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I'm curious to know what defines an example of a "survivor" car. After 50-60 years, any car short of a restoration has had parts repaired/replaced out of necessity from normal wear and tear. Where is the line between survivor and restored?
There are in my opinion, NO Survivors! even a 35-40 year "Barn Find" most likely had major repairs done with non original parts. And, if it's not running, is it a survivor? Survivor: A single owner (or Documented Sales Transactions) new Corvette, UNTOUCHED, rarely to never driven, sitting in a garage for up to 70 years, Survivor......The word joins "Matching Numbers" as a detriment to the Hobby!
The concept of a survivor is simply the level of unrestored condition a car has. Any person can make up their own personal definition and argue that’s what a “survivor” is.
The Bloomington Gold Survivor award, (a trademark) is defined as:
The SURVIVOR® Award is designed to recognize those Corvettes that are "worn in, but not worn out." A SURVIVOR Corvette is significantly unrestored, unrepaired, or unmodified and meets these requirements:
Is over 20 years old
Passes a road test
Retains OEM engine
Remains unrestored, un-refinished, or unaltered;
50% or more in all four sections to attain SURVIVOR Bronze
66% or more in all four sections to attain SURVIVOR Silver
80% or more in all four sections to attain SURVIVOR Gold
Retains finishes good enough to use as a color guide for restoration of a car just like it
Judges inspect four components: Exterior, Interior, Under Hood, Chassis.
The concept of a survivor is simply the level of unrestored condition a car has. Any person can make up their own personal definition and argue that’s what a “survivor” is.
The Bloomington Gold Survivor award, (a trademark) is defined as:
The SURVIVOR® Award is designed to recognize those Corvettes that are "worn in, but not worn out." A SURVIVOR Corvette is significantly unrestored, unrepaired, or unmodified and meets these requirements:
Is over 20 years old
Passes a road test
Retains OEM engine Can this mean: a period correct, part correct engine, not necessarily original?
Remains unrestored, un-refinished, or unaltered;
50% or more in all four sections to attain SURVIVOR Bronze
66% or more in all four sections to attain SURVIVOR Silver
80% or more in all four sections to attain SURVIVOR Gold
Retains finishes good enough to use as a color guide for restoration of a car just like it
Judges inspect four components: Exterior, Interior, Under Hood, Chassis.
I think my 66 qualifies. I bought it off the original owner with 25,808 documented miles. I have all documentation from when the car was new including a copy of the check wrote for the car and temp tag. Original paint except for the nose. Original interior, original lights, original belts and hoses minus the upper radiator hose (which I still have) and the plug wires have been replaced. The original exhaust is still on the car.
Ive never had it judged officially but it has been looked at by a very well respected NCRS member and he said it would at least 3 star bow tie and maybe get the 4th depending on how the re paint on the nose is judged.
So what does all that mean? Well, to me it means I have a very special car that I can’t really drive and enjoy. 400 miles in 9 years of ownership and it just sits being preserved.
Now my 1960 NOM car I drive all the time to shows and cruise ins and don’t worry about crap going wrong.
I think my 66 qualifies. I bought it off the original owner with 25,808 documented miles. I have all documentation from when the car was new including a copy of the check wrote for the car and temp tag. Original paint except for the nose. Original interior, original lights, original belts and hoses minus the upper radiator hose (which I still have) and the plug wires have been replaced. The original exhaust is still on the car.
Ive never had it judged officially but it has been looked at by a very well respected NCRS member and he said it would at least 3 star bow tie and maybe get the 4th depending on how the re paint on the nose is judged.
So what does all that mean? Well, to me it means I have a very special car that I can’t really drive and enjoy. 400 miles in 9 years of ownership and it just sits being preserved.
Now my 1960 NOM car I drive all the time to shows and cruise ins and don’t worry about crap going wrong.
Pretty good definition of "a curse and a blessing" all rolled into one package.
