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A great story about a terrific family tradition...
Carol and Robbie Horowitz bought this Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray new in 1964 for $4,150.20, then drove it to California, inspired by the TV show ‘Route 66.’
The 1964 Sting Ray is from the second generation Corvette. The ‘C2,’ as this second-generation car is often called, is thought of by many as the most beautiful Corvette iteration ever. Adrienne Grunwald for The Wall Street Journal
The bar across the top isn't original. Robbie Horowitz was a racing enthusiast, and he added the roll bar, plus a racing transmission. Adrienne Grunwald for The Wall Street Journal
The Corvette’s interior. Clearly this 53-year old vehicle has gotten plenty of TLC.
Ms. Horowitz drove her children around in this car when they were babies, before the days of car seats. Here she is with a few of her grandchildren: Olivia, Jack and Raquel Horowitz, left to right. ‘We all love cars,’ she says, ‘everyone in our family.’
The 1964 Corvette’s stylish front end.
While this shot shows the car with its soft top up, the couple also paid for a hard top (an extra $182.95) when they bought the vehicle new in 1964. Adrienne Grunwald for The Wall Street Journal
‘I love the power and a little speed, but it’s the memories I love more,’ Ms. Horowitz says, ‘how it all started, my husband, our family, the racing trophies, what a great life it has been.’
Adrienne Grunwald for The Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-sta...tte-1491313068
GUSTO
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Originally Posted by 65hihp
Someone told me at a car show that the plastic body corvettes came with rollbar.
The steel body ones didn't.
I think the roll bar was a freebie given to those who bought a big block car, but they were out of big block hoods and used the small block hood. To make up for it, GM threw the roll bar on for no charge.
My black 64 is going to look a lot like this on Saturday when the top is complete. Love to see a triple black car getting some fame! I wish she would have someone install the spare tire carrier. I always hate the see-through rear end.
I just think it is great that someone keeps a car that long. I think the longest I have ever owned one car was 6 years and that was my first 54 Vette. I told my wife I would be buried in it, but someone offered me way to much money for it and she had to go. Boy was my wife surprised I sold it.
I just think it is great that someone keeps a car that long. I think the longest I have ever owned one car was 6 years and that was my first 54 Vette. I told my wife I would be buried in it, but someone offered me way to much money for it and she had to go. Boy was my wife surprised I sold it.
Oh, when you said she had to go I thought you kept the car and not the wife
My black 64 is going to look a lot like this on Saturday when the top is complete. Love to see a triple black car getting some fame! I wish she would have someone install the spare tire carrier. I always hate the see-through rear end.
I am surprised at what bothers people. A few years ago i had a 64 for sale , i put in the ad it was a custom car & had lots of pictures but the man came out & said he could not enjoy driving the car because it had 3 tail lights , but it ran so strong
Great story about a Corvette and it's owner's journey through time watching a family grow up and collecting memories to last a life time. I don't think originality plays into the value of the story. Besides a triple black flared period correct '64 roadster still draws attention to this day.
Carol Horowitz, 74, an assistant school librarian from Westhampton Beach, N.Y., on her 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, as told to A.J. Baime.
Every Father’s Day, our family gathers at my son David’s house in Westchester County, N.Y.—my kids and my many grandkids. Some of us who are old enough to drive take turns in the old Corvette. I love the power and a little speed, but it’s the memories I love more—how it all started, my husband, our family, the racing trophies, what a great life it has been.
My late husband Robbie and I went to high school and Brooklyn College together. We were fans of the TV show “Route 66,” about two adventurers in a Corvette. So a couple months after we got married in January 1964, we bought a new Corvette Sting Ray at Curry Chevrolet in Scarsdale, N.Y., for $4,150.20. Off we went to California on Route 66. We had no cellphones, no GPS. We just had each other.
Robbie loved racing as a hobby, and he raced this car at Lime Rock, Watkins Glen and Bridgehampton. When we had babies, the Corvette became a family car, even though it only had two seats. There were no car seats at the time, and I would put a child on a little bed next to me, propping the bed in safely with a spare wheel. (It seems crazy now, but that’s how I did it at the time.) We even used the Corvette as a ski car in Vermont, with a rack on the roof.
In the 1960s, there was nothing else like the Corvette—a real American sports car. Today, it feels as exotic as it did then. When I park it on the street, people will pass Ferraris to see our car. We get asked if our family would sell the car. Not a chance. It will stay with us forever.
When the photographer came to take the pictures you see here, we made it a family event, with the kids, grandkids, a table full of food, and Champagne cocktails. We pulled out the old racing trophies and the car’s original bill of sale. Robbie was a wonderful guy (he passed away in 2012), and he would have loved it.
Like many Corvette owners in the 1960s, Robbie Horowitz, who died in 2012, drove his ‘Vette in numerous club races. The family treats these trophies as heirlooms. Photo: Adrienne Grunwald for The Wall Street Journal
‘When the photographer came to take the pictures you see here,’ says Ms. Horowitz, ‘we made it a family event, with the kids, grandkids, a table full of food, and Champagne cocktails.’ Photo: Adrienne Grunwald for The Wall Street Journal
I am surprised at what bothers people. A few years ago i had a 64 for sale , i put in the ad it was a custom car & had lots of pictures but the man came out & said he could not enjoy driving the car because it had 3 tail lights , but it ran so strong
LOL!! Yea....that 3rd tail light is a bugger!
Not many people can overcome the anxiety it causes! LOL!
I think it is great the purchase of the car was inspired by the show Route 66. Maybe we need more neat cars to inspire people to buy and keep their cars!
04-05-2017, 02:21 PM
The Star of the Family? Grandma’s Corvette
Dennis
