Big Tanks Set To Make A Big Splash At The 2022 Muscle Car And Corvette Nationals.

The 2022 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) show is still 6 months away, but we’re already getting a taste of what you’ll see there in November. Show organizers recently announced that Dr. Mike Johnson will be displaying his complete set of C2 “tankers” as part of the annual Corvette Legends display.

What’s a “tanker”?

The term “tanker” or “big tank” refers to select Corvettes produced with RPO NO3 – a 36 gallon fuel tank intended for the endurance road racing crowd. The larger unit allowed for less frequent pit stops and a subsequent advantage over the on-track competition. The option package was first released late in the C1 era with very limited quantities produced. When the revolutionary 1963 Corvette launched it continued on with slightly more cars sporting the larger fuel cell. In 1963, 63 cars were produced with RPO N03 and most of those went into Z06-equipped Corvettes. 1964 saw 38 built and 41 more were born in 1965. 1966’s output jumped to 66 units and just 2 were produced in 1967. Rumor has it that the 2 1967 units we built because that’s all they had left in inventory.

As you can see, big tank Corvettes are relatively rare. They don’t turn up very often and collectors pay big bucks to gobble them up whenever one hits the open market.

Dr. Mike Johnson is a collector out of New Mexico who just happens to have acquired a set of 7 big tank Corvettes and he’s bringing 6 of them to MCACN this November as part of the Corvette Legends invitational display. Why just six? Well, that’s how many will fit in 1 Reliable Carriers rig. The cars shown will represent 1 from each year of midyear production. We don’t get to see big tank Corvettes very often so seeing 6 of them lined up together will be quite the sight!

The 2022 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals event takes place this November 19th-20th at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.