Greenwood Corvette Found In Belgium?
The small municipality of Kinrooi in Belgium is probably as close to the last place in the world that you’d expect to find a Corvette, but reader Jan Bartels recently came across what could possibly be a Greenwood Corvette. Well, at least it’s wearing what appears to be Greenwood components. He was even able to send us the coordinates on Google Maps and you can see that it has been parked in this spot for a while. It’s been sitting here long enough that the elements have about removed the top coat of paint.
The body lacks the wild flares of the Greenwood built cars, but the hood and rear spoiler are definitely add ons done in Greenwood style. You could order kits for your Corvette directly from Greenwood and that’s likely what happened with this one. What’s really perplexing though is how a late C3 Corvette is doing in this small town? Perhaps a member of the US military had it shipped over while they are stationed in Belgium or maybe a local resident just really likes Corvettes? Either way, it’s sad to see that it’s been left outside.
That being said, it sure looks like with the paint like this! I’d almost be tempted to leave it alone, at least for a while. Of course, that’s if it were for sale and solid enough to make back into a driver.
Finds like this might not be as exciting as ones that are currently for sale, but there’s something fun about the mystery. Why was parked? How did it make it to a small Belgian town? And what will end up happening with it? Our thanks to Jan for sharing his sighting with us!
Comments
It really doesn’t look like it’s “stored” in this spot. It looks like a car that’s just parked for the day. No debris or flat tires…Josh, what makes you think that this is it’s long term storage spot?
I agree. The asphalt looks fairly fresh and so does the gravel.
I found archived satellite images of the location and the car hasn’t moved in 2 years. The images don’t show the exact hour that the satellite took the photos though, so it’s possible that it’s the owner’s daily driver and the photos are being taken while they are at work. It just seems strange that it’s in the exact same spot each time while the other vehicles move around. We are creatures of habit it though, so anything is possible. It’s all just part of the investigation. Who knows, maybe the owner will see the article and tell us the actual story!
Gotcha. I figured it was something like that. Someone sure does take care of the space around the vehicle rather nicely. The car…not so much.
I’m not a patina fan but this one got me.
I’d bet that quite a few Corvettes have at least gone through Belgium. Most US made GM cars exported to Europe, arrived at the General Motors operation in Antwerp. King Leopold III of Belgium was a big fan of Corvettes, owning several,
Corvettes are very popular in Europe (Australia and Brazil too). Almost every European country has a few Corvette clubs. I’m winding down my Corvette parts business and getting ready to retire, but there was a time when I sent a lot of parts to Europe. August’s Corvettes at Carlisle swap meet usually has a large contingent of foreign shoppers. In it’s heyday, the Bloomington Gold Corvette show did too. I have a couple of friends who are collector car dealers, and they ship plenty of Corvettes overseas.
Let’s be fair. Not every stupid looking Corvette body kit can be blamed on John Greenwood. This is an Ecklers hood on a much later vette than the Greenwood cars (check the rear window). Greenwood cars usually had wide bodies, not just a stupid hood and stupid spoiler. Not even close here . . .
They didn’t stop building cars when Chevy changed the Corvette’s rear window, they continued modifying cars well into the C6 generation. Part of their website is still active and shows that they built C3s all the way into ’81, they just didn’t build many (check it out here: http://www.greenwoodcorvettes.com/Streetcars.html). My understanding is that they also sold kits through Eckler to modify your own car: http://www.greenwoodcorvettes.com/PromoAdsC3.html
Interesting read but I’m not even remotely convinced it’s a greenwood car!! I did learn however that corvettes are big in Europe and I did not know that!!
John D nailed it.
How is this a “Greenwood” corvette again?? I see a 80-82 with a hood, skirts and spoilers from Eclers or ACI fiberglass catalog.
Across the decades there was problably several dozen manufacturers making this twin turbo style hood.
Is there something I am missing?
Were the Greenwood brothers even known for modidying 1980+ corvettes?
I honestly feel like the title is clickbait!!
Greenwood did modify 1980+ Corvettes, they were still modifying Corvettes as late as the C6 generation.
As for the title, there’s a question mark in there not because I’m asking if it’s in Belgium, but whether people think it’s a Greenwood. I know most people think of their widebodied Turbo cars, but I know they also sold kits that anyone could install that just included a hood and a spoiler. I just wasn’t sure if this was one of those kits or later reproduction parts. The spoiler looks just like the ones in Greenwoods old ads and I haven’t had luck finding a modern one that looks just like, but it’s possible someone is remaking them.
Ahhhhhh Belgium, I had some of the best beers I’ve ever tasted there. Maybe my favorite place ever .
Hi Josh, you write nice stories in your ads, but behave so naive, there are even a lot of Corvettes in Belgium, especially in small villages. Corvette is like an epidemic, it’s everywhere.
Agreed, Vettes are very popular in Europe and ironically some of the worst models years like this late 70s era unit have quite a following. Go figure.