Keith@VetteFinders

One of the most dominating Corvettes in auto racing history was sold over the weekend at Gooding & Company's Pebble Beach Auction for an astounding $1.485 million. Grady Davis' Gulf Oil Racing Team purchased the Corvette in 1962 from Yenko Chevrolet and the car was campaigned by none other than "The Flying Dentist", Dr. Dick Thompson in the 1962 SCCA-A Production Class. In 14 races, the Gulf Oil '62 Corvette finished first in class 12 times including wins at Daytona and Sebring and captured the 1962 A-Production Championship.

Additional photos and the Corvette's history can be viewed on my Corvette blog:
http://www.corvetteblogger.com/index...t-Pebble-Beach

Bluestripe67

WOW, what else can be said. Is the new owner just well heeled or a well heeled Vette collector? Dennis

ps374

You guys will probably think Im making this up but Car #2 or 3 (not sure how many were built) was at a unofficial car show 3 years ago in Bellmore New York. The car looked similar except the head lights had points on them. The owner found the car down south which had been in ruff stock Corvette appearance but he claimed he knew it was the Gulf car from the vin. He restored it himself with computer images of the original. He had a vin # and that is how he traced the car down south. OK all that said, I found it hard to believe that this guy would take this car out in a local parking lot to show people? He said it WAS one of the 1961 Gulf oil racers. He seemed sincere and the car was done in high show quality and appeared genuine.I believed Him. Was I had?

Bill Lacy

WOW
I guess that not all of the corvette market is soft!

sub006

$1.5 million is CRAZY for a Z06 1962.

Unless it won class at Le Mans or Sebring overall.

SBR

Bill,
Significant cars such as this or the truly great and or extremely rare cars will always command big $$$. The "matching #" or "appears to be the real" type cars are the ones that are really suffering right now and will continue to drop in price JMHO.

Last 62

PM sent.

Jim

philip964

A really great old Corvette for 1.5 million or a run of the mill old Ferrari. Seems a pretty simple decision.

joe58

That is a cool car.

I collect Yenko stuff and I think I have the Yenko Racing Team jacket in the picture shown on that web site. The guy wearing it I think is Ed Lother who was from PA and drove Corvettes and later AC Cobras.

Also have Dr Dick Thompsons driving suit and Helmet from 62

Ed Lother name is on the Yenko Racing Team jacket I have.

The Yenko Gulf Oil Corvette Racing Team dominated from 61-63 winning SCCA B/P 61 62 63, A/P in 62, and ran the Grand Sport #004 in C/M. plus top finishes at Daytona and Sebring.

They had 2 new 1961 Corvettes and 2 new 1962 Corvettes and 2 1963 Z06 Corvettes and the Grand Sport #004 on loan from Chevy

Then Gulf Oil went to Ford in 1964 after Chevy had a crack down on racing and stopped the Grand Sport program

The Yenko Corvette seen in NY was probably a 1961 as a guy in NY had one of the 61s restored and used to drive it around

ps374

Yes it was a 61. I was so impressed with this car. I was even more surprised when I heard the story that this guy went looking for this car through DMV records because he had a vin. When he found the car it had been poorly put back together in street form with armature body work and repairs. The owner did not know what he had and this guy made him a offer which the owner turned downed at first. After some arm twisting the guy sold it I guess thinking what a sucker and this fellow restored it to it original race condition. This was about five or six years ago and at the time I knew little about Corvette History. I was told he did all the work himself from computer images in duplicating the decals to the right size etc. It was a work of art and the car looked brand new. And he was driving it on the street.

stinger396

It's great to see the early vette's get the respect they have earned. If GM would only have stayed in the race program

OrinDales

Hi guys, Ken here with OrinDales. I work for Gooding during the auctions. The car ran as good as it looked. A great piece of history to say the least.

