darguy

Hey Gang!



So, I just picked up a 191,000 km, slightly weathered 99 FRC to replace my 300,000 km, very weathered 94 Probe GT as a daily driver:



Which I've been really happy driving to work and back the last couple of weeks.



So, I took the '64 out for a bit of a cruise last night, and I swear it picks up faster with the 300HP 327, 4-spd, and 3.08 posi than the 345HP LS1 does in the 99 with the Z-51 suspension and 6-speed (weighing in at 3175 lbs or so). And the way-cool factor of the C2 is incompareable (from the archives)...



But the handling and comfort of the C5 is just soooooo much better, it's got me thinking of the resto-mod again...

I'm just sayin.

KC John

Are you going by feel or actual mph and time?

I know I drive much slower in my '63 than I do in any other car. I was telling someone the other day that if all cars had the same road feel as these midyears, there would be much less speeding tickets.

I know that I have caught myself going 80-90 in my Acura RL without knowing it. Anything over 70 in the Vette is a little twitchy.

But I would still rather drive my Vette than anything else.

darguy

Feel, for sure - and sound! The C5 is pretty quiet with stock exhaust compared to the 64 with rear pipes.

I drive the 64 pretty good, I haven't quite hit 100 mph yet, but 70 or 80 through the corners and you know you're moving. With the C5 I had it up to 100 on the test drive and it felt like 70, I haven't had it through the twisties yet. And, I guess I need to see what it's like without the traction control on...

rayvaflav

I feel ya' dog. I was telling a friend that you know how some cars make it feel that you are doing 50mph when you are actually doing 100mph...? In my '66 it feels like I am doing 80mph and then I check my speedo and I'm doing, like 35mph ! Stiff riding, noisyass dinosaur of a car.

JoeCool66

IMO... MPH and times are good and faster is always better but it’s all about the “fun factor”. If the car makes you smile, makes year heart beat faster, makes you feel like a kid when you get behind the wheel then that’s the car you really want to drive. My 66 does it for me.. a modern car (even a new Vette) would have to be a one bad-azz car to make the heart pump the same way… and even then, it wouldn’t turn heads like a C2 will. It’s not about comfort.. it’s about FUN.

Nice new Vette, Darwin… enjoy!!!!


/Joe

62Jeff

My 65 is a 350(?) horse small block, with factory side pipes and a nice 4 speed. Running through the gears is kind of like a management meeting - all noise and no action.

But the car sure is fun to listen to and drive! Far more fun than my 07, which although being a superior road car to the 65, still isn't nearly as fun to me.

Jeff

TopLess62

If you guys think your 4 wheel independant suspension cars are dinosaurs, step into a C1 with its pre-war suspension. Let me take you for a ride down my sidestreet and you will be crushing my grab bar!!!

62Jeff

Absolutely. My 65 feels like a supercar compared to the 62. I have to lean into the corners just to feel more comfortable

JoeCool66

God!! I almost choked !!! …too funny…too true!!!

savewave

I can relate on all counts!

darguy

It's all about the fun factor, for sure. The C5 makes the drive through traffic to and from work waaaaay more fun - something I do every day. And makes me feel like a teenage kid in my Girlfriend's Dad's sports car.



But the C2 grabs me by the ganglia in a different kind of way, like I am piloting a 1964 science fiction space ship, and a bad-*** at the same time.

Also

So, it just started making me think of combining the best of both worlds again. Like, a stock looking 64 body and interior with ¨period¨ looking 17 inch centerlines with modern suspension and brakes underneath, a 383 small block with ¨period¨fuel injection coupled to a 5-speed.

I'm just sayin'...

Fawndeuce

I run mine on bias plies!
Keeps the gawkers driving beside me from staying to close, I involuntarily have to use part of their lane sometimes.



Paul

TopLess62

You won't be the first guy that thought about that combo, but it's waay cool!!! I'm just sayin'!!!

Frankie the Fink

I guess I'm not spoiled since I've never even ridden in a vette later than a '67. Yep - unbelievable, but when I started thinking about it, its absolutely true. A '67 big block ride in 1985 with my Dad and we flat tore up some interstates with it for 2 hours straight. I don't agree with some though as I think 300+hp even in a '60s car is nothing to sneeze at.

