Please post your C1 Corvette stories and photos below

 

I will start off with my C1 history. The first C1 I saw was a 1961 at a local car show. I was just starting to fall in love with the Corvette, and saw every generation in person up until that day, except the C1. Then I saw it, and saw the mastery of the first generation.

 

My father bought a 57 in 1962, he was 23, it was a working mans hot rod/daily driver. After several years ,motors, trans, rear ends it was dismantled. It was left that way until the mid 80's when I was in high school, that's when it was dug out and rebuilt ( not "restored"). Once again it went through several variations. He worked on it into his early/mid 70's then his health took a turn for the worse. It sat for a couple years with only an occasional trip around the block. This summer he gave it to me! I hope to give it to my grandson. The little guy in the pic with the dismantled car is me.

 

That is a really cool story, and the bottom picture looks amazing!

 

The first Corvette I ever saw was in at the Gibson Chevrolet dealership in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin around 1955 or so. For some reason I was in the showroom and saw a kid's Corvette pedal car that they were giving away via some sort of contest. I think the salesmen were driven nuts by that 4th grade kid that kept coming in to stare at the Corvette and Corvette pedal car. Ten years later I purchased my first Corvette, a 340 hp '62 and I've been driving them ever since. Here's a bad photo of my '62.

 

Like Scotty T's pics. Love the wheels on the black '57. Looks like my car when I bought it in '67. Hard to beat the look of a '57.

 

The Corvette lettering on the front bumper in the last few years of the C1 really makes it pop out.

 

I think most of you guys have heard my story.. but just in case.....
That's me behind the wheel of my dad's '61 in 1967. He purchased the car new in Dec 1960. He never sold the car. He passed away in 2011. Since then I have refreshed the car with my son (now 16). Still original paint!

 

Cool!

 

I think most of you guys have heard my story.. but just in case.....
That's me behind the wheel of my dad's '61 in 1967. He purchased the car new in Dec 1960. He never sold the car. He passed away in 2011. Since then I have refreshed the car with my son (now 16). Still original paint!

That's a great story.

 

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!! That is a VERY NICE 57! I like it.

 

In 1957 I was in Jr Hi, and in 1957 Okla was celebrating 50yrs of statehood. When I was in the 8th grade, I was already very interested in cars-------------------especially cars of a performance nature. I had read everything I could on 57 FI Vettes and already knew they were the baddest of the bad. Also, I had often been around the big boys (guys in Hi school) and heard them tell lies and BS stories about the already legendary 57 FI Vettes.
In the summer of 1957, the state fair grounds in Okla City was new and there was a BIG 2wk long Semi-Centennial celebration of the 50th year of statehood at the new fair grounds. During this event, GM brought in a giant exhibit (for that day and time). As I was coming around the corner of some exhibits, there was a 1957 FI Vette on a turn table. WOW!!!!! Right then, I said "I got to have one of those". ABSOLUTELY nothing has changed since that day in the summer of 1957. I'm still a nut about 57 FI Vettes!
I came from divorced parents, lived with my grand parents during Hi school, lived on the wrong side of town on the wrong side of the river----------------and so poor that I could not even pay attention!
After Hi school, I joined the Army, came home and started Pre-med but didn't go on to med school. Finally by 1973 I had a job, a family, a house, a new 72 Chevelle and was looking for a 57 Corvette (they were cheap back then), but could not find anything worth buying, or, the onew worth buying were WAAAAAAAAAAAAY above my pay grade. I ran across a straight, driver 56 (same body as a 57). So I bought the 56 which I still have today. We did a total body off "rebuild", NOT restoration (there was no NCRS in 73, so I knew nothing about doing a correct restoration).
Finally, a long story short. I built my 56 into a "57 Airbox car" with SB400, Bill Thomas modified FI unit, Muncie, 3.08 posi in a 60 rear axle housing, HD brakes and suspension, column tach and Al Knoch interior.

Here is the car as I bought it in 73 with alum wheels, which I quickly replaced with Ralley wheels. Soon after that, I went to work on it.












TODAY

 

I purchased a 1959 Corvette from a local Honda Motorcycle dealer off a ad he placed in the local newspaper. The ad was titled "A Corvette Restorers Dream". Price was $3,990.00 and this was the early 1980s.

I was at work at lunch at the time of reading the ad. I called the Honda dealer and told him I would take the car provided the title was Ok. After work I went to my bank and got a Cashiers check for the amount.

