[C2] 1st Sting Rays sold at Felix Chevrolet
07-17-2018, 07:42 PM
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1st Sting Rays sold at Felix Chevrolet
I am interested in information on the 1st showing of the 1963 Sting Rays at Felix Chevrolet in Los Angeles? From newspaper archives I discovered Felix Chevrolet was one of three dealerships in the LA area that introduced the 63s on September 28th 1962. The other two were; Kent Chevrolet in Pasadena and Beach City Chevrolet in the LA area. September 28th was also the 42nd anniversary of Felix Chevrolet. They had a big event for the anniversary and the introduction of the Sting Ray. BTW I am a new member to the Forum.
Thanks in advance.
Brian
Thanks in advance.
Brian
07-17-2018, 08:10 PM
#2
Team Owner
Mann, Don Steves received theirs prior!
07-17-2018, 08:27 PM
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What was your first memory of a Corvette?
Here is mine back in the day with the annual body style changes it was a big deal to keep the cars secret until unveiled the first Monday of October for the dealer introduction to the public.
Chevrolet sponsored the TV show Bonanza back in those days. On the Sunday night that it played before the dealer new car introduction they would run the show commercial free and save all of that time for the end of the show when they would give you a sneak preview of the cars that would be shown at your local dealer the next day.
In 1962 when I was 12 years old I really had never paid much attention to cars until the night I speak of above.
I was watching Bonanza sitting on the floor and they announced the “brand new 1963 model Chevrolets” the screen went black and we thought something was wrong with the TV. Suddenly a white (at least on our black and white TV) 1963 Corvette coupe appeared on the screen in side profile then entire room around it was black and car was brightly lite, on a turntable slowly turning the entire car to show every angle. it turned to the rear showing the split window and when it got to the front the hidden head lights rolled up. I was MESMERIZED. it was AWESOME!!! I remember thinking to myself, “when I grow up I am going to have one of those cars” It was the beginning of my life long love affair with automobiles. The funny thing is, of all the Corvettes I have owned I have never owned a 63.
Chevrolet sponsored the TV show Bonanza back in those days. On the Sunday night that it played before the dealer new car introduction they would run the show commercial free and save all of that time for the end of the show when they would give you a sneak preview of the cars that would be shown at your local dealer the next day.
In 1962 when I was 12 years old I really had never paid much attention to cars until the night I speak of above.
I was watching Bonanza sitting on the floor and they announced the “brand new 1963 model Chevrolets” the screen went black and we thought something was wrong with the TV. Suddenly a white (at least on our black and white TV) 1963 Corvette coupe appeared on the screen in side profile then entire room around it was black and car was brightly lite, on a turntable slowly turning the entire car to show every angle. it turned to the rear showing the split window and when it got to the front the hidden head lights rolled up. I was MESMERIZED. it was AWESOME!!! I remember thinking to myself, “when I grow up I am going to have one of those cars” It was the beginning of my life long love affair with automobiles. The funny thing is, of all the Corvettes I have owned I have never owned a 63.
07-17-2018, 08:46 PM
#5
Team Owner
Got interrupted during post!
But basically I learned on the new model year introductions, some Dealerships were quicker than others with their placement of their orders! Thus certain Dealerships like Mann had clout, especially on the performance ones. They might have gotten the nod for priority on their orders. Felix was the go to Dealership for the big cruiser cars like the Impalas, but they were big enough and Central enough to stack their lot! Felix was known as the business man's Dealership, as its close proximity to Downtown Los Angeles! Mann was South in what was back then the Suburbs of downtown! Former old money neighborhoods, but now a mostly Black and Hispanic area in the modern! Beach City was a Beach community niche smaller Dealership! To up their rep, they went to an advertising campaign of being the top of efficiency for repair and maintenance. This was due to being on the prime traffic thoroughfare of PCH ( Pacific Coast Highway). Their claim was quick drop of service and quick turn around. For Kent, I have zero trivia on them, and I as a sideline attempt as a hobby to document history on SoCal everything mainly performance and racing! I am sure if I dig, I can come up with something or other on Kent! I don't think under that name, they existed for long!
