Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

Beauty Jim!

 

Thank, Jimdillom! Yep, easiest way to raise that front end without any issues. I did the same thing on my '40 Chevy
pictured below. I bought the '61 for $900 with a blown head gasket and couldn't believe my good luck when I sold
it for $1,200 two years later.....sigh.....never lost the love for the '61 's. Second picture is my current ride. Thanks again for your kind words. Bob Lowry

 

@Bob Lowry, Those are great pictures of your red 61 Corvette. It has a nice stance. I bet that you wish that you still had it. Do you have any good stories about it?

 

Nice black 61 Bob. I am a bit partial to black Corvettes. The first Corvette I looked at with the intention of buying it was a fawn beige 61 (283 with a three speed) but my dad nixed the sale and since I was only 17 I had no say in the manner. Some of my best memories were with 61 Vettes.

 

Elgringo, thanks for your remarks..I found it sitting at a corner gas station. They were asking $1,000 for it. 327" with a 4 speed, but it had a blown head gasket so I offered them $900, which they accepted. Replaced the head gasket
and drove it with no issues at all. Sold it for $1,200 and thought I had made a killing! My best friend had a gorgeous '61, dual quad 283", 4 speed, triple black with polished Halibrands and Indy tires. Killer car, AND it had factory
AC!! Got the Corvette bug then and it has never left. He had his vette stolen for the insurance money, but gave
me the valve covers off of it. He and some of his buddies towed it out to the desert and stripped it, and then
he filed the claim. Never did get caught. Took the money and bought brand new 1968 Z28, for which I could write another whole chapter. Funny thing, he "found" a set of identical Halibrands to put on his Z28! How lucky!
Is a super successful business man today, and still into cars. And VERY financially successful. We're still good
friends and still laugh about our episodes. Good times for sure.

 

@Bob Lowry, That had to be a rare car to have two fours and A/C. It makes you wonder if it was ever rebuilt and made into a drag car or if it’s still out there today? I’m thinking that the black 61 that you have today was inspired by his 61.

 

Elgringo, you are exactly right, as the attached picture will show....haha....he did track down his car years later,
and bought it back from the owner. The fellow (kid) who had bought it from the insurance company had
removed all of the AC equipment and stored them in his dad's garage. After about 5yrs. the dad got tired of all
of the boxes on the shelf, and threw them away! He has done a restomod on the '61 and it is still in process.
He still regrets losing the AC equipment, now knowing how rare that would have been. Hope you have
a Merry Christmas, Bob Lowry.

 

This '61 with 2x4 and factory A/C (A/C being air conditioning) was it a Corvette or a full size Chevy?

 

AC was not available in production Corvettes until late 1963.

 

Doug I figured it would not be long until someone pointed that out on the A/C. Funny thing is a friend told me that he had a friend with a 1962 Corvette Z06. I was a bit skeptical so he introduced me to him. The car was road raced and then drag raced and the present condition is a bit sad. He showed me all of the paperwork from engineering where he could make a pretty decent argument IMO. Whether you could actually call it a documented Z06 I cannot guarantee. I suppose anything is possible but the Corvette gurus Seem to make an art form out of skepticism.

 

It was a Corvette. And I recall that it had the evaporator installed in the rear interior compartment, where the soft top normally would have been. It had two vents facing forward into the cabin for air flow. Bob

 

Jim, that is why I said production. I don't doubt there were experimental cars built before. When someone says they know someone that knew someone that had one of the aluminum Corvettes then I will call BS.

 

Doug I know you said production. I suppose Chevrolet engineering could do as they pleased. I am sure there are a bunch of stories we will never hear but you can rest assured some of the annointed will tell us the stories never happened.

 

We can only wonder if the car was a Chevy Engineering exercise as the parts are reported as long gone. Possibly the remaining car has some clues. I'm curious where the car was when first found. In the days when the car was stolen.

 

Dan I believe the only way that these matters can be documented is by the Chevrolet Engineering reports. When I looked at a binder full of Chevrolet Engineering zerox copies regarding the 62 Corvette I referenced, I was thoroughly surprised--they were very detailed. The owner was a GM engineer (maybe even Chevrolet-I cannot remember for certain) so he had better access to these types of records than you or I. Whether the 61 that Bob referenced with factory air was really factory is up for debate without corroboration. It is possible I suppose. Even if we looked at the car I am not sure our questions would be answered. I found a reverb unit tucked very nicely under my dash with my black car which is the #12 Vette built in 1962. It is a pretty professional install and I suppose I could try and claim it was factory on a "pilot" car but I am not convinced that I could sell that to anyone really knowledgable. If a shop did the install they made a real effort to make it look like it belonged. On a resale it may be worth two bits at most.

As to Doug's comment on the aluminum Corvette, the GM Proving Grounds used to have an annual show and I attended the show several times. Someone made a comment similar to Doug's comment on aluminum Corvettes and one of the Corvette engineers there (I believe it was Dave McClellan) said there was an aluminum Corvette (XP-895) and it threw a curve ball to a few guys. I get Doug's point though as some of the stories can stretch reality at times. I have owned my cars for over 40 years and I have people tell me some incredible stories that I would doubt have any basis in reality. Not just Corvettes as we all know. When I owned my 61 Starliner and guys walked in my shop, I had to listen to so many stories of their friend's car with the 406 (which did not come out until 62). I think some guys may be just trying to make conversation.

When the guy in my car club had his 57 Vette with a 409 at Autorama, we heard a few guys tell stories about 409s from the factory in 57 Vettes which was not possible to anyone that knows the history of the 409.

 

Actually, the Italian built blue '63 Corvette was aluminum. I forget it's name, saw it at a car show several years ago and can't say I like it. But it was neither production or a real Corvette, just built on a Corvette chassis.

 

I think it was called the Scaglietti Corvette, or something like that

 

It was blue and very angular with flat sides. It was called Rondine and actually made of steel.

 

Jason, What's the story on the 60(assuming it is horizon blue?) above. Might cost a few bucks to restore that car. If I found it and had a few bucks in the cookie jar it may get a good cleaning and turn it into a weekend warrior.

Good to see you posting bubba 67. Hope you come back occasionally.

 

Jim, I wish that I knew the story on it. I just found the picture but it’s definitely some good eye candy

 

That thing is CRAZY! I like it. ^^^^^^^^

 

Looks like it started as a '63. I kind of like it.

 

Bill Jackson of "Scratcher" fame.

 

This is how it looks now