[PICS] The Corvettes of the 2017 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Nov 28, 2017

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[PICS] The Corvettes of the 2017 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Each year on the weekend before Thanksgiving we make a pilgrimage to Chicago for the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) show. Roughly 500 cars get stuffed into the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center for a 2-day celebration of horsepower and chrome.

The show brings together the best of the best from the muscle car era. This year’s primary focus was on the 50th anniversary of the Firebird and Camaro and while the show had a decidedly F-body theme there were still plenty of Corvettes to be seen.

The annual Corvette Legends Invitational brought together an impressive grouping of Corvettes. The group was comprised of 4 1967 L71 427/435’s, 2 C4 GS90’s, and 5 of the 20 1967 L88’s produced. The display itself was a little disjointed this year as the cars were split into 2 sections. The L88’s were included in the 50th anniversary Camaro display and the 435’s and GS90’s were in an adjacent group. Personally, we would have like to have seen the L88’s get more of a front and center location due their significance. We don’t get to see 1967 L88’s very often, but it was still great to see roughly $15 million worth of C2’s out being shown rather than tucked away in a garage or collection. The Guldstrand GS90’s don’t show up very often either which made it even cooler to see both coupe and convertible variants parked side by side. We’re looking forward to see what Dr. Pete Gimenez comes with for the 2018 Corvette Legends Invitational.

Over in Corvette Central’s Triple Diamond display Corvettes with NCRS Top Flight and Bloomington Gold honors competed to complete their trifecta of high-end Corvette awards. Our favorite early cars included a 1957 Aztec Copper fuelie and a Fawn Beige 1961 with red roadster. Elsewhere in the display was an unrestored green on saddle 1972 LT-1 couple, a menacing triple black side pipe L89 convertible, and a stomping blue 1969 L88 coupe. Later model Corvettes included 1995 and 1998 pace cars. And, of course, don’t forget the healthy serving of big block 1967’s which overflowed into the stage/seminar area this year.

Pretty much everywhere you looked Corvettes could be found last weekend in Chicago. Our friends at Bloomington Gold had a Benchmark 1968 convertible and red/red Gold Certified 1967 convertible in their booth and the Hot Rod Barn’s 1965 850 hp, LT4 powered convertible restomod drew a crowd all weekend. A white C2 and a red C1 competed in the Vintage Certification judging.

The MCACN show never disappoints. Even though our focus here is Corvettes, you can’t help but be amazed by the collections of cars they assemble each year. It seems like each one is more rare than the next and each one has a unique story to go with it. It truly is one of the best shows out there and shouldn’t be missed. We’ve already begun counting down to 2018. In the meantime, enjoy our gallery from MCACN 2017 below.