jasonsamara

I was making my rounds today at work and stopped at a restoration shop to talk to the owner because I hadn't seen him in a long time. He proceeds to tell me a guy brought him a 1961 Corvette that is in pieces in a trailer, but there was something special about it. He tells me it's believed to be 1 of 6 1961 Corvettes that came with a 327 engine. I asked how does the owner know? He said he was trying to prove it, but wasn't sure how. Of course the original engine is long gone, but I thought I would ask the experts on here?

62corvette

Bs.

Nowhere Man

Tall tails I bet the casting date of the block is not even close

gbvette62

What more can I say but

Frankie the Fink

Another owner with a jacked up car trying to turn it to something it isn't....
Seems to be the trend lately...

jrs 427

Sounds neat, I like those one of ones, or even one of six. I hear Galen Govier has all the documentation for one of cars if they happen to have a Chrysler heritage. Haven't run across the guru for GM as of yet.

tuxnharley

It probably had one of the early prototype Muncie M22 "rock crusher" transmissions too...........

desertpilgrim

And how deep does it go into the 10,939 built? When confronted with one of these stories, do you guys suddenly go deaf, dumb and mute, unable to ask questions?

tuxnharley

HUH? Seeing as how the two most renowned experts on the topic - Alan Colvin and Noland Adams - show no evidence of any such thing in their reference books after having spent years researching exactly this type of question, you think we should all jump at a third hand rumor?
Not me.

sub006

I'm sure Zora and company "built" at LEAST six '61s with pre-production prototype 327s to to test and prepare for the 1962 introduction. But none of them came off the St. Louis assembly line with them!

That's the easily explainable "grain of truth" that grows into an urban legend IMO.

rfn026

Growing up in Flint I know all sorts of things went on. None of them were documented though. Inside the plant it was generally known as government work (i.e. classified).

A friend had a FI with solids and a power glide transmission one summer while we were in college. His dad was president of the Chevrolet division. I'm sure there was no documentation on that car.

I won't even begin to start on what my grandfather had over at the Buick.

Richard Newton

Frankie the Fink

Sorry - documentation wins over vague memories of something a friend might have had decades ago.
No 327 61s on the street....

If we are being mythological I still have a friend who insists there were some 64 split windows...

And, up next, for your entertainment, a lively discussion about the steel-bodied Corvette!

Easy Rhino

Any statement that begins with "I know for a fact" is right up there with the Oliver Stone school of reality.

It is important to grasp the difference between hearsay and documented facts. Many cannot. But they are entertaining, if not credible.

ejboyd5

What's the big deal about a '61 with a 327? I've got one and it has even had two 283s before that. Factory documentation is a little thin however.

DZAUTO

And then there is the guy in Okla with a 56 that has a SB400 with a one off Rochester FI unit.

tuxnharley

...............and I almost forgot about the guy in Northern California who has a '67 with a 350 (I thought they were only available in Camaros that year? ) and a 5 speed!

capevettes

I have often been tempted to engage these guys and ask questions but is it really worth it? It's kind of like the big block hoods on small block 67's when they ran out of small block hoods and the "early metal bodied solid axle cars" Is it worth asking for documentation/explanations from these "experts"?

Nowhere Man

It's been close to 50 to 60 years for this type of debates And you would think by now since not one single peice of document surfaced to support these claims People would realize it never happened. I mean come one does common sense and logic come into play here

ifitgoesfast

Harley Earl had a secret garage where all sorts of special projects happened. Some experiments likely not even documented. But then, what does it matter if it's not documented. It becomes a car somebody played around with, was never an official car, so doesn't really exist.

Nowhere Man

it was called Chevy Engineering