But basically I learned on the new model year introductions, some Dealerships were quicker than others with their placement of their orders! Thus certain Dealerships like Mann had clout, especially on the performance ones. They might have gotten the nod for priority on their orders. Felix was the go to Dealership for the big cruiser cars like the Impalas, but they were big enough and Central enough to stack their lot! Felix was known as the business man's Dealership, as its close proximity to Downtown Los Angeles! Mann was South in what was back then the Suburbs of downtown! Former old money neighborhoods, but now a mostly Black and Hispanic area in the modern! Beach City was a Beach community niche smaller Dealership! To up their rep, they went to an advertising campaign of being the top of efficiency for repair and maintenance. This was due to being on the prime traffic thoroughfare of PCH ( Pacific Coast Highway). Their claim was quick drop of service and quick turn around. For Kent, I have zero trivia on them, and I as a sideline attempt as a hobby to document history on SoCal everything mainly performance and racing! I am sure if I dig, I can come up with something or other on Kent! I don't think under that name, they existed for long!
Last edited by TCracingCA; 07-17-2018 at 08:49 PM.
07-17-2018, 08:54 PM
#6
Team Owner
It would be totally weird for those three Dealerships to link up together in an advertising campaign, especially knowing the newspaper distributorship! The only thing I would guess is Felix had zero reputation for Corvettes, let alone performance ones, Beach City never was a volume lot as others were better known for their selections of Corvettes (Glenhill off of the Harbor Fwy and further down PCH in a better area, Cormier right off the 405 freeway, near Squad 51, etc). And Kent had no big image either! Thus if this was done, it was a campaign to help them up their sells and quotas!
Beach City sponsored the famous Corvette funny car! A lot written on all of that, and how it happened!
Beach City sponsored the famous Corvette funny car! A lot written on all of that, and how it happened!
Last edited by TCracingCA; 07-17-2018 at 08:58 PM.
07-17-2018, 09:18 PM
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It would be totally weird for those three Dealerships to link up together in an advertising campaign, especially knowing the newspaper distributorship! The only thing I would guess is Felix had zero reputation for Corvettes, let alone performance ones, Beach City never was a volume lot as others were better known for their selections of Corvettes (Glenhill off of the Harbor Fwy and further down PCH in a better area, Cormier right off the 405 freeway, near Squad 51, etc). And Kent had no big image either! Thus if this was done, it was a campaign to help them up their sells and quotas!
Beach City sponsored the famous Corvette funny car! A lot written on all of that, and how it happened!
Beach City sponsored the famous Corvette funny car! A lot written on all of that, and how it happened!
07-17-2018, 09:20 PM
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07-17-2018, 10:18 PM
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Yes, for several reasons. Early cars were for dealer new car shows, photo shoots for brochures, magazine articles and to ship to dealers so they would have inventory for the new car introduction in October.
07-18-2018, 07:55 AM
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Last edited by TCracingCA; 07-18-2018 at 07:58 AM.
07-18-2018, 10:51 AM
#14
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It's possible that we're both wrong.
07-18-2018, 11:12 AM
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Thanks for your input! I searched newspapers.com and only found Felix, Beach City and Kent advertising new 63 Corvettes around the end of September. No others dealers came up in the search. Any documents that show earlier dates would be appreciated.
I also found a story about a Chevrolet "press review" at the Beverly Hilton on September 13th. The review was reported in the LA Time Business section. Bunky Knudsen talked with the press about the new models and business projections. The new 1963 Chevrolets were shown at this event. The 13th event may have been the 1st private introduction and the 28th seemed to be the 1st public introduction.
Does anyone have more information or pics of the 28th intros or the 13th event?
As to the assembly date questions. See the C2 Registry for trim tag information on the first cars. SN #3 doesn't have a date code at all. Other than #3 the cars up to SN #25 have the letter "A" followed by a number, example A25. The NCRS docs show these being delivered in August. Is the "A" for August and the number the date? SN #30 and on have the same designation as the rest of the production cars. They have a number (week of assembly) followed by a letter. Letter A is for the month of September. B is for October and so on. SN #30 has A1 (1st week of Sept) on the trim tag and SN #131 has A2 (Second week of Sept).
