Corvettes are wonderful cars, every single real "car guy" should have one... I can't imagine ever selling mine
For a kid growing up in the '50's and '60's it wasn't about if I can ever afford a Cadillac I will feel like I've made it. If you were ever able to acquire and drive a Corvette, all of your dreams would be fulfilled. Women would fall all over you, just for a ride. Men would admire you for your incredible taste in automobiles. That was how it was marketed and I like many others fell for the rhetoric.
I am really surprised that @Ryan doesn't have a 63-67 coupe set up to look like a vintage road race car that he would drive on the street like he didn't have a nickel in it.... rollcage, zero creature comforts, more gauges than most airplanes have, wide sticky bluestreaks, halibrands, solid lifter high compression small block maybe with webers on a moon manifold, 4 speed , extremely loud side exhaust.........
“those fiberglass American stallions that have galloped from early disgrace under Briggs” One of the Briggs Cunningham Corvettes won its class, wouldn’t call that a disgrace!!
1960. Le Mans. GT 5.0. It was essentially a class created for the Briggs Corvettes after tons of lobbying by Chevrolet. There were no other entries in GT5. Two of the cars were DNF. The one car that finished took the class... Since then, it's been marketed by Chevrolet as a win... but was it? Really? The Corvette had the biggest motor in the field at 5-liters and didn't beat a single entry with a motor larger than 2.9 liters. It finished 8th overall and behind four GT3 classed cars.... 33 laps off the overall lead. 1960 Le Mans was a marketing exercise for Chevrolet more than it was a race. I mean, they weren't actually racing anyone... And me calling it a "disgrace" is an over-dramatization for sure, but it wasn't a class win recognized by anyone outside of Chevrolet or passionate Corvette people. In fact, Briggs was so disappointed with the result that he turned down GM for 1961 and developed his own car. Corvette didn't really have any success at Le Mans until 2000. The C5r and the C6r had seven combined class wins and was pretty dominant.
I've had a few 3rd Gens, I don't so well in a 1st Gen. Someday I would love to build a 2nd Gen but what I would do to it would be a NCRS sin
I didn't either... Years ago, I did an article on the lawsuit over the stolen #1 car. When researching, I kept hearing about how much Cunningham resented Chevrolet because of the results in 1960. I never questioned the class win until then. After all of Brigg's efforts to win at Le Mans, it was the Corvettes that finally drove home to him the idea that weight is the most important factor. Ford was watching... Hence the GT. But to me, the most interesting part of all this is how none of it really mattered. GM bought their way into a Le Mans class win without racing. No one noticed... and they were able to market it for decades as a legitimate win. Hell, they still do... and the Briggs Cunningham Corvettes are the most valuable vettes in the world because of it. In reality, they were shitty race cars... doomed from the start - something Briggs likely realized before he even got to France.
but they're a lot of fun on the street, and they were made in numbers so that most guys who really wanted one, could get one. I think that was the big win out of all of this
Outtake from something I wrote for something else a couple of years ago: In the hazy, heady days of the 1960s, the roads of Europe were alive with a bevy of approachable sports cars, each one a seductive promise of speed and style. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the only real contender in the American sports car scene was the Corvette—a beast of a machine that roared like a lion but handled like a drunken bull. By the time 1967 rolled around, the American gearheads could finally get their thick hands on a Porsche 911 - a sleek, German engineering marvel that was competitive on the global stage. But do you know what those daring pioneers discovered? The 911 is a goddamn race track demon, a machine ten times the Corvette in every conceivable way. It’s lighter, better balanced, and faster. It’s the automotive equivalent of a finely honed scalpel, slicing through the curves with surgical precision. But here’s the kicker—it’s not overpowered, and that’s where it loses its edge for the true American rebel. Because on a wild Saturday night, when you’re out to raise hell and turn heads, the 911’s clinical perfection just doesn’t cut it. Europeans love to sneer at the Corvette, calling it a shallow spectacle, all noise and flash. They’re right, to an extent. On the track, the Corvette’s a bloated, heavy beast that struggles to keep up. But in their haughty dismissal, they miss the point entirely. The Corvette embodies the raw, untamed spirit of American car culture. It’s not about precision—it’s about power, aggression, and the sheer joy of hooliganism. It’s about blasting down Main Street, the engine’s roar echoing through the night, a fiery testament to the wild, unapologetic heart of the American culture. Ultimately, Americans are hell raisers, not race car drivers.
