Nineteen seventy-eight was a landmark year in the history of America’s sports car. The Corvette was chosen to pace the Indianapolis 500 for what would be the first of many times. In addition, the car was celebrating its 25th anniversary. General Motors chose to celebrate with a limited production run of 2,500 Corvettes, which would be uniquely finished to honor a quarter century of high-performance American machinery.

The Code B2Z Silver Anniversary edition, reportedly one of the final design suggestions made by the legendary Bill Mitchell prior to his 1977 retirement, was a $399 option package, and it featured the first two-tone color scheme for the Corvette since 1961. Selecting this option added silver upper and grey lower body paint, unique pinstriping, and “mandatory options” of aluminum wheels and dual sport outside mirrors. The most desirable Silver Anniversary cars were those ordered with the more powerful 220-brake horsepower L82 V-8 engine and four-speed manual transmission, such as those found on the example offered here.

This car was acquired by the current owner, a well-known Corvette collector, several years ago from its original purchaser in Kentucky. It has since been correctly refinished in its original colors, with beautifully applied correct decals, and the owner notes that the paint is “better than new.” That paint job is all the major work that this Corvette has ever required. The car shows 56,032 actual miles, and its leather interior and carpeting are both still in excellent original condition. Further, the owner notes that all accessories work properly, including the turn signals, although the emergency brake will not hold the car on a steep hill.

Any collection of special Corvettes requires a Silver Anniversary model, and this is a fine, largely original example.