Regards
Ken

DZAUTO

Just a few comments about the "value, or reduced value" of non-numbers matching cars.
I have known the original restorer (Mike Ernst) of the above 62 for many years, and I really hated it when he told me he had sold it. I know what he went through to return it to its Gulf race configuration.
MANY of these early cars (as well as later cars) have had engines, trannys rears, etc, etc, replaced and the originals are long since gone. The reasons are various. Engines and other drive train components have come unglued due to multiple reasons-----------------particularly severe competition. In the earliest days, when there was still factory involvement, cars were entered in competition with factory "backup-up" engines delivered to the race location for immediate replacement. Also, when an engine was replaced (maybe the 1st, 2nd or 3rd engine), the replaced engine went back to engineering for a thorough inspection of individual parts. Thus, back then, neither originality nor matching numbers was an issue (that's only been MADE an issue by restorers). Today there are several well documented cars with an extensive race history/heritage which DO NOT have, and no one knows the whereabouts of, their original factory installed engine. But yet their value is astronomical simply because of their race breeding.
Probably the best examples are the 5 Gran Sports. How many engines do you suppose have been installed between their frame rails?????
Soooooooooooooooo, is an original, matching number, St. Louis installed engine block REALLY that important? Not in my book!

Here are a couple of PERFECT examples.
The first is one of the GENUINE 1956 Chevrolet prepared Sebring race cars with a standard bore (Dec 55 casting date) 265 that I built to as close to exacting specs as the owner could come up with. Is it of a lesser value because it does not have the St. Louis installed 265? Not hardly!!!!!!!!!!!


This car was ordered, and, immediately upon delivery to Rosenthal Chevrolet, setup for racing and hit the SCCA circuit 1wk after delivery. Never street driven. Got LOTS of factory engineering support for its FI engine! Where is the REAL value? Race heritage, or matching number block?

Jim Dillon

This particular car is a great piece of Corvette history and I do not believe the price is out of line. I attend a decent number of auctions with two friends one who is a millionaire and the other a billionaire (I jokingly refer to myself as the thousandaire to make the trio complete). I have watched them spend several hundred thousand without batting an eye, so how much people with money spend is all relative. On the other hand the guys that cut our lawn probably think all of us Corvette owners are "rich".

When I had my shop in SoCal in the eighties I got to know Mike Ernst and he is a great guy. He was working on the car and finishing it up during this time and on one of my visits I asked him if I could sit in the car. May sound a bit corny but just sitting in it for me was somewhat magical. I also bought some of the incorrect parts off the car (the wrong rear springs which are now on my black car) and I horsetraded him a few big brake ducts and other "goodies" that he could use on this or several other 62s he always seemed to have tucked away at his house.

When Mike told me he was going to sell it I thought how could anyone sell such a piece once they had it in their hands but Mike knew the value (we talked it would fetch north of $500,000, hopefully in the $700,000 range) which was big money at the time and this could go a long way towards the constant mundane everyday expenses such as college education etc.

With its heritage on the track and big name associations how can anyone argue that compared to lets say the Grand Sports (now fetching more than $1.5 mil) that this car is not worth the price.

If I was one of the other in the trio there is a better than even chance that car would be sitting in my barn. We can all dream I suppose-better go buy a Lotto ticket-Jim

wmf62

i cut my own grass, so you know where that puts me....
Bill

DZAUTO

Talk about the guys that spend big bucks on Vettes-------------------------------------THAT'S NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What about the guys that spend their bucks on these!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, you're talking REAL $$$$$$$$$$$$$$!





And change from this engine (for cruisin') to the next engine, in only 11hrs, just to go race at Reno. Then come back and swap in the crusin' engine! Yep, that's some SERIOUS bucks!

redvetracr

he is an "art" collector, like all the rest that pay stupid money for race cars and never race them.....

K2

I hit a garage sale out in the country about 10 years ago and there was an allison out of a P-38 on an engine stand for sale. I really wanted it. I think he was asking $3,000.00 for it. Then there was the swap meet about 40years ago where there was a Lotus Ford dual overhead cam V-8 indy engine for sale for $3,500.00. Could have been my retirement right there.

To get back on topic, those Gulf Corvettes are some awesome cars with a fascinating history. Love to have one in my garage.

Dan Hampton

Great pics of the P-51, Tom. That is some serious hardware. What do those Merlin engines go for?

JohnZ

Ask Jack Roush - he has 16 of them (still in Cosmolene) as his "forever" supply for his three P-51D's.