of some of the stunts that the movie required, the car was modified for right-hand-drive via a motorcycle chain and sprockets that link the steering columns.
Aesthetically, the car is modeled to look animated and personified. There is plenty of custom fiberglass work all around the car, as well as a very custom front-end. The headlights are Caprice-type squares, and are set to a fixed position. While it isn't what every Corvette-guy would model his or her own car after, the movie-star car is the most popular car in the Mid America Motorworks museum collection. People travel across boarders to see this love-to-hate car.
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