I also found a story about a Chevrolet "press review" at the Beverly Hilton on September 13th. The review was reported in the LA Time Business section. Bunky Knudsen talked with the press about the new models and business projections. The new 1963 Chevrolets were shown at this event. The 13th event may have been the 1st private introduction and the 28th seemed to be the 1st public introduction.
Does anyone have more information or pics of the 28th intros or the 13th event?
As to the assembly date questions. See the C2 Registry for trim tag information on the first cars. SN #3 doesn't have a date code at all. Other than #3 the cars up to SN #25 have the letter "A" followed by a number, example A25. The NCRS docs show these being delivered in August. Is the "A" for August and the number the date? SN #30 and on have the same designation as the rest of the production cars. They have a number (week of assembly) followed by a letter. Letter A is for the month of September. B is for October and so on. SN #30 has A1 (1st week of Sept) on the trim tag and SN #131 has A2 (Second week of Sept).
07-18-2018, 01:07 PM
#16
Drifting
According to my monthly production totals paperwork from Chevrolet, 965 Corvettes were built by the end of September.. I don't know the actual "introduction" date but I know many were sold in September. Every other Chevrolet assembly plant shows lots of production in September. Janesville (the lead plant) built over 14,000 cars by the end of September. Some were built in August.
Verne
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07-18-2018, 04:47 PM
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Yes, if you are referring to quotas set by the DEALERSHIP. I assumed you were referring to quotas set by the manufacture as it is done today.
07-18-2018, 05:14 PM
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I called my old race partner last night and asked if he remembered the afternoon/evening that we drove his 56 Rambler around to all the new car dealers in the area for announcement day to see all the new 1963 cars. He said yes, of course. Why. I asked if he remembered what month of 1962 that we did that and he immediately said September. "That's when all the manufacturers released their new models for viewing/sale".
It's possible that we're both wrong.
It's possible that we're both wrong.
07-18-2018, 05:47 PM
#19
Melting Slicks
Well, this is how it was in 1970. New model change over occurred in July of every year for retooling the plants for the next years models. This took about a month to complete. In August they began production of the new models working out the new production bugs and building cars with special attention to finish as these cars would be photographed for brochures and often later released to the automotive publications for the new car comparisions once the cars were announced to the public through the dealerships. I attended the DEALER zone new car showing in Chicago in late August-early September. This was a Dodge show. They had every new 1970 model at the show for us to view. Of course this same dealer showing was going on at the same time in every state in multiple locations in those states for all of the dealers throughout the country. So there were a lot of cars already built by this time. Then at this showing we sat down with our sales reps and made our initial orders that would be shipped to us for the new car showing at our individual dealerships. The normal time from order to arrival to the dealership in those days was 4 weeks but since there were no sold orders being built during this time that build time was slightly less. I know that the local Chevy dealer in my town had their new model unvailing the same day as we did. We all know that in the 60s there are cars out there with build dates in June and in some cases early July. So, with what I have stated above you can see that the timeline falls in place for what I stated initially.
I don't remember when the new 1970 models were released.
07-18-2018, 05:54 PM
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Yes, I know exactly how it worked in 1970. I worked for Chevrolet in 1970. At that time, new car showing wasn't nearly as important as it was in the early 60's. By the mid 60's, two manufacturers dropped out of the traditional announcement day showing because they wanted to get the largest share of new buyers so it was a race to see who could show their product first. In 1970, new model cars at dealers weren't hidden or covered until the release date like they were in 1963. They just weren't as exciting as they were in the early 60's and the more and more of the public became interested in things other than new cars.
I don't remember when the new 1970 models were released.
I don't remember when the new 1970 models were released.
I guess I have strayed off track from the OPs question so I apologize.
Last edited by 68hemi; 07-18-2018 at 06:00 PM.