About 10 years ago, I went to an estate auction, where there was a silver blue with white interior 64 convertible being auctioned off from the original owners estate. With pictures of it being pulled out of her barn in Leesport, Pennsylvania by a tractor with no driveway to the barn. The car turned out to have everything original except for one wiper blade, two heater hoses 4 tires and a battery and was in excellent condition. Other than dusty and dirty. That is truly a survivor. I enjoy driving this car whenever I can. It must be insured accordingly because it’s only original once. 327, 300 hp power steering, power brakes, power windows, automatic, two tops, the convertible top never replaced original spare tire never out of the compartment. It has a couple of nicks in the original paint that will never get touched up.
"Survivor" is a judging category for unrestored cars that Bloomington started years ago using the parameters Vettebuyer posted. In the years since it's become one of those terms (like numbers matching, all original, one owner, etc) that gets thrown around by people and probably has very little real meaning anymore.
The NCRS has similar awards to Bloomington's Survivor for unrestored cars, the Star and Chevrolet Bowtie awards for 53-82's and the Crossed Flags award (84 up). In NCRS a car is judged in 4 categories (chassis, exterior, interior & mechanical) and can receive a Star for each category it passes, up to three. If a car passes all four categories it receives a fourth Star and becomes a Bowtie car. Exceptional Bowtie cars can then receive Five Star Bowtie award. A car has to be judged to have a certain percentage of original, unrestored parts under each category, as described in the Judging Reference Manual, to receive each Star. Bowtie judging takes into account that certain parts get replaced during normal maintenance. The NCRS says that Bowtie's are awarded to encourage owners to avoid restoring a car so that it's originality can be appreciated, and to be used for educational use by other enthusiasts.
I plan on putting my 81 through Bowtie judging (it has a Top Flight) in the next couple years. I'm pretty confident it would easily receive a four Star award. I bought it new and can pretty much count all the parts replaced on two hands. It's had a number of oil filters, the plugs changed once, one set of correct Goodyear Eagle GT's (installed in 1988), an AC compressor (replaced in 82 under warranty, a heater core, heater hoses plugs and the original calipers rebuilt, otherwise the car is all original. Unfortunately, with 35 year old tires and 42 year old radiator hoses, it doesn't see many miles any more.
There are in my opinion, NO Survivors! even a 35-40 year "Barn Find" most likely had major repairs done with non original parts. And, if it's not running, is it a survivor? Survivor: A single owner (or Documented Sales Transactions) new Corvette, UNTOUCHED, rarely to never driven, sitting in a garage for up to 70 years, Survivor......The word joins "Matching Numbers" as a detriment to the Hobby!
Not necessarily. Here is a '77 Trans Am SE I bought from the original owner. Bought it with 12,381.5 miles. The ONLY non original items on it were the oil filter and battery.
I owned an '81 NCRS Bowtie (4 stars) with 5K miles, and everything was original except the gas, oil, and antifreeze in it. Some things didn't work anymore, but I didn't touch them and of course did not drive the car except on and off a trailer and into the judging area. I have a '78 in the same condition I will be taking through soon for the Bowtie. I think "Survivor" is just a Bloomington name and category. The Bowtie cars are the ones with the highest remaining originality from newly delivered, IMO. When you start changing belts, hoses, tires, brakes, and fixing things that don't work, they are no longer original.
I think my 66 qualifies. I bought it off the original owner with 25,808 documented miles. I have all documentation from when the car was new including a copy of the check wrote for the car and temp tag. Original paint except for the nose. Original interior, original lights, original belts and hoses minus the upper radiator hose (which I still have) and the plug wires have been replaced. The original exhaust is still on the car.
Ive never had it judged officially but it has been looked at by a very well respected NCRS member and he said it would at least 3 star bow tie and maybe get the 4th depending on how the re paint on the nose is judged.
So what does all that mean? Well, to me it means I have a very special car that I can’t really drive and enjoy. 400 miles in 9 years of ownership and it just sits being preserved.
Now my 1960 NOM car I drive all the time to shows and cruise ins and don’t worry about crap going wrong.
I don't understand why you feel you can't drive it more... 500 miles per year is only going to add 5,000 miles in the next decade, and its not like it only has 500 miles on it... 26,000 miles is low, but not super low, and 31,000 in another 10 years doesn't seem like a big deal...
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Survivor definition
