Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

Jason what's the story on the pic of the 56/57 in prime?

 

The creme colored 62 I believe is Bruce Bursten's car. Not sure if it looks like that today as I thought he put the stack injection on his 57 Corvette. Both nice cars.

 

I think that it’s the same owner on both cars.


https://www.corvetteforum.com/forum...68-anyone-run-cheater-slicks-on-their-c1.html

 

As a late model Corvette owner I must tell you guys how much I enjoy not only the pictures of these pre 65 cars but the history as known as well. Some threads have developed an interesting mix of photographs and banter and to me that makes them special.

Thanks to all who share their knowledge and photographs (on all threads really). Great stuff.

 

The following are some random shots from some magazines I was flipping through

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Amazing to think of the ad on the Grand Sport. Today you could put 3 zeros on that price and someone would pay it more than likely. Truly amazing.

Cool stuff on the 62 Vette as well-pretty complete article. The test car ran a 14.5 with a 104 trap speed. Another publication did an all day test with a 360hp 1962 at the drag strip with a 4.11 gear (maybe more would have to check my notes) and with Mickey Thompson behind the wheel they got it into the 13s. They ran the car a number times with change after change and did not get out of the 14s but saw Mickey there testing another car and asked him to drive it. He knew how to drive any performance car. Not bad times for the day IMO.

 

Like a lot!

Pat

 

SOME FROM THE WEB TODAY

 

MORE

 

LAST ONES

 

The old racers looked so cool with their simple numbers and lacking all of the sponsorship **** that the cars now days have on them ...you could really appreciate the car that was actually being represented ...... I realize that sponsorship is where the money comes from ...but in the day simplicity looked Raw and Racey....
The following is a test drive report in its entirety ...it seems to have some good info and there are pictures too.....

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A drag racer....

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Good articles. I remember Bill Hielscher running that Corvette several times. He always ran strong and put on a good show.

 

Run across some more cars while flipping through some magazines again....

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One more ... I really like the look of this one ...no nonsense raw function racer....

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With all of the tire and wheel combinations that guys aspire to on these old Vettes this is one look that I remember fondly and try to copy myself. The way that the tires fill up the wheelwells front and back really help make this car the ultimate in "the look" IMO. May play havoc with the fibergl*** in some instances but they had a purpose then and certainly brings back memories of the way that some rolled back in the 60s.

I just changed my front tires from 70 series to 78 series on my avatar car since the 70s were not filling them up enough.When I tried to find some BF Goodrich 78s and I could not find any and called around and still no luck. Luckily I found a new pair on ebay. I am ***uming some of the manufacturers are moving away from tall tires. Of course there would still be Coker but it surprised me. Maybe I am wrong but the tire dealers I called told me they could order me 70s but not 78s.

 

The hood now on Jim's 56 was on dads 57 when he had the blower on it. When i was 15 years old i worked at a bike shop owned by Jim and Debbie Hayes. I was telling them about dads pile of parts 57, turns out they had a BEATER 56 also. If i remember correctly they paid about $500 for it in the early 70's. Eventually both guys started working on their cars and got to be good friends. As a kid i was involved in helping on both cars as a helper/gopher, more so on dads. Jims 56 is the only car i have officially made a p*** on the dragstrip with. The day of the Uncle Sam Pie Eating Contest in Byron was my Dads memorial service I would loved to have seen Jim, but i fully agree with his choice to go racing instead.

 

I talked to Jim at the event and he was fourth fastest qualifier (12.55 I believe) until he broke an axle. His car was running great and was great to watch. We also talked at some length after the event-a great guy. I asked if he would be back for the Meltdown but he seemed non committal. I would love to see him run because if he hooked with some good axles I believe he would run in the 11s, which would be a hoot to watch.

 

From Bowling Green today

 

I really like this center fold....

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There has been some fantastic stuff posted on this thread lately I am really enjoying it

 

Jason, you are correct that there are some great cars lately in this thread. The picture above I believe is 1963 at the nationals in Indy. Sam Parriott had been running a Cadillac but for 63 he switched to Ford power (427 supercharged- I believe). In 1964 he ran in AAM/SP and 63 was the last year he ran in AM/SP at Indy. There is a 63 Chevy behind what looks like a 63 Vette roadster that was probably running in MSP although I am not sure he would be in the same cl*** as Parriott. A couple years later they could have stepped up and installed a mark IV big block which would have dumped them into AM/SP possibly. Over the portable fencing you can see a 61 or 62 Vette-not sure if he competed but cool with all of the Vettes that ran back then.

Enloe's pictures of Buckshot are really cool as well. The red injected 57 is Bruce Bursten's car. This is the car that is in prime a few posts above that I asked Jason on the story. I believe Bruce (who has posted on the HAMB in the past) put the injection from the yellow 62 above on this car. It goes without saying that both his 62 and 57 are cool and help spectators today see what they were like back in the 60s.

All of this makes me more anxious to get back to the Meltdown and see all of the great cars but especially the old Corvettes that compete and bring back good memories for me and others more than likely. When I introduced myself to Jim Hays (the red 56 above with the injected 301 with the hood from Scotty T's dad car) at the pie crust event about 10 days ago, I made sure I thanked him for what he has done with the car and bringing it out and he had compliments for me as well as he watched me run at the Meltdown. I have people come up to me and thank me a number of times and I only wish others would bring their cars out to the track and put them through the paces. I consider myself a spectator that gets to make a few p***es but I really light up when I see old Vettes competing.

I hope there are some new builds out there that make the vintage events but I cannot wait to see John run his blown 62 again at the Meltdown -that he ran at the USPEC (Pie Crust event). How could one not like his recent build?

 

Jim you are certainly a font of knowledge. I wish I had written a diary from when I first got into cars it would be a book now. Keep up the good work.

Pat

 

Wheels don't fit in the period category. But I can overlook that.

 

Pat, thanks for the compliment but at times I wish I paid attention more back in the day and had a camera (and actually knew more about them in reality). I am fascinated with auto racing during the 300 inch era (1915-1919) and have written a couple of articles on that era and figure I know a bit. The problem is with both articles (Mercer and Miller) I was recuperating from surgeries and I don't care to have a surgery so I can write an article. With the Corvettes I would like to write something one day but I know I don't have enough information yet. The Corvette community has written quite a lot on the road racers but it appears the drag racers are kind of the red headed step child. I believe the drag Vettes not only held their own but may have been more successful in terms of wins etc. I guess I would have to write an article to attempt to prove it. In the meantime I like to put a blurb here and there on the HAMB as there are enough guys to seem to have an interest.

I lived it then but never do***ented anything sadly. I hated cameras (long story) and was short sighted in not photographing the great Vettes in their element. I read a bit ever since and have made files on Corvettes of the era so that I can reference a particular car. Articles like posted recently by Rudestude may very well come in handy but in the meantime I have so much work around this ranch of mine and with cars and shows etc I don't find any time to write. I don't even find the time to finish a Corvette build drag car (a lettered up junior stocker or modified sports-not sure which as I want to use a Pontiac rear and guys would throw water on a junior stocker with that). Another car got bumped in front of it. The guys I ran with had a 57 g***er and a 61 Vette 283/270 F/S junior stocker that ran at the same time as Buckshot) and I think the junior stock cars were some of the best to run-IMO. Won a bunch of trophies with the 61 and very few with the 57. Not enough junior stock examples out there to show how cool they were.

Thanks for the compliment though. Jim

 

I'm with you. Just look at the emphasis the National Corvette Museum puts on road racing. Virtually nothing on or for drag cars.