This was Corvette’s first year for Mulsanne Blue. It is an amazingly gorgeous color choice for FM’s latest fiberglass ‘shark-body’ Vette. Taken from the famous Mulsanne straight on the Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe, Chevrolet was, by now, fond of naming colors after famous forms of races and race tracks. Names come to mind such as Can-Am White, Sebring Silver, Monaco Orange, Silverstone Silver, Monza Red, Riverside Gold, Le Mans Blue and Daytona Yellow.

There are two minor inconsistencies; this color exterior did not come with saddle interior for the 1970 model year, just blue and black only. And the T-tops are metal instead of body material, fiberglass. Having made this statement, however, let me drop back and punt because both, to me, are actually positive points. I’ll explain; although saddle was not a color Chevrolet allowed on blue cars, they should have. It looks spectacular. Second, were the roof panels made from the lighter weight fiberglass, they would, no doubt, be more difficult to keep in place. I’m guessing, as well, that it was most cost effective to use existing diecast panels painted to suit. With the savings, maybe FM would be free to apply some other feature to the little Vette. Wishful thinking? Check out the brand new telescoping prop rod under the hood. It’s brand new tech on these FM shark-bodies.

FM made this into the LT-1 variant. The engine bay looked completely different than on the standard or big block cars. FM did the rendering proud. The small block comes across with fine detail and authentic realism. So does the interior. The belts, fold-forward seats, dash detail and internal sprung door hinges lend nice accuracy to the model. The chassis exhibits nice brake lines and a true-to-life working steering dampening piston. The stance and shape looks spot on. The external scripts and emblems are chrome metal foiled, the lights flip up and the paint and striping are faultlessly applied and exacting. Overall, this is a very pretty Corvette addition to the growing collection.

-Tony F Perrone