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Seems like it must of been something a lot of folks were interested in since they went to the trouble of publishing an article on how to do it.
My guess is that there weren't many that had that done. That had to be an expensive conversion to an already expensive new car. A custom made piece of plexiglass had to be made. And it would be a lot of work for the averge guy to install. I wonder who made the plexiglass?
Its funny how back then ZORA was the Engineer it was widely published that it blocked the view he was in conflict with The original designer just like fake news today people are lead to believe anything if its advertised.
I was working in a tire shop in 1983 when a brand new C-4 pulls up. The owner replaced the brand new tires and turbine wheels for a set of Vogue whitewall tires and fake wire basket rims....some people feel the need to be in fashion. No accounting for taste...the owner was a famous boxer....
Last edited by chiefttp; Apr 23, 2017 at 08:28 AM.
Growing up in the 60's in the Delaware Valley (DE, PA, NJ) it was far more common than you might think. Remove the split, get a flat hood and even change out the side slots for '67 gills and you had a "newer" model Corvette.
A local gal was given a '63 SWC by her parents in the late 60's to drive to HS. She soon had a bit of a mishap with it and while it was being repaired, the split disappeared, the hood was changed and '67 gills appeared. Bingo, to the untrained eye, it became a "new" '67 Corvette. Remember that these were just used cars back then and the new "Shark" was on the horizon.
Another friend picked up a new, left-over '67, 427-390 Corvette for under $4,000 in late fall of '67 when the new '68 appeared. Who would have guessed you could have picked up a new 427 for under $4000? He sold it in '73 or '74 in pristine condition for about $3500.
As I recall, it wasn't really until the late 70's that the SWC even developed anything close to a cult following. Just about the time the Silver Anniversary appeared and all of a sudden (older) Corvettes became collectible and some of the prices began an upward trend.
Remember the muscle car era really ended with a gas crisis! By the mid 70's BB cars, Chevrolet, Ford and MoPar were changing hands for very little. A good friend picked up a nearly new (19k mile) 429 Mercury Cyclone CJ for the princely sum of $1,900!
GUSTO
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I see some of the things and after market things that people today put on there cars and I wonder, will there cars be worth anything more or less because of the things that have been done to them? Makes you wonder. Look at all these resto mods, I don't care for most of them but that is just me. But you see them bringing big $$$$$ at auctions and when people go to sell them. Who can say what will happen in 20 or 40 yrs? Who knows. If we knew the answer we would all go out and buy what ever and do what ever to it and cash out in 20 or 40 yrs if any of us are still around. The thing is you pretty much only see older guys in 50's and up buying new and older Corvettes. I think mostly they are hard to justify buying when you have a family with kids at home or in school . Anyway I am just glad that there are still a lot of 63 SWC that did not get the split cut out of them.
I don't think a person that modifies or does a custom does it to make money or think about money. It is what they want and the way they want it. I could care less what my C2 will ever sell for the money I have spent on it is my personal decision to do. The funny thing is I could care less if anybody likes it or not. In the end it is what I like. In 20 to 40 years Ill be long dead LOL. But I will have enjoyed my car till the end.
Its funny how back then ZORA was the Engineer it was widely published that it blocked the view he was in conflict with The original designer just like fake news today people are lead to believe anything if its advertised.
That wasn't "fake news", it's well documented fact from several sources. Zora hated the rear divder bar on the ' 63 coupes and had a major power struggle with Bill Mitchell about it. Function over form prevailed in '64.
Try reading Zora's biography, or Peter Brock's, or Larry Shinoda's, or many other sources.
Or take a look at the design of the '63 Grand Sport coupes- a design he personally controlled. It had flared wheel wells, functional side vents, real hood vents, and, oh yeah, a one piece rear window. THAT design was a master piece of function over form and tells you how Zora really felt about that divider bar.
Geeze!
Last edited by tuxnharley; Apr 23, 2017 at 10:39 AM.
My dad(now deceased) told me a story once about a 63. I was riding with him going someplace around 1980. I was 14 or 15 at the time and already in love with the C2. I don't recall how we got on the topic but he told me that his nephew had a nice 63 with the "split window". He said that his nephew hated the car. It drove rough, was very uncomfortable, noisy, no AC, the split window was a pain, and so on. So he put the car up for sale sometime in the middle 70's. No one wanted it. It took him forever to sell the thing. He finally sold it for $700 and was happy to get that.
My how times have changed.
Can you imagine the legal implications of a split window design today?
My dad(now deceased) told me a story once about a 63. I was riding with him going someplace around 1980. I was 14 or 15 at the time and already in love with the C2. I don't recall how we got on the topic but he told me that his nephew had a nice 63 with the "split window". He said that his nephew hated the car. It drove rough, was very uncomfortable, noisy, no AC, the split window was a pain, and so on. So he put the car up for sale sometime in the middle 70's. No one wanted it. It took him forever to sell the thing. He finally sold it for $700 and was happy to get that.
My how times have changed.
Can you imagine the legal implications of a split window design today?
Today, they'd just put a camera back there and call it good.
Yup, can't see much out of the rear but I never cared about where I've been. Only where I'm going.
Amen look forward not backwards. The past is history and who knows what lay ahead. But I do still love the old or historic Corvettes. Call them what you want. The C1 and the C2 Corvettes will always have a special place in my heart as I am sure they will with most all of on in this section of the Forum.
In Zora's defense (as if he needs any) he called it right out of the gate from the design drawings. He predicted that instead of the stylized, thin split that was the initial concept, after engineering for strength and adding trim, it would be several inches wide and he was spot on...
That wasn't "fake news", it's well documented fact from several sources. Zora hated the rear divder bar on the ' 63 coupes and had a major power struggle with Bill Mitchell about it. Function over form prevailed in '64.
Try reading Zora's biography, or Peter Brock's, or Larry Shinoda's, or many other sources.
Or take a look at the design of the '63 Grand Sport coupes- a design he personally controlled. It had flared wheel wells, functional side vents, real hood vents, and, oh yeah, a one piece rear window. THAT design was a master piece of function over form and tells you how Zora really felt about that divider bar.
Geeze!
Good point but it felt good to bitch a little how believe people believe
what they hear .
I was there and at being 17 in 1964 and really into corvettes .
I saw this happen and would have never done this .
The talk that year was taking the window out .
Grew up in Silver Spring
where there were a lot of spoiled rich kids around.
Good point but it felt good to bitch a little how believe people believe
what they hear .
I was there and at being 17 in 1964 and really into corvettes .
I saw this happen and would have never done this .
The talk that year was taking the window out .
Grew up in Silver Spring
where there were a lot of spoiled rich kids around.
Silver Spring which state? I lived in Silver Spring MD for several years as a kid when my Dad worked for the Naval Ordinance Labs (NOL) in DC.
look forward not backwards. The past is history and who knows what lay ahead. But I do still love the old or historic Corvettes. Call them what you want. The C1 and the C2 Corvettes will always have a special place in my heart as I am sure they will with most all of on in this section of the Forum.