History First generation '56-'62 Corvette

Whoever likes the First Generation Corvettes, post your comments, experiences and pictures, stock vs custom?

more on the history of the car here: http://americanclassicars.com/chevrolet-corvette-1956-1962/

 

Not into them. But for some reason my uncle is obsessed with them. Has posters all over his garage yet he has a 64 VW Beetle an a 66 El Camino. Go figure.

 

I know of a stash of them, Piles of fiberglass taller than me, nothing newer than '62, all busted up stuff. Now am i gunna tell you guys where they are??? Hell no, cuz i gotta try to talk the guy outa enough scraps to build one for myself.... i know, i'm mean....

 

Do we have to? I come here to get away from these shit boxes. Fucking Corvette shit.

 

"Traditional Rods & Kustoms???"

 

there were plenty of early corvette rods & kustoms and many of them were on the ICAS show circuit.
here's some stolen pics for every taste to give you an idea:




and check this one for an awesome gasser: http://www.dinosaursandrobots.com/2008/10/halfbreed-corvette-gasser-found-and-for.html
definately traditional rod & kustom imho...

 

If we go back to the early 60s,(I think we do) then the early Corvettes were very much a part of our history. It wasn't until the 80s when the yuppies with their date coded prissy restorations ruined the reputation and prices of the older Corvettes. I paid 1300 for my first Corvette a 63 327-340 2 topper. Then I bought a 69 427 390 with air but it was too new looking. I paid 800 dollars for my 62 327-250 Corvette in the early 70s from a used car lot. These were my daily drivers while I was building a 39 Willys...396 4 spd. and an Olds rear. You can't say they were not part of hot rodding history. That's like saying that they faked the moon landing in 1969.

I am priced out of them now but Corvettes were a very big part of my hot rodding history. I had 5 spokes on all of them. Just because you dislike them and their snotty owners today don't try to rewrite our true history. Corvettes were lusted after if not owned by a lot of hot rodders in the sixties.

There was a 61 at the Mighty Mo in the 60s that was jacked up in the front (3' channel iron bolted between the frame and the front suspension) with the front bumper made from the stainless hand rail from an elevator. (no bumper was a sure ticket!) The grill was removed. It didn't run fast but it sure had the gasser look.

One of the baddest street racers around was a 56 or 57 Corvette. I saw him lose it one night on rt 29 and go through the median strip taking out a bunch of wooden grading stakes. He regained control and went home to change his drawers.

Another night on V st in D.C. my friends 62 Corvette had a clutch and flywheel explode on him. A piece of the flywheel came through the cove on the front fender. He escaped with all of his toes.

 

i don't know which sucks the worse , corvettes or the people who own them.
i will say though , i like the motors in something else.
my $.02
hell , ya can't even take them to the salvage when scrap is high.

 

Corvette, the best factory parts car ever. I do like the look of the early ones, they make a good looking race car.

 

I have noticed on this particular site that Corvettes aren't that well received. Seems to stem from the conception that Corvette owners are "Dicks", "Gold Chainers", "stuck up", "Arrogant" etc. As I'm sure we all know (and some will admit), this is simply not always true. Being 55 years old, those cars left a big impression on me in my youth, which I have carried into my adult life. I have owned a few Corvettes, so I'm not just someone who claims to be an authority-yet has never owned one. I love those early Vettes, and no I don't even own a gold chain.

 

i love old vettes. i hate the stereotypical "vette guy" you know the one with corvette embroidered on his polo shirt. the guy who polishes his "classic" the whole evening at the cruise night.the reason they make such great parts cars is they are made of great parts. you can't argue with a 365hp 327, dual quad 283, 425hp 396, 435hp 427 etc. once they were old cars and getting cheaper, regular guys could buy them and that's when things got cool. you've all seen the pics (and the real thing), hood scoops, big wheels and tires, custom paint jobs.


now remind me why i'm selling mine

 

Even corvette motors must have sucked, because it seems like they musta pulled them out and stuffed them in anything from pickup trucks to jalopies

 

There is almost a universal distain for Corvette owners but I know a guy who has a nice collection (about 20 last time I counted). You will never meet a nicer guy and unless you bring it up you'd never know he owned anything but a daily driver mundane sedan. I've been begging him for years to make sure I'm in his will for the fuelly '57 and he just says, "You'll have to wait until i'm dead and see how many I've managed to take with me".

Frank

 

This is a friend's car, I love the stance I believe he is a member here I have seen some pics of his old gasser T-Bird on the site.

 

My dad owned 3 a 1956 1969 and a 1975. He loved them and raced them in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, but they were just cars to him. He delivered starters and alternators in the 56 for years, when winter came we would haul up the studded snow tires from the basement of the shop and he would drive and deliver parts in it all winter long. As for the Corvette owners bad reputation he agreed he hated working on the cars because of the owners, he would say damn here comes another Corvette asshole. I still have the 56 but have his attitude about the car, its just a car, I also share his view on alot of the owners but not all. These pics are of the 1962 Vette that my dad and his friend Tom Jamison raced up the Peak. The last pic is of the 1964 fulie that they raced in 64, it was off the showroom floor with 900 miles on it at race day. My dad is the guy on the right.

 

Sooo....Big John's 'Vette doesn't do it for you?

 

what's with the "C1" crap? call them 56-62 vettes.

Jimmy blower stickup up as high as the windshield, no hood, tires sticking out half a foot on either side out back, and the nose in the air...yeah, they can be neat cars

 

The server must be down over at vetteluvrs.com

 

Yeah that's another modern yuppie deal. Before I opened the thread I was thinking that it must be one of the modern Corvettes that I lost interest in after I sold my 69.



And don't overlook the 53-55 either. The guys that owned and drove Corvettes back then should not be included in the same sentence with the modern Corvette restorers. The guys that I knew all had grease under their fingernails.

Sorry for the large scan but I figured most would want to see the photos large enough to check out the details.

 

I use to work for a guy that had a HUGE car collection. He had a corvette. for every year from the first year with the 6 to a 67. Multiples of some years. Once in a while we would have to work on one (dual carbs don't like to sit...) and I HATED it. All the cars were at least 95+ point concours cars. We had to be so careful working on them, talk about stressing a guy out! I use to get to drive them around the shop and occasionally around town. After a few drives I quit driving them. Those cars were not meant for a guy that is 6'4"!

 

I had a '58, '61, '65, and a '68 Vette. Drove the '58 from Ca. to Key West Florida and back in '68 before going in the Army in '69. When I got interested in hotrods again a few years ago, I didn't really consider another Corvette. Too low to the ground for an "old Fart" to get in and out of. I went back to my first love, a '40 Ford coupe like I had as a kid.

 

First generation corvettes are pretty sweet, but then so is the 63 split window

 

Get Real Vettes are cool Look how many hot rods would loose there engines if you took all the "corvette engines" out
However driving a early Vette is alot of fun and a neat car

 

They make great customs:
http://waldorfnomad.com/

 

63 spit window ok i have to go jackoff now

 

Oh but threads on "What should I name my car" is a traditional thread?

 

I've had a few and enjoyed racing this one years ago.

 

Drove a 56, rode like a truck, body creaked and groaned through corners, not something I wanted to spend any time in.

63-67s on the other hand are my favorites, spent a lot of time in a friend's 64 in college and was impressed.

Youngest brother had the 56 and a rebuildable 57 with FI at the same time when he was in high school in the early 70s, also had a spare FI. The reputation of the early vette was so poor at that time even high school kids could afford them, collectors probably don't want to hear this now. As I recall he sold the 56 for $1600 and was happy he made money on it.