Meadowdale Yellow – The Tale of a C3 Color That Almost Made It
Meadowdale Yellow – The Tale of a C3 Color That Almost Made It
Meadowdale Yellow made it as far as being showcased to dealers through a scale model. Ultimately the name was changed.
If this color looks familiar to you, then no, you don’t need to adjust your screen. This is a C3 in what we commonly know as “Daytona Yellow” but it wasn’t originally given that name. Len Besinger of Meadowdale Motorsports gives us some insight through a Meadowdale Facebook group.
The Besinger family was deeply involved in the development and design of Meadowdale, so his knowledge is as thorough as it is enthusiastic. He writes:
In 1968 Chevrolet created a paint color for the upcoming 1969 model year. As is tradition they named specific colors after famous raceways. This year they named a particular Yellow after Meadowdale Raceway in Carpentersville, Illinois.
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Chevrolet had a very special relationship to Meadowdale Raceway. Working with Doane’s Dundee Chevrolet in Dundee, Illinois the C2 Corvette was developed there and tested at Meadowdale as well as the first Corvette Race Team and the Corvette Grand Sport all began at Meadowdale. It was only fitting then that Chevrolet named this new Yellow paint Meadowdale Yellow.
Pictured here is a sample that was shipped to dealers to show off the paint colors for the upcoming model year. The strange part is that in mid 1968 they decided to change the name of the color to Daytona Yellow. No Chevrolet cars were ever painted Meadowdale Yellow. That makes this particular dealer model very rare. I tell you this because my family designed, built and owned Meadowdale Raceway.
Meadowdale, historically speaking, was a very important track on the international racing calendar. In much the same way that Daytona was emerging on the scene as well. However, it just didn’t have quite the same reach as the Florida based track.
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In the long run, the name change was probably a good move by GM. Meadowdale would host its last race in 1968. It would be quite odd to have a car named after a race track that was on the chopping block. Either way, someone at GM decided that the yellow hue for the C3 Corvette would ultimately be named Daytona Yellow. But now, we have some unique insight as to something that could have been.
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Photos: Len Besinger