When I wind up my C1 - looking at the tach and listening to the whir of the solid lifters, roar of the off-road exhaust and my 8 carb barrels gargling fuel...well - there is just not much to compare with that.

There are some cobblestone streets in Old Winter Garden Florida that I simply cannot ride on in the '61 tho. The 'rattle-your-fillings-out' bumps, squeaks and groans from the fiberglass, and, skittering around on the skinny tires is not a 'life-enhancing' experience.

jkuzzy

I have raced against LS motors at the track and driven a few. They are very deceiving and pull like a mother the higher the rpm that you go. I do like the sound of the oldies versus the new stuff. I "tried" to listen to a guy that just put on headers and aftermarket exhaust on a newer motor and it just wasn't the same at all.

Rob-classof'64

Well guys, that is why I went to the ZZ383, 17" TT II's and front disc brakes. The 5sp will go in this winter, I'm driving now. I haven't decided on suspension yet, plan to talk to plenty of people at Carlisle next month.

With the 4.11 rear it only goes about 115, but I've seen 110 with no sweat on the 6 lane. It flies. Also, with that torque it is like driving an automatic; just put it in 4th and push down to go faster. Shifting is only necessary if someone is challenging me.

Try it , you'll like it.

Rob

lovevettes

I think it is all about the CONDITION of the parts on the car.

MY '60 has new front and rear springs , rebuilt front end . ALL [with a capitol A] polyureathane in place of rubber parts. New springs for my seats . Radial tires.

My '64 , L76, coupe has tired springs , front and rear, original seat covers and springs , NO rear sway bar in rear. But it does have new rubber upper and lower control arm bushings, new ball joints, new poly. cushions at the ends of the rear springs and new poly bushings for the leading edge of the rear trailing arms and poly bushings for the strut arms. All new brake parts. Radial tires. [did all the work myself]

I would still pick the '60 to run a race course with numerous turns, a long Sunday drive, over-all fun , comfort, etc. I have a lot of up-grades in the engine in the '60 , which helps a lot. [350 cu. in. , Muncie, roller cam , roller lifters, 2.02 heads, Edel. Thunder carb. , power brakes.]

It will take time and money to get the '64 where I want it. Maybe some day they will be equal.

My wife wants me to buy a 2003 , Ann. red Conv.

63Corvette

I have both a 63 Z-06 and an 04 Z-06. Both are pretty "serious performance" cars. They are as different as chalk and cheese. Both will lap Sears Point in under 2 minutes. However, the 2004 car will drive my wife and I back and forth to the track (from Washington) and me back and forth to work every day in air-conditioned comfort, with an outstanding stereo to listen to (if you are stopped). The 63 can only drive back onto the trailer, cause it's a RACE car. The 2004 is "better" in every measurable way, BUT it can never get me invited to the Monterey Historics like the 63 can.

62Jeff

My 62 was driven until 1974 and parked where it sat until I got it in 1981. It is a 72,000 mile car that was fully (NCRS/Bloomington) restored with factory correct/authentic parts in 1983. I've put about 1,000 miles on it since finishing it. It has bias ply reproduction tires, which soon will be replaced with radials as this car finally starts getting driven more. The 25+ year old Delco spiral shocks will likely be replaced with something new as well, but to date the correct shocks are still on the car.

My 65 has 100,000+ miles, untouched original front control arm bushings and ball joints, but incorrect big block springs sitting in my small block car. Trailing arms rebuilt, composite rear spring. Performance shocks and radial tires all around.

darguy

You, Sir, have a couple of very nice cars!



Your comments on the C5 echo my feelings exactly. Except the Special Lady Friend feels wierd in it 'cause she can't see any of the car or road out of the windows from her seat (and her height), she can only see the sky...

She'd way rather be in the C2 - except that it doesn't feel safe, compared to the C5 (she drives an Echo, bless her little heart!). I've survived accidents in modern cars that would have killed me in the C2.