emccomas

So another idea that has been percolating in my brain.

What are 63 coupes so desirable these days.

Lets face it, as mid year cars go, they are not that great. Lots of one year only parts, drum brakes, no big block optional.

OK, it is the first year for that body style, and the coupe rear window is unique, if somewhat useless.

So what is the big attraction?

A 67 350 hp 327 car is a much better car all around. And it you want to get info serious horsepower, a 435 car is a beast (I won't even mention L-88, just too rare).

So why the big attraction for the 63 coupe, and not the accompanying 63 convertible.

When 67 big block cars were red hot (maybe even white hot), the difference between coupe and convertible wasn't that significant.

So why the 63 coupe, and why now.

My theory...

1. First year for the Corvette coupe, period!
2. Unique rear window treatment makes it immediately recognizable.

and the number 1 top reason why the 1963 Corvette coupe is so desirable...... drum roll......

It is damn hard to fake a 63 coupe.

Yes, you can fake the engine, the transmission, numerous options, etc., but actually faking a 63 coupe itself is pretty damn tough.

When you have a 63 coupe, not too many people can tell you it is a fake 63 coupe.

OHSIXX

I am guessing the rear window has a lot to do with it.

396/425

We have a 65 and think it's awesome but a split window ? Give me a break, it's one of the worlds best automotive designs (exterior) for it's time and even more now . Is it the best driving? Hell no but come on... It's iconic. Shinoda went off the rails on that one. I never met anyone.. Even ford people who doesn't think it's the poster child of American auto design.

Zoomin

Your mind sure is percolating on 63's a lot lately.

As to your question about why now - if you go back about two years and look at the market, the BB vettes were and still are fetching six figure money. Fuelies, likewise. After that, you look around and the SWC's were clearly unappreciated - cheaper than the others by $50,000 or more.

Apparently, a lot of people entering the market appreciated the uniqueness and beauty the SWC's possess. Not many decent examples out there, coupled with a lot of people wanting one, and there you have it.

Now that prices inching closer to the others I mentioned, new buyers to the market with look for the next bargain and demand for the SWC will level off.

vettebuyer6369

You have been obsessed with the fake 63 coupe idea lately.

However, I sort of agree with you. When everyone was arguing about why 63s have gone off the charts lately, some insisting it was the 50 year bump (it wasnt), I said then (and still feel) that its a pushback against the restamps and fakes of the big money and even documented big blocks. The SWC is an icon that cannot be easily faked (not having a semantics argument about whether it can been done). Its either a 63 split or it isnt.

Powershift

It's simply "the look" of the car. Guys (and girls) my age well remember when the car came out and how EVERYONE talked about it. Now that the kids are gone and the 401k is doing well, time to get one before life runs out.

FWIW

Larry

colo63sw

63Corvette

Mine gets me invited to interesting places, to race with interesting people

GTOguy

Your #1 and #2 nailed it. First year for an iconic design that is instantly recognized the world over, and looks killer from every angle. No matter the flaws, it's the first C2 coupe, the first Stingray, and the best looking of all the C2 coupes, due to the split window design. With any car, newer versions are always 'better', but not always as desireable as 'The Original'. My 2 cents...........FWIW, the '67, which is the most popular year for the C2, is for me, the least favored. I just can't get around than ugly back-up light over the rear license plate.

emccomas

I absolutely agree that the rear window treatment is an iconic design feature, but that is not what is driving the desirability of the cars.

That window has been there since 1963, the surge in desirability is a recent scenario (last 3-4 years or so).

What changed in the last 3-4 (maybe 5?) years or so?

Why all of the sudden is a 63 coupe the "one to have".

Part of it, of course, is the band wagon that many people jumped on after the trend started.

So the real question is...what started the trend.

That is where I get to the "hard to fake a 63 coupe".

I think many people got tired of trying to decide whether or not a 65, 66, or 67 big block was a real big block car, whether or not the engine was a restamp, whether or not options had been added, etc.

Also, I think big block prices got out of hand, and even small block cars were being faked (upgraded engines, added options, etc.)

There is nothing that looks like a 63 coupe. In many cases, the conversation doesn't even go beyond the rear window. So no real questions about "original motor", etc. that almost always seem to accompany the other mid year cars.

Anyway, that is what I think.

mark6669

I remember seeing my first one at 10 years old in the showroom window at Rosenthal Chevrolet in Arlington Va. Loved it them and still do! Took me over 40 years to buy one but it's by far the most traffic stopping Corvette I have ever owned out of over 30 Corvettes. The offers I get are stupid money and just keep getting higher.
Mark

firstgear

Sorry my memory isn't what it used to be but one of the members blended in the split window into another mid year, so while not is it done, it has been.

Also recall that several '63s had their center divider chopped out to make them look one year newer, a 1964.

Doesn't make sense now, but looking back I can understand the logic.

tuxnharley

I thought the "63 SWCs were popular because Zora absolutely hated it - kind of a reverse psychology rebel mentality.............

Frankie the Fink

The initial design had a thin artistic piece drawn vertically between the two rear windows. I forget the exact words but Zora correctly stated that by the time the piece was wide enough to be structurally sound and trim was added it would be 3"-4" wide. He called it right.

He did hate the split and won the battle to have it removed in '64.

Qblue92

Midyears are regarded as the best looking Corvettes, and the SWC just has that bonus "bling".

http://s193.photobucket.com/user/Qbl...w/the63?sort=3

I've been stalking this one for years now. I've offered my liver for it. No takers yet. Been sitting since '84.

tuxnharley

You guys better make it 1/2 of your liver and/or one kidney - otherwise you won't be around to enjoy the car.......

Rumor has it those things bring big bucks In Thailand...............

MikeM

The attraction to the '63 coupe isn't a recent thing.

I bought my '65 coupe in '72 when these cars had bottomed out in price and that included all midyears, all years. About '74, my buddy bought a very nice '63 coupe, one owner, Sebring Silver, fuelie. He told me what he gave for it which was about five time what I gave for mine. I laughed at him and asked him why he paid so much for it.

He had just joined a local Corvette Club and those members blew smoke up his butt and told him the '63 coupe was a major player in the market and would one day appreciate to great heights in value. This was about 1974. This was also about the same time that the "numbers matching" crap got it's foot in the door which coincidentally coincided with the formation of local/national ncrs.

So, the '63 coupe was one of the first to really appreciate in value, then it fell out of favor for BB's, then for a time the fuelies took over as the favorite. Then came the '65 396 cars. Then, for some reason, back to the '67 BB's with tri-power. If you have a four barrel, your car is somehow inferior to those with three carburetors. And on and on and now back to the '63 coupes.

It all runs in cycles. If it doesn't run in cycles, the dealers/flippers can't make any money. Just like the stock market.

You gotta' remember, in 1974, there wasn't much to brag about in the Corvette world about new Corvettes so in order to generate interest in the hobby (and somebody's wallet) a new hero gets generated every several years.

What goes around comes around.

Frankie the Fink

And they still keep crawling out of the woodwork:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Corvette-Split-window-coupe-/281750466089?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4199a2ee29&item=281750466089

phil2302

Duntov was a great engineer with his cams, IRS and so many other contributions to the cars we love but.........Larry Shinoda was an artist and visionary.
His designs were radical, innovative and beyond what anyone else was drawing up then and now. I got a chance to have a nice conversation with him in the mid nineties when he was running his own design company. He was a very humble man in spite of his accomplishments.

mrtexas

Really, it is 70+ year olds buying them? I'm 60 and don't remember them coming out as I was only 9 years old.