Detroit Steel

This 1960 Corvette Fuelia, one of only 10 ever built and seeped in rich Corvette history, will be on display at the Amelia Island 2015 Concours d’Elegance.

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jim lockwood

OK, I'll bite...... in what way is it 1 of 10?

66jack

Found this....Could this be what makes it...1-10


"1960 Corvette Fuelia, which sported a 24-gallon fuel tank for racing."

Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/01/...#ixzz3OxK4zcdk

rfn026

Not a lot of information. Sounds as if it was an SCCA car.

Richard Newton

Nowhere Man

GM built more then 10 big tank cars that year. And any number one of X is just a guess That car sure will look out of place with a bunch of brass era cars and Italian sports cars

jim lockwood

Um, well, OK. Squinting and looking at the gas filler door (which appears to be missing), I guess it's plausible the car has a large tank. I thought there were more than 10 built with big tanks, tho.

My first assumption was that the 1 of 10 reference probably implied the presence of the problem-prone aluminum heads (recently discussed in another thread).

Jim

Frankie the Fink

Kinda what I was thinking...not the typical "blue blazer and straw skimmer" crowd's first choice.

gbvette62

That's not the car's first visit to Amelia Island. It was offered for sale there at the Gooding auction, a few years back. They were estimating that it would sell for around a half million, but I don't know if it sold.

From what I remember, they are claiming that it's one of 10 big tank 60's built, but I don't know that they can back that up. I've never seen any production numbers for 59, 60 or 61 big tanks. I think 62 was the first year that the numbers are known.

I am pretty sure that it is a legitimate 687 big brake fuelie car. It's history is well known. It was ordered by a racer from Illinois, from Nickey Chevrolet, and won it's class at Sebring in 60. Dontov was at Sebring that year, and supposedly helped prep the car.

I love old race cars!

narlee

The concours crowd has broadened it's spectrum a little in recent years. The Pebble Beach Concours has even had Hot Rods for a while .

3JsVette

Me too!
Kevin McKay has brought Corvette race cars to Amelia Island in the past.

ptjsk

I wonder how many of the attendees will try to sneak a peak at it!

gbvette62

Though Amelia Island is known for beautiful Brass Era cars and foreign exotics, Corvettes have always been a part of the Concours. Historic race cars seem to be very popular at Amelia Island, and that includes Corvettes.

In 2003, all 5 original Grand Sports were at Amelia Island. I think this is the only time that the 5 Grand Sports have ever been together in one place.

Last year the 2014 Corvette was featured, along with a number of famous 53-62 race cars. I know Chip & Lance Miller's Purple People Eater, the finned 53 Daytona speed record car, and John Nees 56 SR-1, were all on display there last year. Kevin McKay often has Corvettes at the Concours too.

sub006

1960 was the first time a team of Corvettes ran at LeMans. There is a black and white video starring Duntov, Briggs Cunningham (AIR) and the other drivers that is still available, probably free online by now.

This car looks a lot like what that American team drove, but I don't see a roll bar?!?

desertpilgrim

The source of the 10 units built is a letter from ZAD to management that is attempting to establish a possible range of such tanks for the 1962 model year; he also included 25, I believe, as the # for the 1961 model year.
The car in question was at Amelia Island in 2014 and won an Amelia award in its class, which would seem to confirm that it was not "out of place".

jimgessner

George Reed was the Ferrari dealer and owner of RRR Motors based in Homewood, IL. He was a successful race car driver, piloting Ferraris to many Top 10 over-all finishes at Sebring and other race tracts around the country. RRR was a race car club George started in the 50’s which stands for Reed’s Race Rats. An artist was commissioned to create the Rat decal you see on front of this Corvette for all of the club members.


During the 1960 race season Nickey Chevrolet was taking a break from racing. George contacted Nickey and ordered a 60 Corvette specifically for the upcoming 1960 Sebring Race. It arrived the first week in March and the mad rush was on. Ronnie Kaplan, the famous motor builder and crew chief for Nickey’s race cars, was given a very short time to get the motor race ready. He barely finished it but did get the job done in time building a rock solid motor. Even at Sebring, Zora Duntov’s assistance was given to the team for final race preparation. Chuck Hall , Texan JIM HALL'S YOUNGER BROTHER, and Bill Fritts were contracted to drive the RRR Motors entry. Bill consulted Zora Duntov, who made some able suggestions. Fritts and the mechanic carried them out. By race time at 10 a.m. on Saturday #6 was in position ready to race. 'We weren't trying to do anything but win class,' Fritts said. 'We knew we couldn't outrun the other five Corvettes, so we set out strategy to outlast them.' "

Comparing the Corvette times indicates that the fastest lap of #6 was some 20 seconds slower than Delmo Johnson/Dave Morgan in the fastest Corvette:

Fastest laps:

#5 Johnson/Morgan 3'34"10
#3 Gamble/Jeffords/Wuesthoff 3'41"05
#2 Thompson 3'43'44
#1 Cunningham/Fitch 3'44'59
#4 Jefford/Gamble 3'52"20 (#3 car was a DNF, so Jeffords teamed up with Gamble who did an outstanding job in the # 4 CAMORADI entry)
#6 Fritts/Hall 3'55"33

As Hap Sharp said to Fritts during the race: 'Hey, what's wrong! You're driving like you were driving on eggs. Get out there and go!'

But perhaps that was how a Corvette should be driven to finish an endurance race in 1960.
Their flawless piloting of the beautiful Race Rat led them to a 16th overall and FIRST IN CLASS finish at Sebring. It was the best finish of all Corvettes entered that year.

After the race season this very special Corvette passed through 2 people until it ended up with John Jurecic in 1962. He made the car streetable and enjoyed it for several years. It was then sold to his best friend Dr. Randall Krystosek in 1965 who used this car as a daily driver, even while in medical school, until he retired it to a weekend pleasure car. In 2004, Corvette collecter VIC PREISLER in Southern California purchased this Corvette from him. It has now been restored back to its 1960 Sebring winning livery.

The car is one of 10 Corvettes made in 1960 with the 24 gallon gas tank. We have a letter from Zora Duntov on Chevrolet stationary saying they made 10 cars in 1960, 25 cars in 1961 and 65 cars in 1962 with the 24 gallon gas tank.

Vic sold the car to a Jaguar collector in Santa Barbara, California who sold it to the current owner a few years back at Amelia RM Auction.

This is one of the of the great 1960 Corvette documented race cars with a very interesting history. If you Google FRITS-HALL 1960 Sebring Corvette you can find more info. It is also listed in the REGISTRY OF CORVETTE RACE CARS. www.registryofcorvetteracecars.com