Starting in the 1967 model year, Chevrolet began affixing an abbreviated copy of the Build Sheet called the Corvette Order Copy to the top of the gas tank. This copy, which everyone now refers to as the ‘tank sticker,’ carried important information about the car as it made its way down the assembly line – the order number, all the RPO codes, and so on. While it isn’t as complete a record of a Corvette’s provenance as the original build sheet, it’s often the only factory documentation available for a restoration, because of its hidden location far from the light of day.
In this video from Collins Bros Jeep, we see a tank sticker from a 1967 Coupe revealed to human sight for the first time since January of 1966 when the car was built. Though shot in vertical video, the media equivalent of waterboarding, it’s still interesting to watch the dust get brushed away and check out all the options listed.
This car came with the desirable L71 engine RPO – the big-block 427ci Tri-Power rated at 435 horsepower – as well as the K66 Transistor Ignition, J50 Power Brakes, and N14 Side Mount Exhaust System. A flip through the always-fascinating Corvette Black Book reveals that these are all fairly uncommon options, making for a car that could be worth a lot more than the sum of its parts once it’s restored and back together.
One big part of that value is having that tank sticker to prove it all came that way from the factory, and one of the coolest parts of the Corvette restoration hobby is being able to accurately reconstruct a car’s history thanks to one little document that was intended to remain hidden.