Ah yes the "Fantastic Plastic," I like most but priced out of my league. Really like the 1st and 2nd gen restomods on the C4/5 chassis but those too are way more expensive than I could afford. Like the photo of the orange beast Rolleiflex posted, I have a similar photo in my stash where a C2 white beast is coming up the hill at Road America during June Sprints open headers growling.
In love with the look of 53/4 Vett... Later on in 1963,I traded my full custom J powered by Olds Rocket,for a ragged out 53 Vett,ran on 5cly and white gel-coat was turning to 1000s of crakes. But I loved the design,thought I could fix it up! But the kid I traded to,playing around making the Rocket 88 backfire for his buddys=blow the intake gastets out=it stopped starting up after that! His Dad came to my house,told my Dad,I had to give his kid back the 53 Vett. I had worked on cleaning the Vett up some,so he got back a car that was better then it had been. I got back a broken "J",not a happy kid!!! But I fixed it,even won a few more car shows,before some lowlife stole my "J" in late 1964. It's still a black hole to think about !! Sorry,just never like the newer Vett's as much as the first body style.
thanks man, A lot of people ask me which of my cars is my favorite. I never really know how to answer that. But I do know that the corvette gets used a lot more than the rest of them. I love that car, It must be my favorite
Thanks Ryan for speaking of the 'Elephant in the living room'. I have memories of being a child and wanting nothing more, than that two seat warrior. At the same time I had access to my Uncles stack of MI ( Mech Illustrated ) and the like. There wasn't any love for their performance. Years later I was given the chance to drive one into town, no top SUNNY day waving to to the folks that know me. While I was thinking how much more comfort my tow truck offered. Strangely the following comes to mind. Only one time I had repeated this to another ( in a message to a member here ) In a dream state, one teen childhood night, I find myself at 'the corner' in my brand new Vette. The girls and guys are standing by as I pry off the wheel covers I walk in front of the Vette laying the caps on the ground. Then at the wheel I rev up, drop the 'hammer' and roar into the night leaving the crumpled mess on the street. Cheering can be heard.
The only barn find that found me...... first year C3 Rag. When it starts up..... just tempts you. "Prolly my favorite body style" @Ryan Remember ? You'd enjoy going through the gears. They are so basic and primitive..... that included engines with balls.
I dig a Corvette coupe like the next guy and not much of a convertible guy but when I was a kid our local Chevy dealer had one just like this on display, it was love at first sight.
Yea, agreed on you having lots of really cool stuff. But, if I had to pick, I would likely pick the vette as well. Riding in it helped me like it that much more. I do plan to own a race car or custom vette someday earlier than the ones I have had. I really need a first or second generation car.
I believe my '64 was the coolest car I ever had. Had a super healthy 327, muncie 4 speed with a 4:10 posi. The women absolutely LOVED that car! Especially after I had it painted black. Shoulda kept that car, for sure.
One of your best writeups ever. Very interesting. Learned a lot. My love runs from the 53’s to the 60’s After that the split window. Their history is amazing.
Ahh.....yes.....1953. Our parents somehow found enough savings to go to the local small town Iowa Chevrolet dealer and drive away in a brand new two tone tan and brown station wagon in 1953. I was 8 yrs old and already hooked on internal combustion. The dealership had a "delivery" area with knotty pine paneling on the wall and display cases with glass doors that contained all the accessories that you could personalize your Chevrolet with. But also.......that area had posters covering the walls........and I can still remember the poster of the white 1953 Corvette ! The door from the delivery area opened up to the quiet main street in our little town. We were all loaded in ...myself with my 3 brothers and our sister and off we went. Fast forward......I asked my date 8yrs later for a "school car". He said the no longer running station wagon was out behind the barn.....if I could get it running it would be my school car .....and the rest is history ! I still have a complete Corvette triple sidedraft intake with carbs on the shelf. I needs a little love to repair some crude repairs to the aluminum cracks that many of them got from the weight of the carbs hanging way out there. Also got a couple of old sixes tucked under the pallet shelving. This article gets me to thinking like I did back at age 45......instead of the 78yr old man I am now. Maybe.....just maybe I have one more engine build left in me. Thanks Ryan
My pops and his friend Thom Jamison ran the Peak in Corvettes and loved every minute of it until a wrong way driver came down the mountain and hit their 900 mile 64 Fulie head on. That ended that. The last pic is the one they ran the year before they bought the 64. He drove his 56 as a shop delivery "truck" till he passed away at 73 years of age. Thats why its's our shop logo.
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