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I stopped by Harry Mann Chevrolet in late 1963 when I was looking to buy a new 1964 Corvette. I remember that they had 3 1964 Fuel Injected Coupes and one or two of were equipped with Kelsey-Hayes knock-offs. First set that I actually saw on a Corvette. They had been rumored to be coming, and I had been looking for a car equipped with a set but had not found any in Northern California.
It was a very odd experience to list the specific items that I wanted on the car and to have the salesman at Harry Mann say, "What color would you like? We have three that meet your specifications."
The late Frank Milne was the owner of the "World's Largest Corvette Dealer"* for its last few decades. If you look in some '70s Corvette News issues, you'll find stories about the custom Corvettes he'd create every couple of years with the body shops very talented fiberglass artist Eric Ruffo. More than customs, these cars were made from brand-new Corvettes and looked like factory prototypes.
Performance oriented? I'll say! Harry Mann loaned Jerry Titus a '66 427/425 for a Sports Car Graphic magazine road test. At their suggestion, he accepted an exchange set of Sports Car Special tires on the knock-offs. All Corvette buyers were offered aftermarket upgrades like this at delivery.
A Southern California Corvette club had Frank's son as a dinner speaker last year. He regaled them with many stories from the C1, 2 and 3 years.
Many people asked if he had any dealer records, but their whereabouts are unknown.
*(This is what their license plate frames read for years)
Sorry for the number of years that have passed since your thread, I just joined and had googled Harry Mann Chevrolet. I happened to go to high school at St. Bernard High School, Playa del Rey, CA with Frank's son Patrick. We graduated together in 1965, and I clearly recall Frank driving to St. Bernard one day in March, 1965, with a Glen Green 396 coupe, to pick Patrick up from school. Every male in that school emptied out into the parking lot to see that car. I am still in contact with Pat, and I own two corvettes: a 1966 coupe and a 2016 coupe.
Has anyone one found Harry Mann sales invoices dating back to late 60s early 70s?
Originally Posted by 65 fi
I tried to locate some information on those old sales files a few years ago. One person I spoke with led me to believe that the files are around but I did not have a lot of success in locating them. I believe they were supposedly in a warehouse in or around Los Angeles.
If you have success in locating records, please let me know.
Has anyone found Harry Mann sales invoices dating back to late 60s to early 70s?
I once owned a Harry Mann used car, a 1960 2-door Chevy that I paid (well, my mom paid) $700 for in 1965. A 170 HP 283 and three-on-the-tree. It was my first Chevy and preceded a run of 22 Corvettes to the present day.
The boss definitely spent his money on Corvette inventory, and not on spiffing up his store.
I think it was established over 30 or more years ago through conversations with Milne family members and former employees that Mann sales documentation was not retained. License plate frames and some other trinkets are available but no sales docs exist unless individual buyers kept it.
I don’t know where it is, but I had/have a sales paperwork for my 1967 Z-28 I had,! I think I have the paperwork from the Nova my brother had! Probably buried in one of my storages!
I have others photographed or found on the internet!
If you search me and Harry Mann 1966 L-72 here on the forum, I posted a Mosport Green one up while talking dealerships and trades like Clippinger! We were talking about Wingates stolen car! I have somewhere a Used car sells receipt found on a Corvette site for a 1967 Vette.
Last edited by TCracingCA; 05-13-2019 at 01:33 AM.
I literally lived right across the street my farther worked there as a mechanic I can remember going over there after school and the other mechanics were so cool thought me about cars and till this day I love old corvettes but I can remember looking at novas and just walking around in the offices everyone was so nice , I was probably 13-15 years old never forget it.
how can I find a Harry Mann license plate frame that’s reasonable, an original if possible. Please direct me to the web site. I loved Harry Mann Corvettes and I remember those Saturday mornings.
Frank Milne lived one house down from me and I had no idea he used to own Harry Mann Chevrolet!
I had just become the owner of my ‘71.
Frank has been dead for awhile now, but apparently his daughter was living in the house. A beautiful, but slightly run down, 20 acre property.
There was a week long “estate sale”/ garage sale that I must have drove by the sign 10 times.
Finally on a Sunday, at close to 5 pm, my family was in the car and we were driving past his driveway. I impulsively turned and drove up the long driveway. I wanted to see the property more than anything.
Not much was left on the last day, but I do remember the daughter saying she had sold his mid year corvette, and a bunch of other car stuff.
I did buy a couple of old corvette pictures for like a dollar each and a framed business card thing that had his business card and a bunch of other cards like Henry Ford, Jonas Salk, etc.
I do remember she had a Lamborghini magnesium rim for $5.
Maybe the daughter dumped all those records in the trash, who knows?
Frank Milne lived one house down from me and I had no idea he used to own Harry Mann Chevrolet!
I had just become the owner of my ‘71.
Frank has been dead for awhile now, but apparently his daughter was living in the house. A beautiful, but slightly run down, 20 acre property.
There was a week long “estate sale”/ garage sale that I must have drove by the sign 10 times.
Finally on a Sunday, at close to 5 pm, my family was in the car and we were driving past his driveway. I impulsively turned and drove up the long driveway. I wanted to see the property more than anything.
Not much was left on the last day, but I do remember the daughter saying she had sold his mid year corvette, and a bunch of other car stuff.
I did buy a couple of old corvette pictures for like a dollar each and a framed business card thing that had his business card and a bunch of other cards like Henry Ford, Jonas Salk, etc.
I do remember she had a Lamborghini magnesium rim for $5.
Maybe the daughter dumped all those records in the trash, who knows?
Holy crap!!!!
Are those authentic cards from The "B. Franklin" and The "A. Lincoln"?
07-30-2012, 01:34 AM
