Fan Friday: Rick Conway's 1969 Fathom Green C3 Corvette Stingray

In 1973, Rick bought a four-year-old Corvette. He still has it. Fifty-three years later that same Fathom Green 1969 Stingray is parked on a show field with fresh paint, a rebuilt drivetrain, and its original block still under the hood — which is a sentence very few Corvette owners ever get to write.

It's a T-top coupe with a four-speed, finished in Fathom Green, the only green Chevrolet offered on a 1969 Corvette. Two of its factory options are unmistakable in person: the side-mount exhaust, whose finned chrome covers run the full length of the rocker beneath each door, and the fiber-optic light monitoring system that let the driver watch every exterior bulb from the centre console. Under the hood sits the L46 — the 350/350 — and it is still the same block Rick has always had, now bored and stroked to 383 cubic inches and running self-learning throttle-body fuel injection. All of it came out of a recent frame-off restoration, the brief for which was to modernise the systems without disturbing the original look and function. The original pieces he pulled off along the way — side exhaust covers, air pump, valve covers — are boxed and kept. As Rick put it: "Tired of all the 55-plus-year part failures — I want to drive the car."

That car wears its year on its fender, and 1969 is a good year to wear. "Sting Ray" as two words belonged to the C2 and disappeared entirely for 1968; for 1969 the name returned as a single word, Stingray, in thin script above the front-fender louvers — exactly where you see it in Rick's photos. It was also the year the 327 gave way to the 350, which makes his numbers block the first of a very long line. The side exhaust was genuinely uncommon: of 38,762 Corvettes built for 1969, 4,355 left the factory with it, or roughly one in nine. The L46 was a little more common at 12,846. Even the red stripe rubber is period-right — Chevrolet's own red stripe tires went on 5,210 cars that year.

Thank you, Rick — fifty-three years in and still adding miles is exactly what we like to see. 🏎️

Built to Be Driven — Picks for Rick's C3

Lloyd Ultimat C3 Floor Mats — A fresh interior and a stated plan to actually drive the car is the whole argument for a proper set of front mats, and the Stingray script option covers 1969 through 1976. → Shop Lloyd Ultimat C3 Floor Mats

C3 Doorsills — Polished with Brushed Inserts, 1968–1977 — After a frame-off, the sill plates are the first thing a shoe lands on and the first brightwork to look tired; this two-piece set is cut for the earlier C3 body. → Shop C3 Doorsills

C3 Satin Stretch Indoor Car Cover with C3 Logo — Between shows, a soft indoor cover is what keeps new paint looking new in a garage where things get set down. → Shop C3 Satin Stretch Indoor Car Cover

Want to be featured in a future Fan Friday? We'd love to see your Corvette. Head to our submission form and tell us your story — the car, how you found it, what you've done with it, and what it means to you. Great photos make a huge difference, so bring your best shots. We feature a new Corvette every Friday.

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