Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

Yep, nothing turns my stomach more than seeing 18, 20's and rubber band tires on ANY 60's musclecar or hot rod.

 

Pat and Bowtie and Doug, I agree wholeheartedly but I wanted to be diplomatic. The problem with these forums is that whatever you say is immortalized so I try to watch my tongue. In private I speak much more "freely' (no filters for sure). Some of my friends like them "slammed" with large wheels but I prefer if they represent the heritage as opposed to the latest and greatest. I tried to talk a buddy into trying to emulate the old road racers and thought I had him convinced but he slammed it and put like 18" wheels on it. It is their dime and I have had guys make no bones about not liking the stance of my car-to each their own.

 

Didn't intend to start a ****fest guys. I just thought it was a very nicely done car.

 

Hot rod trends will change. Good guys and NSRA go thru cycles, like us on nostalgia racing.

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Pat, that's a great world to be stuck in, I wud say. Gonna send you a PM shortly.

 

Contrary to my previous statement this Corvette does not irritate.

 

Jim, I think you were quite diplomatic and rightly so. I rarely criticize anyone's ride as I noted. It's their right to do with it whatever they want. They need to please themselves and not me. Nonetheless, in this instance, I believe one small change wud have made a world of difference. Don, no ****fest as far as I'm concerned, just an opinion on my part. Nothing more. I totally agree it's a nicely done car, overall. I'd like to see it in person. Perhaps it'll appear at Marley Station some time when I'm there.

 

BJ Thompson is the pink and white one on ramp truck.

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In my opinion, the car is very well done and the color is exceptional. I am not a fan of the wheels because they do not enhance the car. That being said, one must remember that its not my car and its not my money that went into the build. its also not my sweat and damaged knuckles that went into it. We all have our ideas what a cool car is supposed to be like. That's what hot rodding is about. Americans are nice but I have Cragars.
I say no harm, no foul. wouldn't it be boring as hell to see all cars the same.

 

Sky Six I agree well said.

A somewhat comical (IMO) story is that every Sunday there is a car show at a local restaurant named Bakers. The car show is an ins***ution in a sense as it has been going on every Sunday for many years. A number of years ago I drove in with my black 62 Vette and while I was talking to a friend these two guys walk up to my car and started making comments on my car. They asked me if it was mine and after a few comments they said my car is "pretty nice and at least it is better than a resto mod" or something to that effect. Knowing it was nothing more than a back handed compliment and having owned the car since 1977 I have run into more than a couple of stock nazis, I let it slide.

I said you don't like resto mods either and they said "they are nothing more than kit cars". I figured I had to explore this line of thought so I had them explain. They kind of threw it back to me and said the real resto mods have aftermarket ch***is, aftermarket front suspensions, rear suspensions, different rear end setups, LS engines, OD new electronic controlled transmissions, totally restyled interior with different dash cluster and gauges, radio, heater/AC and after going through the whole litany they asked me to name one thing as it came from GM and they said there is only one thing and I said the body and they corrected me that many of the bodies are altered to accept wider wheels and tires and they said the only thing is the VIN tag and these builders should be arrested as what they are doing is a crime.

I kind of thought geez these guys are ******** goose steppers. I still see them but they pay no attention to me anymore. When I drove up like the next year in my red Vette all they could say was like "Oh you ".

I still chuckle when I see them.

I actually told them that I believe there is more heritage in the way I use my car than just making room in the trunk for a hand held duster and lawn chairs which you can bet both get prime space in their examples (a 65 maybe and 70 I believe).

 

Jim you are right.. Some times the Stock (resto) guys can go over board My 30 Chevy is like that, purist hate hot rod early Chevys..... wonder how the Ford Guys got away with it. But as you noted....Corvettes were made for racing....and many raced as the photos shown. But Today...if a racer was resotred.....people will actually go out of the way to deny it was ever races. As we would know...there are too many "number matching" cars than there was 30 years ago when it did not matter....I know of a 69 COPO Camaro that is claimed all original, except I have the trans from it....they will never admit it...I have the pics and the heritage of the car. Engine was lost in the theft recovery...so it never made it back to the car. wink wink... Love your Vette Jim...was perfect...stance, look right on.

 

Oh ****....and things were going so good....did some one say something about something that someone else had an opinion on and it wasn't the same opinion as someone else thought it should be......things change ...we all have different likes and dislikes if you dislike something that someone else likes BFD...move on ...it's not yours...hell it will probably be different later on maybe even what you would like it to be if not ...hay we all have to die eventually then it doesn't even matter.... I bet it was about the wheels on that dark Corvette.....not my favourite choice but BFD ...just saying...

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Hate it when I open up one of these..........

 

..........Referring to my 3084 post earlier.

 

Yeah....... The can of worms....

 

l-1940 not really a big deal in the scheme of things and I am not sure that some discussion is bad for this thread. I believe it keeps the thread from going sideways with pictures of late model cars with an old body that might raise the ire of the powers to be. It should not come as a surprise that some of us greybeards are somewhat set in our ways.

