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I've had a c4/c5/and my latest c6 zo6 that I sold a while back. My golf buddy bought a mint 1960 restoration and finally brought it out this weekend! The car is simply beautiful.
After we finished golfing, he does the casual ' so you want to drive it?' as if I would answer no!
I slide my 6'3" frame in and my legs are kind of like a frog bowing out to both sides. I take the lap seat belt and buckle up. He tells me how to release the parking brake and it is firm and deliberate. He also shows me this fresh air vent by my right knee that is absolutely awesome at speed. He was surprised I could actually work the clutch. I gas it a bit, get it started and it comes to life only the way a car with a carb and not cats comes to life until it warms up. as I sat there waiting for it to warm up and getting use to the shifter, I could only imagine that driving one of these all day, you would smell like gas,which is not a complaint but something like a right of passage.
She is warm and I ease into the manual clutch and remember how much hydraulics take away from that raw feeling. The muncie goes through the gears really smoothly and really impressed me how well it shifted. As I start to pull out of the parking lot I'm reminded that no, there i no power steering and yes those are drum brakes on the car.
We hit the road and all I could think was this car is so raw and so close to that feeling of really driving a car. As we casually drove around the different neighborhoods, the convertible was simply awesome. I got more comfortable with it and it was now easy to drive and I forgot all about how my legs did not fit this car well. Accelerating was effortless and the car just gets stares from everyone. i never noticed that many people staring at any of my c4/c5/c6 corvettes. We finally get back to the parking lot and I get back in my DD lease and almost take out the car next to me by oversteering followed by too much slamming of the brakes, back to reality i suppose.
All in all, I can see why people simply love these cars, they are truly amazing and it was absolutely awesome to actually drive one. The modern cars are modern, but this was just so raw, that it had me thinking maybe i should just build that cobra replica I've been waiting to build all these years and experience that old car feel with some newer underpinnings.
I'm curious how other taller drivers manage as it is not something I could do for long drives.
It was probably a borg-warner T-10, not a Muncie. Muncies didn't come in them till later in 63.
I'm six foot two, and the only problems I have are squeezing my leg between the wheel and seat and not banging my head on the top frame if the top is up. They are surprisingly a blast to drive.
I'm not sure, because I've slept since then, but it seems to me that I've been trying to get these points across for MANY, MANY years.
Sure, the new ones have all the "stuff"--------------------------but they ain't got no magic like the 53-62 models have.
There is NO WAY I'd trade my built 56 for a 700hp 2018 Vette. NO WAY!
61/62 has more leg room plus seats are slightly smaller. Nicer fit. Hardtop has more room than the convertible top.
Very cool for your friend to let you drive it. My friend did the same thing while I was restoring mine. He had a 59 corvette with a light flywheel. I remember I had to rev it up to keep it running. Mine has a muncie but not stock
I'm right at 6 feet, and my '62 with the hardtop on is a very comfortable fit. Driving these cars is an extremely visceral experience, but surprisingly easy and comfortable once you get used to them. Lots of driver involvement - mine is a 300hp 4-speed (T-10), all stock/matching numbers so it's a true 1962 driving experience - well - except for the radial tires for safety's sake as well as improved handling. I drive it as much as I can, and it gets a LOT more attention than my C7 does. As wonderful as the late model Corvettes are, I think every Corvette aficionado should drive a C1 at least once in their life, just to see where they all came from. It's well worth the trip.
Driving mine always reminds me of driving a cross between open cockpit airplane and motorboat. Real connection to machinery and the real world of sights sounds smells.
You have elaborated just why I love these old cars; it even had the right color!
Why a cobra kit car now that you know just how much fun the C1's are (and the reaction to them)?
I have several C7 friends who rib me over the antiquated technology, but as an analogy, I would still prefer to fly a Sopwith-Camel to an F16. There is simply something pure and sublime about beautiful old mechanical motor craft.
Visceral is a great choice of words fyreline. My son owns a 2018 GS and he loves driving my newly acquired 1962. Even though it needs a lot of work right now and he's 6'2" , he loves it. The GS is a magnificent piece of technology, but very sterile compared to a C-1. One thing that hasn't changed since I had my last C-1 (1961) in the early 70's, it still puts the same smile on my face. Not many things that feel the same as they did 40+ years ago.
I have GOT to get different wheels for my Z. I was cleaning them yesterday and what a total PITA. Especially with the factory dirty pads. Your wheels look very easy to clean.
I just have to make sure whatever I get has the same rigidity as the factory wheels so the corning ability isn't compromised.
The C1will always be the cornerstone of my little collection.
Im 6’ 2” and fit good but I always gave the top down.
i took my 60 for a drive yesterday. It was heavy overcast and in the 70’s. Everything was great until the clouds parted and the humidity and temps went into the 90s. 45 minutes later I got home and my shirt was soaked and my iPhone was so hot it went in protection mode. It was fun though.
I'm 6'4" and weigh 299.998# in a helium suit. My first Corvette was a 1960 that was my daily drive to college, work, everywhere, that I bought at the age of 18 in 1974. Since then we've owned a 1954, 1957, 1958, the 1960, 1961 and a 1962. In every one of them my head hit the soft or hard top, my knees were buried into the steering wheel and door panel, and after 45 minutes my cheeks would go numb. But I loved them.
Last summer I still had the 1954, 1957 and 1962 but no more. After 43 years of C1 ownership I finally went over to the other side. I sold them all and sat in a 1967. Now it's in my garage. Head room, factory air, no more steering wheel marks on my shirts. Love it.
This is me in front of my '62 a couple years ago, and the video is a short ride I took after the powerglide was rebuilt in the '54. Selling the '54 was painful because it's the only car I ever fully restored back to original. In both case, the people who bought them from me were no taller than 5'6". Both of them asked, considering my height, how in the world I could ever drive a C1.
I'm right at 6 feet, and my '62 with the hardtop on is a very comfortable fit. Driving these cars is an extremely visceral experience, but surprisingly easy and comfortable once you get used to them. Lots of driver involvement - mine is a 300hp 4-speed (T-10), all stock/matching numbers so it's a true 1962 driving experience - well - except for the radial tires for safety's sake as well as improved handling. I drive it as much as I can, and it gets a LOT more attention than my C7 does. As wonderful as the late model Corvettes are, I think every Corvette aficionado should drive a C1 at least once in their life, just to see where they all came from. It's well worth the trip.
I'm on my second C1. The first was many years ago, a '59. Now I have a '57, for my money, the prettiest thing they ever made. Hopefully to be on the road in July after rather a lot of refitting.
Another one? I'd want a ZR-1, the one with the four-cam Mercury Marine built engine.
06-18-2018, 01:25 PM
Drove a C1 for the first time this weekend
