Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

Only $30K??? That kinda scares me. A local steel '32 Ford Coupe recently sold on an online auction for probably 2/3 of its value. I hope those are flukes and not signs that the demand for even the traditionally highly desirable older cars is dropping.

 

I'd like to have my '56 back. I made a killing on that one. Bought it for $800 sold it for $4500.
Those were the days my friend!

 

Let's hope not for awhile at least, so we can enjoy them a bit more. Racecars without any real history seem to have little value possibly. I sold my 61 Vette racecar a few years ago and it ended up being parted out. I would not be surprised to see a restomod with the title from the 61 Vette. Sad deal in a way is that the only two A/G Vettes from the 60s/70s were the car above and my old 61. I kind of wonder whether guys will try to turn restomods in the future back into original cars. Almost comical if it ever happens.

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Interesting thought @jimdillon "I kind of wonder whether guys will try to turn restomods in the future back into original cars. Almost comical if it ever happens." They made a lot of 'vettes, and I'm not an NCRS Nazi, but you wonder how many mostly "original" cars will remain. All I see lately are full frame and LS swaps on early and mid-year Corvettes.

 

There are a lot of retomods and now the NCRS has a judging class for restomods I believe. I am on the fence with restomods. Some are OK and others are clown cars with the goofy wheels. I appreciate the thought of improved drivability but I am pretty old school and like the way the early Vettes drive with let's say minimal improvement. That is the allure to me in a sense in that it takes me back to what they really are/were. I had a friend ask me to drive his restomod 61 a few years ago and it was OK but it was not the same experience and the steering was almost too light. When I got in my old school 62 for the ride home I thought I would keep mine the way it is.

 

Your age is showing, but I agree. When I see an older solid axle Corvette that looks like one I want to checkout, as soon as I see a newer drive train under the hood, I turn and walk away.

 

Right there with ya Jim, I kind of dig (some of) the modified cars but many do start looking cartoonish (to this 70 year old).
Like any of the 60's musclecars with wheels seventeen inches and larger, it just smacks of "apparently you weren't around when we were putting fifteen inch Cragars or Americans on our cars and thinking life is good".
Any improvement to the front suspension of early Corvettes to make them not drive like my Grandmas' 54 Chevy would be all I need.

 

I forgot to say that I can't quite wrap my head around the NCRS being receptive to this.
Just a sign of the times I guess.

 

Doug I think there are so many people restomodding their Vettes that the NCRS may want to be more inclusive. I have owned my cars for years and have had a number of negative statements from the stock gurus, so it throws me a bit as well.

 

As a 57 Vette owner if I had to keep the original brakes Id likely stop driving it in on most of the high ways , interstate and such at higher speeds . The joy of never knowing which ditch it wanted to put me in on the first application of cold brakes on a drive is not missed.
Frankly the handling on these sucks as does the ridicules position of the steering wheel way to far toward the driver . Moving the wheel forward and adding some brakes that are predictable and much much better is not such a bad thing. Unless I had a 100 point original non driver resorted car Id change the front brakes if I was going to drive it very much . You have to look hard to see the disks and its 100% reversable and even saves the original parts for the future vs wearing them out . You also get rid of the ball bearings in the front hub that are not the best set up .

Id love to have the rest of the car look more original but I'm not giving up the brakes and the shorter column . The extra 200 HP over stick is nice as well as it real traction

I have been tempted many many times in the last 38 years to shit can the entire front suspension but the cost is not cheap to do it right and have it be a bolt in reversable set up . Wider front tires make steering even worse on these .
This summer I'm pulling off the quick steer adapter and rebuilding the front suspension for the 3rd time . I have put over 20o,000 miles on the car in my life so its gets driven

 

In the early 90's I was at the Bloomington show with my 57 . I and my GF at the time had driven it from Northern CA to LA then via the Vegas , Grand canyon , Colorado and other places on our way to WI through thunder storms and even some hail . A guy who had a beautiful best of every thing show winning 56 that was as perfect as they get looked over my car and made the shame they did this and that and modified this and that and how its really not worth restoring .
We stood there as his team of car handlers pushed his show toy into a closed trailer for the night wearing I kid you not white gloves on. The the Owner got in a Ford Taurs and drove were ever the hell he was going . MY GF at the time said what a Jack ass .
We got in ours and entered the parade through town and I let her drive it were she was pulling holeshots and smoking the tires for every kid who put down water on the street and had a standing ovation and we had a guy a blow 65 BBC car doing the same behind us . I know who had more fun that week end and who enjoyed seeing what Corvette more.

I have nothing against a perfect Corvette I respect the guys who can do that work greatly but honestly if the value and money was not a factor would rather have a some what modified one if driving it a lot was a factor at all. Id be scared shitless to even show a perfect car at the average show were people can get up close and touch them .

My 57 beater hot rod has given me way way more enjoyment and fun that what I paid for in about 85 .

 

@1biggun,
I had a '56 drag car. I put a Corvair front end under it. The crossmember bolted in and I had to add some brackets to attach it at the rear. Used an MG rack & pinion but if I did it again I'd opt for a cross steer box. Also, changed the steering column but I don't remember what I used, maybe just the stock one moved forward. Whatever it was made it alot better. Oh, and a 15" steering wheel!
The weight difference was something like 200 lbs.

Of course, I would update the springs, ball joints and brakes now too.
But, just pointing out that this could be done and made completely reversible quite easily. To restore it to stock you would only have to grind off and refinish the frame where the rear brackets were welded on.

 

Market for a vintage drag race '59 Corvette is pretty small, and being on Thursday probably didn't help. There was a '62 that went for $38.5k on the first weekend, but all the rest of the C1 cars went for quite a bit more.

 

That blue land speed Corvette is is bad ass. Sounds good too, although I've not seen it in person.

 

I respect guys that add disc brakes and other stuff to improve them. But to me I want to crude feel they were built with. I have some teens cars. You never know if you will get home or have to walk. You have to plan ahead because they have questionable two wheel only brakes. To me that's half the fun.

 

Your really limiting your self with a gen 1 that's not cheap in today's world of cell phone idiots.

At one point I had nearly 3 times the horse power than original and tires twice as wide trying to run that with brakes that were poor for even the 49 Chevy they were originsly designed for would be foolish when every other performance aspect has been doubled or tripled and the current traffic and speeds are what they are.
Currently the factory type front suspension and steering is a detriment. It's overpowered for any hard driving were turns are involved.
At least with the front disks it now stops in a straight line predictably and can make use of the wider better tires.
It's a big reason why it's now much more mild than 30 years ago.

I can always return it to stock factory brakes if I wanted to do some restoration .

If I was to leave it stockish and putter around the country side then sure no problem. However I like to be able to drive it on the interstate doing 80 in traffic in the rain if I want or need to.

That all said I wish it was 100% stock fuel injected and original but that's not in the cards. It's a $35,000 car not a $250,000 car unfortunately but I drive it hard.

The last time I drove it prior to the disk brakes I had to panic stop on cold brakes about a 1/4 mile from the house and it litteraly pulled me into oncoming traffic . Nothing cool with a totaled 57 Vette after driving it 30 years and a around 200,000 miles.
Breaking down and leaving a Vette alongside the road is never a great option . Might not be there or be damaged when you get back.

I'm working on a model A for that crude adventuresome feelings.
The Vette needs to get me home 500 miles away at 3AM running 75 mph .

 

^^^
Such a cool car, and an incredible photo!

 

Just right!
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