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St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
When I was looking to buy my first car, a kid a couple years older than me who lived nearby was selling his Vette, a white '58 with 2-4's. I had seen him with his foot in it several times and figured it was probably not a good choice.
So I didn't part with the $850 it would have taken to buy it.
Depends on the year and options of the car and who the owner was. Most guys I knew/know abused their cars to the point of parts failure more than once. Blown engines, trannies, rear ends, were the norm. The higher performance level of the car, the higher the abuse level. Always. My best friend picked up a 10 year old '67 GTO from the original owner who was a woman who got it as a high school graduation present. The car had never done a burnout. It was absolutely mint. The very next night we put it through and fence and into an oak tree after losing control doing a burnout. After the car was cobbled back together, the transmission was blown. Following that, the engine was grenaded after a summer of hard core street racing. It was sold for scrap, gutted, and turned into a race car, where it was soon rolled and wrecked and scrapped for good. Ahhh....those were the days!
On 12/20/70, my Dad bought me a '64 Vette as a bribe to stay in school. I was mesmerized when I saw my first Stingray. This was a dream come true for a 19 year old. I still have the car and am currently restoring it. In that time, I have never raced it or burned the tires. I felt, and still do, it is a Corvette and I have nothing to prove.
Pulled the engine while replacing the front end. Thot I'd refresh the engine while it was out. It must have been a rental! Reminds me of an old song about streakers.... Don't look Ethel! Been rode hard and put up wet a bunch.... body AND engine. Oh well... I won't be pampering her either. It's all fun! Cheers
It depends is my recollection. Some ran them hard, some babied them.
That's what caused the ones that babied them to place a value on "original block". Fifty years later, doesn't matter about the original block as probably almost all of the original blocks don't have the original guts in them anymore.
Running an engine to red line, squealing tires taking off and shifting fast, sliding around corners doesn't necessarily constitute abuse considering what the car was designed to do.
Some, like my friend that bought a new '64 fuelie, put the car in the garage every night and covered it up with a clean, white sheet. Later he built his new house and now has it parked under a chandelier in his garage.
Maybe my own experience was too late in the game. I couldn't afford a Mid year until 1972. I was thirty years old when I bought my first one. One owner, never hit, original clutch/brakes/paint/upholstry. Daily driver for a lifer at the National Guard armory. Prior to his buying this Corvette new, he owned a '58 Galaxy 352/300 and a '61 348/350 Impala. I doubt either of those cars he ever squealed the tires in. Maybe. The Implala is still around today with only a paint job for it's wear/tear. So's my '65 Corvette I bought from him in '72. I don't think the tach has ever been past 5K. No tire squealing. But the day I was to pick it up, he called me in a panic and said his wife has just backed in to it leaving the driveway. He figured I would no longer want it. It cracked the seams/joint over the right front wheel where the three panels meet. Big deal!
[QUOTE=colo63sw;1595933532]I didn’t get my 1st vette until I was a little more mature. But, back in the mid 70’s my ONLY car was a totally original (except for wheels) 70 Challenger T/A. Drove it every day even in the Colo winter. I knew it was special, but in no way did I baby it, I was a teenager. Man I wish I had that T/A today.
My current problem.....My body has matured, but my mind has not!
Especially so when driving our '62!
If it hasn't happened by now....it's just not going to happen!
I will always continue to wear out my rear tires at a much quicker rate than my front tires.
35 years ago, I was a 21 year old kid with three GTO's and had an older and much-looked-up-to co-worker who daily drove his black 4 speed '70 Z-28 with 4:11 gears 60 miles each way to work. I rotated GTO's.....all 4 speed cars. He was all of 24, which made him one of the senior guys in the shop, and when I asked him when I'd outgrow burning rubber, he looked at me and sternly stated "You never outgrow it." 35 years later, he is right. I am more respectful of the equipment, but nothing beats a smooth, hop-free smoky burnout in a car with positraction.
I bought my first ’67 Corvette (a coupe) in 1969 when I got home from Vietnam. I was just shy of 24 and still in the Army. I had outgrown racing at Fremont Raceways (my home town). I had raced my ’57 Chevy 327 (B Modified Production) there before going into the Army (probably just tired of getting beat).
Although I didn’t think I was abusing my Corvette, I wouldn’t hesitate to run it flat out on deserted stretches of US 101 between Camp Roberts (Paso Robles) and the Bay Area. I also remember spinning it around in a full circle one rainy night but luckily didn’t hit anything. I might have driven it a little on the hard side, but I always took good mechanical care of it – oil changes, tune ups, etc. Like others have said, that’s what they were made for.
On 12/20/70, my Dad bought me a '64 Vette as a bribe to stay in school. I was mesmerized when I saw my first Stingray. This was a dream come true for a 19 year old. I still have the car and am currently restoring it. In that time, I have never raced it or burned the tires. I felt, and still do, it is a Corvette and I have nothing to prove.
I didn’t abuse my ‘65 BB in 1976-77 either and I also am not a liar.
I spent every last dime I had to drive that car back & forth to college and I sure wasn’t about to break it.
I'm still 17-----------------------------I'm just trapped in this GD 74yr old body! Soooooooooooo, I still drive just like I did back then.
This is all I have to post of my questionable driving habits. Sorry, no videos of the 51 or the T-bucket or the Cutlass.
I drive/drove mine a lot, not every day but a lot in all weather. I repaired, rebuilt or replaced the engines right in the driveway. I drove them all hard....
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C1 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
The word abuse to me means running it low on oil, dinging up the body for no reason, or leaving it open in the rain. We took care of our cars but we never abused them. Ran the snot out of them, but no abuse.
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Last edited by Kerrmudgeon; 11-09-2017 at 05:09 PM.
When I got my first American "performance" car in 1973, a '70 AAR Cuda, it had already been abused. It ran like crap, was already missing the 3x2 intake, had a Ford replacement Holley 4 Barrel, air shocks and a chain on the engine to keep from breaking the motor mounts etc. I learned a lot bringing it back to functionality! Drove it hard some. Then I sold it during the gas crisis.
I drove all my Vettes hard. To me, that's what they were meant to do. If I wanted to drive slowly and "lawfully" I would have bought a sedan. I turned my 60' into a race car, but, insanely drove it on the road everyday. My 62', 63' and 66' were just common fast Corvettes and were driven with gusto. However, my 07' C6 gets driven rather easily compared to the others. But, that doesn't mean that I don't put my foot into it once in a while. I guess I'm older and have more respect for the power it has.
I'm of the same mind as many respondents...it's not abuse to drive it hard! I bought my 65 at 28 in '76 and have always drove it as intended. I will burn rubber whenever the mood and circumstances strikes me and power slide it around corners as well. As some have mentioned, abuse is not taking care of it, changing oil, keeping it clean but I've never hesitated to 'thrash' it. At local cruise-in's people often have asked me if I drive it much. My response has always been, every chance I get...and hard! And then I'll take them or their wives for a ride just to prove it!
This car has been in the family 41 years. Handled with kid gloves when I owned it. It was my only family car to get to work in. With a stay-at-Home wife and a newborn. Kid brother has it now. He has “built” BB ready to go in it.
Affectionately known for decades as "The Battlestar".
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 11-10-2017 at 07:54 AM.
11-09-2017, 10:26 AM
I drove them all hard....