I called a friend of mine and borrowed his trailer and we went to pick up the car. To my surprise the car was almost complete except for any type of top. The bad part was that the car had been primed in red oxide primer over the failed finish and it was hard to tell what shape the body was in.

The engine would start and run, but sounded like the lifters were not oiling and they were not. The engine was a bored .060 over 265 and not the original 283. The 265 required a groove in the back journal of the camshaft for the oil supply.

I solved this issue on the rebuild of the engine by having a machine shop cut the back lobe like the original camshaft would have had. Lifters oiled just fine after the modification we made to the new camshaft.

Then over two years and lots of sweat and $$$ later the car went from this:





This was after I removed the red oxide primer.


To this:







This was my favorite car I have ever owned.

 

Great thread

 

My brother drove up our driveway in 1964 with a '57 he had just bought. I was 8 years old, and it was hands down the coolest car I had ever seen in person, and I was hooked. By the time I was 14, I was looking for my 1st car, and by chance one of the guys my brother used to hang out with who had a '57 was selling his basket case '57 for $300. I bought it 2 weeks after my 15th birthday. I can't find the old pic of it stripped down in the computer (and thanks, photobucket!) but I do have a couple of after I finished it. Had it about 6 years, and sold it in 1976. I also bought a semi-ragged '58 during that time, fixed a few things on it, kept the hardtop, and sold it to a guy I knew in high school. Fast forward to around 1991, and I bought a '60 that was blue with purple flames and restored it. Had it about 7 years. Had plenty of midyears and C3's along the way as well, and one C4. I got the itch again to have another '57 though, and bought a project about 3 years ago. Doing a frame off, and it is going to look just like my first one. Getting close to being done with it.
Rich

 

long ago as a child we owned many corvettes in the family , lots of c1 cars came and went ! Then there was the story of how uncle tony Macaluso owned a white 1953 corvette , he and my aunt purchased it from the original owner $500 while he was home on leave It then returned to the army base in Kentucky ,
It was used every day fro two years as a daily driver making countless trips to Evansville Indiana sold on base in 62 for $1200 , that was it gone , he returned and owned many c1 vettes after and the folk story always came up if I only kept my 53 ,
Jump ahead fifty years I do a search and five years later a hit I found the man who bought the car on base ! he led me to current owner and today here is the car restored . for sure it is the white corvette my uncle owned but some how its not a 53 yet the 60? corvette made a 1954 the people who own the car today liked red!
We are now in touch , we will be writing a article to hopefully get in on solid ground publication with many more cool facts on the 101st car , on base from late 59 to 1962
PS old uncle tony still says 53 its a 54 , old paper regregistration in NY it was easy to just write anything on a tittle back then , they insured it as a 53 Chevy for a cheaper rate before he left for base !

 

 

In the early 1970's my neighbor a few doors down acquired a 1960 Corvette gasser which attracted this young teenager's attention. He raced it for a few years at OCIR and Irwindale with me helping out as a crew member, then he decided to park it. I asked if I could race it with my own drive train and he agreed. Because I was still living at my mom and dad's he let me run the race car out of his garage as well. I liked the 1960 Corvette so much I actually bought one as my daily driver while going to school. I sold it a few years later and have regretted that decision every day since. Thankfully I kept the old registrations so I know the VIN. Right now I have it listed on the C1 Registry as "Looking for owner". It was VIN# 00062.

Here's the race car in 1975:





The owner of the Corvette decided to sell it so I built this car which was significantly quicker:







Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of me with my daily driver 1960 Corvette, VIN 00062. Some day I hope to find it.

 

[QUOTE=Randy G.;1595746409]In the early 1970's my neighbor a few doors down acquired a 1960 Corvette gasser which attracted this young teenager's attention. He raced it for a few years at OCIR and Irwindale with me helping out as a crew member, then he decided to park it. I asked if I could race it with my own drive train and he agreed. Because I was still living at my mom and dad's he let me run the race car out of his garage as well. I liked the 1960 Corvette so much I actually bought one as my daily driver while going to school. I sold it a few years later and have regretted that decision every day since. Thankfully I kept the old registrations so I know the VIN. Right I have it listed on the C1 Registry as "Looking for owner". It was VIN# 00062.


The owner of the Corvette decided to sell it so I built this car which was significantly quicker:







Nice story Randy. I had a set of those Arias heads last year............thought they would be neat on a BB Chevy...................until I learned they required an Arias block too.

Rex

 

Don't know the history on my 57, but I wish I did. I suspect it was a serious drag car at some time in it's days. Came out of the Minneapolis area, built to this configuration by a Pro Mod racer in Minneapolis.