History The Found Corvette of Le Mans

something glossed over here is the photos of the car back in the day in its custom prime. I like the look and can imagine most others would too, if yall weren't a bunch of "vette snobs"

 

I was texting back and forth yesterday with my friend telling him about this thread. I was quizzing him about the wiper moved to the center and I will copy and paste his reply to me about that. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was an interesting reply. Here goes:
They had two, but the right one was moved to the center of the windshield and the had stiffer springs and both wipers swept to the left and right in unison. Normally wipers were on the far left and far right and both rested in the center of the car and
each swept from the center to the outside on the glass. The modified version caused the center area of the glass to be swept twice in one pass and nothing on the far right. The glass being so curved on the outer corners resulted in poor performance on the curved part of the glass.

 

This reply was also part of our wiper conversation:

The 3 60 Lemans Corvettes had one wiper transmission located in the center of the car. It was reworked probably by Cunningham’s race crew to get better results above 120 mph. Regular wipers were not that good at any speed. At night in the rain at Lemans could be suicidal.

 

That is what should be restored...the Cunningham car will just be a recreation or clone...and am a C1 corvette guy.

 

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but I respectfully disagree. I think, given the historical significance of the Cunningham connection, this car should be put back as such. If you returned it back to the custom version, you would essentially just be creating a recreation of that version.

 

I just caught up on this entire thread. Pretty cool story and seeing it pieced together here is one of the reasons I love the HAMB.

Those that used to frequent the HAMB and no longer do sure don't know what they're missing.

 

You could cut one off a '60 Vette and still come out way ahead.

Or cut everything needed off it, glue the purple custom stuff back on, put the Poncho in it and have both renditions.

 

These cars remind me of a quote attributed to Denny Hulme of McLaren fame when asked about a particular race car. He likened it to his grandfathers axe, It has had two handles and one head replaced but it’s still his grandfathers axe.

 

Off track, but still on target, is the story of the #2 car. This is the one "found" by Mike Pillsbury. Mike was a good friend of mine, as was Richard Haig, who was kind of a Corvette mentor to Mike. Turns out that Mike and Richard had gone to the "going out of business" Corvette junk yard, and Mike left early, buying nothing. Richard was a scrounger supreme, and had super knowledge of all things automotive. The sale was over, when Richard noticed the frame sitting on top of a railroad boxcar. The only body part still on the frame was part of the firewall and cowl. Richard told me it was like thee was a big red imaginary circle around that center wiper stud. He immediately called Mike back to the yard, telling him what that frame was. Mike was convinced, but wondered why Richard didn't just buy it on the spot. As Richard told me, Mike was gong through some personal issues, and needed something to bring him back to life, and this was the magic elixir. It worked, and the #2 went to Monterey in '87. Richard was warming up the critter, doing a burnout in the pit area (Richard was a bit of a wildman), and broke an axle, not something that was readily available. So he took the axle to SoCal, welded it together, came back, installed it, and Mike was able to race. The rest is history, Mike died, Richard was offered the car car by Mikes widow, and he refused, and Bruce ended up with it.
Richard Haig was my best friend. He was responsible for my restoring the R&C Dream Truck, and his passing brings tears to my eyes to this day. Right now as a matter of fact...... God Bless......

 

That’s an interesting bit of info. You may be able to verify this, I was told that Mike Pillsbury was actually the one that found out what the vin’s were on #1 and #3 car while researching the #2 car through the Briggs Cunningham museum in the early 80s. I’m not sure if that’s widely known. Supposedly that’s how the current restorer of #1 car got that info, which he’s had for many years. Anyway, I’m told he is the top race car restoration guy that there is, so it will be done as exact as is possible.

 

Your last line nails it.

 

Beautiful. Recently joined IG to better keep up with my adult children and have really enjoyed the superiority of the photo sharing over there, but you're right about information, there are no in-depth discussions like here. And the back catalog of old in-depth discussions, this place is a treasure trove. It has been something of a kick to find old HAMBers on there and see what they're up to. But this place rules.

 

That is the best take you have given on the topic. Thanks

 

My presence here has increased quite a bit lately. What can I say, I like to express my opinions and show off on the Internet. Social media IS the devil for a great number of reasons. I’m glad to be back here and mostly off the gram and this thread is an awesome reason why. Facebook can fuck right off entirely.

 

Vanity and info sharing. Sorta like having enough ego to be good at your craft but not letting that ego go out face 1st. A lot of folks here used to feel good about letting their hair down and just go for it. Ask the question, give an answer to another, share a discovery or search a past. So, nothing wrong with a little vanity but like that ego maybe not face 1st. I'm on IG too because I can be even more of the dickhead I am with little to no recourse (although I have ended up in IG jail once because someone got butthurt over a smartass comment). There's thicker skin here even though we sometimes don't get the full context, no facial expression or vocal inflection.

That aside, whomever gave up their activity here really do miss out as was stated above. I love those moments where all that's missing is a milk crate and a beverage. Imagine this convo live in a shop environment. Never seen it elsewhere.

 

Sorry. I think I threw this thread off course by mentioning those who no longer frequent the HAMB.

Weren't we talking about some old Corvette?

 

Loving it
In an effort to somewhat relate it to the subject of this thread, I'm impressed by the little ('56) 265 Chevy that's in it. Backed up by a T5, it's a pleasure to drive. Being a die-hard Ford guy, that was hard to admit.

Oh, and I haven't even posted any vanity photos of it on IG yet

 

What is the world coming to?

 

I laughed so hard at this comment that I dropped my granola bar, you ass!

 

Going thru my nice '64 Chev truck engine (283, power pack heads; whole box of new bearings, valves, etc.)
283s are GREAT 'to have around', but a bud of mine gifted me with a nice '47 Ford 59AB, all apart. .040" over.
A 'sometime recently' professional rebuild. Going all the way thru this one, too.
Both are 'fighting' for the spot in my '27 steel highboy tub. Probably install both, (flathead first)
Ford man since little, (1950) but the reliable old SBC has 'dropped into' cars of mine for years, ('just to move it around') Maybe...7 times, O.K., 20

 

This thread started out awesome and keeps getting better, even with the tangents.

a couple of thoughts:

I dig C1 Corvettes, custom, stock, race… with a mystery attached I’m in.

We have 5 young kids and we firmly believe screens/phones are not good for them. So to set an example we killed social media entirely so we’d be off screens more. Which means I post more here. I’m cool with it.

@Malcolm post about that shoebox here not IG so I can see it. Did you buy Pratt’s shoe from Ryan? Enquiring minds want to know

i might make Ryans comment about the SBC superiority as my sig so it can live in perpetuity.

 

The real question is... do you restore it back to its racing day configuration? Or the Kustom version? Hahahaha!!

 

I suspect it's true that there is a back story to every story, especially when it comes to cars. The No.1 story touched a chord because of my association with Mike. He was a really nice guy, and new his Corvette stuff, but he had his demons. My friend Richard was forever trying to rid Mike of his demons, but in the end, the demons won, and we lost Mike.

 

I love a good story. The #1 car's rediscovery is a great one with plenty of twists and turns. Thanks for throwing it at us, one of a million reasons to love the HAMB.

Amen. My wife used to make fun of my "chat rooms" (I always corrected her - technical bulletin boards!" Leave out the vanity, crank up the technical.

Fingers or no, thanks in advance for never typing that again.

Well done. Stick to your guns. Social Dilemma movie is required viewing - tech bigwigs don't let their kids use social.

 

Please don't stop with just this story, the story of Cunninghams involvement with LeMans, how the Chrysler 300 Omilagato came to be and why. The Cadillacs, Le Monstre