In an upcoming issue of Corvette Fever, we’ll take a look at a rare Corvette whose pedigree includes the letters “FSO”.
That’s tank-sticker-code for “Factory Shop Order”, meaning that the Vette(s) that have those three letters on their factory
build sheet are among the rarest of the rarest.

FSO cars were built back in the C2-C3 era for people like Chevrolet Division and top GM corporate brass, as well as for their top salesmen (like Bob Wingate, who this particular car was built for) and their “best-of-the-best” customers.

They differ from cars built as “COPO” units in that FSO cars were built one-at-a-time, while COPO (Central Office Production Order) was for more than one identically-equipped vehicles, be they ultra-high-performance sport coupes or a fleet order for a police department, county road commission or taxicab company.

With the FSO designation, the sky was the limit. Engines could be something hand-built at either Flint Engine, Tonawanda Engine or at Chevrolet Engineering and shipped to St. Louis Assembly especially for this car. The same goes for the transmission and the rest of the powertrain, where one-offs and not-typically-available hardware would go in an FSO car.

Other areas that would get special attention on FSO cars would be the body—with bumper removal, extra taillights and non-standard paint/striping among the things done—and the interior, where stuff like Hurst shifters, Nardi steering wheels and Deist safety belts might go in.


All of the FSO add-ons and special work was done at a special area near the final assembly line, where the FSO cars were taken after they were pulled from the line and could be modified before going out the door into the factory delivery pipeline.

The fact that these cars were built, and more than a few of them remain unaccounted for to this day, means some extra scrutiny is needed when looking at a C2 or C3 Vette’s tank sticker. If you see a line of text that has the phrase “Build per FSO” on it, you’ve got a piece of Corvette history before you.

And one that’s likely well worth a thorough background check with its previous owners, along with a detailed, just-like-it-came-from-St.Louis restoration.