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In 1967 I purchased a used 1967 Corvette. This Corvette was the first 1967 Corvette sold by the Chevrolet dealer. Arrived at the dealer in August 1966 and the dealer hid it in a shop elevator until September. It was a black convertible 435hp, saddle interior, black soft top and black vinyl hardtop.
I removed the spare tire and it was also painted gold. This was a very early car that had BF Goodrich black wall tires.
Any one ever heard or seen of the gold painted wheels?
Welcome to the CF! I would suspect the dealer did it for promo reasons of the car on the showroom floor. Factory documented color for all '67 steel wheels was Argent Silver. Dennis
Last edited by Bluestripe67; 03-13-2017 at 02:03 PM.
Welcome to the CF! I would suspect the dealer did it for promo reasons of the car on the showroom floor. Factory documented color for all '67 steel wheels was Argent Silver. :cheers: Dennis
This car was a customer ordered car and never in the showroom. At that time, the dealer was allowed one Corvette a month and you had to get in line to order --- only 12 per year.
This was a real early car and I wish I never got rid of it. I am an old man now and have owned about a dozen '67's and this was my favorite.
As I reflect on this car - it was one of the most highly optioned 67's that I ever seen and owned. My thoughts were Chevrolet did some "early experimenting"with the color. I did at that time had enough paint experience to determine if the wheels were painted with the tires mounted I can confirm- the tires were not mounted.
In very early 67 promo pictures the rally wheels were painted black. But for production silver was chosen. And ALL rally wheels until 82 were silver. The corvette side of plant would not even have gold paint. But the wheels were painted at the KH plant. Who knows what any dealer might have done once they took delivery.
Tom here is a early promo picture showing a maroon car with BLACK rally wheels
This was not a bright gold color. More of a "tannish" gold with a low gloss appearance. As I said before, being such an early car, possibly they were trying to match the interior color (saddle) because the exterior was black.
Some of the very early owners of my 1967 #350 state in writing that the rally wheels were black. I don't believe that, though. If the first few hundred 1967's had black wheels we would have seen evidence of that.
If you purchased rally wheels through a dealer (not take-offs), they always came black and you had to paint them yourself if you didn't like black. Painting rally wheels body color was not an uncommon practice back in the 70's and 80's. I would guess I've seen at least a couple of dozen done that way over the years.
I bought a pair of 8" rally wheels in '69 as soon as they were available from our local dealer to mount some slicks on. They were black and I never got a chance to mount tires on them. After 30+ years in storage, they were still black with the part number stickers still on them, albeit with some minor rust in places as the black was more of a primer than real paint.
If you purchased rally wheels through a dealer (not take-offs), they always came black and you had to paint them yourself if you didn't like black. Painting rally wheels body color was not an uncommon practice back in the 70's and 80's. I would guess I've seen at least a couple of dozen done that way over the years.
I bought a pair of 8" rally wheels in '69 as soon as they were available from our local dealer to mount some slicks on. They were black and I never got a chance to mount tires on them. After 30+ years in storage, they were still black with the part number stickers still on them, albeit with some minor rust in places as the black was more of a primer than real paint.
GUSTO
I have a NOS '67 DC rim with the part# tag still on it. It is black as well. The black is a dull shade. Who knows maybe that was the primer that was used at the time.
I have a NOS '67 DC rim with the part# tag still on it. It is black as well. The black is a dull shade. Who knows maybe that was the primer that was used at the time.
JohnZ once said that the wheels where dipped primed in black primmer. so your wheel should have runs and sags
I would pick a good spot on the car and start removing the paint layers to see what the color of the car history was!
I would bet, it got a gold paint job sometime in it's life, if even that spare came with the car! It could be a spare rim that someone picked up at a swap meet.
When like Riverside Gold came out, many dealers, like my Father's C3 from Dana Chevrolet's Performance lot across the street got custom painted the 1969 color. It was a hot color, back in the day. I could tell usually if it is a factory color, by looking at the color. Most aftermarket Golds, had usually more flake than the stock color.
JohnZ once said that the wheels where dipped primed in black primmer. so your wheel should have runs and sags
Well the runs and sags could be under the gold on the original black. If stock, the runs and sags would be gold runs and sags, unless the guy was as bad at painting as the factory.
03-13-2017, 01:40 PM
1967 Corvette with gold color rally wheels
Dennis
I have a NOS '67 DC rim with the part# tag still on it. It is black as well. The black is a dull shade. Who knows maybe that was the primer that was used at the time.