Back to our regularly scheduled program; some interesting pics from old pres clippings by Rudestude. I believe the #4 61 Vette is the Delmo Johnson car that won cl*** at Sebring in 1961 with Johnson and Dave Morgan driving (and 11th overall). If I ever did an article on old road racers there would have to be a whole chapter at least on Delmo Johnson as he was a real character who drove a bunch of cool old Vette including a Grand Sport. I may have other pictures of the car but if I do I cannot find them. Maybe 10 years ago I was at Meadowbrook with an old Packard racer and we were right next to the #11 1961 Corvette road racer and it was great spending so much time looking it over and thinking of all of it's exploits. Even though I am a drag racer kind of guy at heart, I still think the old road racers were cool and carried the colors of the marque very well.

The 1961 Gr***man Osterman Corvette (tuned by Nicholson and Wade) is still around and its present owner Bert Brown occasionally posts on the HAMB. In that race with Proffitt it was heads up and Corvette took the win.

Here is a picture of the win from that day
Here is the car today (picture from Bert)
The engine in Bert's 61

The other cars racing at the dragstrip is cool to think of them having some fun but I wonder what ever happened to them. I even wonder if the present owners even realize their history.

 

What's the difference between guys on the H.A.M.B. constantly showing a disdain for
restorers, and restoration / originality freaks (not meant as a put down) expressing a
dislike for hot rodded or custom 'vettes?

I find the thought of correct inspection chalk marks, correct spring steel hose clamps
and perfectly placed over spray almost silly but I can sure as hell can appreciate a
beautiful stock appearing Corvette. As a matter of fact, if it came to a "Nicky" psuedo
g***er and a stock '58 with two bar spinner wheel covers, I'd be heading towards the
stocker.

When I really started to get into cars at a young age (I was born in 1950) cl***ics and
"antique" cars were the norm. The rare shows that came along consisted of restored
cars, or cars (mainly Model T's) that were original or close to it. Sadly, becoming a
gearhead turned me away from appreciating the restored and original cars. I've owned
(only) two 'vettes, a mildly tricked out '63 ragtop and a stock 350/350, 4 speed '69
ragtop, and I can appreciate the feeling that both gearheads and resto guys have.

 

Jim
I know this is a "picture" thread but without discussion photo threads can be a bit boring.
I'm right with you, closed minded people that never venture into other venues other than drag racing don't know what they're missing. I always had an interest in road course cars but not the historical aspect.
That changed after I went to one of the "Historic" events held at Portland International Raceway and got out of drag racing and went shifterkart road racing.
Give me a set of unpolished magnesium Americans or Halibrands any day.

 

Doug, I have always liked the road racers and have thought of building one. I have a partially finished 58 that I built out of junk and have thought of finishing it as a Sebring type car if I live long enough.

I have told the story before maybe in this thread but when I bought my avatar 62 Vette in California in 1982 (and my shop was dedicated to 100% stock restorations of mid 30s luxury cars which I enjoyed immensely), the car came with a number of large boxes of spare parts and odds and ends. In one of the boxes was some misc fibergl*** cars for a big brake car (62 era). Mike Ernst who lived in El Cajon is a minister who collects and restores mainly 62 Vettes and he had the Gulf Oil 62 that was restored at the time but he was interested in my big brake stuff. We did some horse trading and the springs under my black 62 were the springs under the Gulf Oil car but they were not correct for the car. When I went to his house I asked if I could sit in the Gulf Oil 62 Vette that won 12 of 14 races in 1962 including Sebring and 3 hour race at Daytona and I remember it to this day. For whatever corny reason it was a cool experience just sitting behind the wheel and thinking of its history.

Mike also came by my shop when he was up in the San Marcos area and he was a bit surprised that as a Corvette guy I could really get into luxury cars of the 30s (long story) but the comical thing was I had to explain to my customers that there would not be Vettes restored in my shop alongside their precious cl***ics. I told them the Vettes are my fun cars and not restoration candidates. The Vettes apparently were too mundane I suppose.

A picture of Mike Ernst car has p***ed thru several owners since and of course sold for millions since.

Funny how the hobby goes. To illustrate one time I got together with a few Ferrari guys and they saw my black car and liked it and asked if I wanted to run it on track day when they rented Waterford raceway. I told them it was not setup for that but thanks nevertheless.

I have stock Vette guys that come by my home shop and they have no problem with my cars (except for the 61 chopped top Vette built by Larry Teter-that car really sets them off) but there are a few stock guys out there that do not appreciate us modified guys. If I was to stumble on an old early Vette big brake or tanker you can bet I would keep it stock down to the last detail but the run of the mills old Vettes may go under the knife.

A picture of the interior


A picture of the cool hood treatment
front picture
of course the engine

Not sure who to give credit to for the photos as I have seen the same pictures in a number of articles-but not my pictures for sure.

 

Got the other 2 wheels for my 66 yesterday

 

Cool Enloe but they will be a bit cooler when you are rolling down the road with them on the car.

 

no doubt.
I am planning to put the redline radials on.
Then insurance and I will roll with the mufflerl*** exhaust for a few weeks or until my wife rides in it the 1st time.

 

Former basket case, most parts found at swap meets

 

This ones for @enloe

 

I sure have been having fun with my 65 lately! I shouldn't have let it sit, broken, for 3 years, doh! I've got a 427 hood already painted the correct body color that I'm thinking about having lettered and pinstriped. We'll see, here's another picture I took the other day getting ready to go to the Friday night show.

 

Very cool