Car Thread

[up148]

This is more to my liking.

1962-chevrolet-corvette-62-roadster-327-340-hp-4-speed-hardtop-nice-driver.jpg

BH

The damned thing followed me home yesterday. But, I think I'll survive.

BH

[MurphOnMillerAve]

OMG.

[HONDO74]

This is more to my liking.

1962-chevrolet-corvette-62-roadster-327-340-hp-4-speed-hardtop-nice-driver.jpg

BH

The damned thing followed me home yesterday. But, I think I'll survive.

BH

I thought you already had one of these... ??

[Rufus T. Firefly]

This is more to my liking.

1962-chevrolet-corvette-62-roadster-327-340-hp-4-speed-hardtop-nice-driver.jpg

BH

The damned thing followed me home yesterday. But, I think I'll survive.

BH

I thought you already had one of these... ??

Now he has a breeding pair,

[John Webster]

Sweet. You'll be having some fun this summer.

[up148]

I did! I bought it last year about this time (same triple black) from an absolutely despicable classic corvette dealer in southern MO, who lied his *ss off about the condition of the car. I hadn't owned a 62 since 1970, which I paid $1500 for and drove while attending college. It was just transportation back then.

This dealer/restorer sounded so honest and trustworthy, I didn't even go look. He knew I was a rookie and he was being my "friend" and "mentor" Amazing how stupid I was because I didn't want to drive 6 hours to go look and man did he lay me away.

Absolute trash car that looked beautiful (truely, beauty is only skin deep). It had a bent frame from an undisclosed accident, wrong transmission and drive shaft and tons of other items I tried to fix, until I realized I just needed to cut bait and start over. Very frustrating and negative experience and lost a lot of money on it. I sold it back to him a few months ago figuring he'd be stuck with it. Not the case, he sold it again and I doubt the buyer inspected it. I really feel for the new owner, as this car is dangerous to drive, because the back end tries to steer the car when going around corners due to the bent frame.

But, I've gone from rookie to quite knowledgeable about C1's in the past year. I flew down to San Antonio and drove another 2 hours to inspect and drive this car (I may get stupid from time to time, but I learn from mistakes). This classic car dealer was everything I expected the 1st one to be and the car looks better in person than the photos. Restored 5000 miles and 20+ years ago, but shows like it was done in the past 5 years. All numbers matching, even though how it drives and overall condition if way more important to me than numbers matching. My 1st one was numbers matching too, except for the transmission, but it needed a complete restoration, whereas this one is done.

So, I hope this car is the experience I was looking for with the first car. It needs only maintenance which I can do.

Butch

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Ever since I was a kid, I have wondered if those beautiful cars rode smoothly or bounced you around hard, like being aboard a Jeep Wrangler .

[up148]

Never been in a Wrangler, but this car isn't a cadillac, that's for sure. The front suspension has king pins (not ball joints) like 1947-1954 Chevrolets and the rear is a leaf spring, like all the older Chevy's until 1958, when they went to coil springs. The best way to describe it is "rude, crude and beautiful". It's pretty basic and steers like a bus when trying to park it. At speed it's easier to steer.

BH

[robert.]

Did you buy from the St. Louis car museum?

[up148]

No, it came from a classic car dealer in Texas. I've seen the inventory at SLCM and they have some very nice cars, but nothing I was looking for.

BH

[HONDO74]

The damned thing followed me home yesterday. But, I think I'll survive.

BH

Yeh, I bet it followed you home, right after it took a big bite out of your back pocket.

[Roy]

The damned thing followed me home yesterday. But, I think I'll survive.

BH

Yeh, I bet it followed you home, right after it took a big bite out of your back pocket.

Don't blame the car, for what the previous owner did!

[Roy]

I was reading about early Corvettes, and stumbled on this, from the Wikipedia entry(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_(C1)):

"The Chevrolet division was GM's entry-level marque. Managers at GM were seriously considering shelving the project, leaving the Corvette to be little more than a footnote in automotive history, and would have done so if not for three important events. The first was the 1955 introduction of Chevrolet's first V8 engine since 1919. Late in the model year, the new 195 hp (145 kW) 265 small-block became available with a Powerglide automatic transmission, until the middle of the production year when a manual 3-speed became available, coupled to a 3.55:1 axle ratio, the only one offered. The engine was fitted with a single 2218S or 2351S WCFB four-barrel (four-choke) Carter carburetor. The combination turned the "rather anemic Corvette into a credible if not outstanding performer". The second was the influence of a Russian émigré in GM's engineering department, Zora Arkus-Duntov. The third factor in the Corvette's survival was Ford's introduction of the 1955 two-seat Thunderbird, which was billed as a "personal luxury car", not a sports car. Even so, the Ford-Chevrolet rivalry in those days demanded GM not appear to back down from the challenge."

[rogruth]

Very nice article in O Scale Trains by our friend George who is building the Panhandle division of the PRR on selecting autos for 1950s era layouts.

[Roy]

Very nice article in O Scale Trains by our friend George who is building the Panhandle division of the PRR on selecting autos for 1950s era layouts.

Sounds interesting. I'm reminded of something Hitchcock said: "drama is life with the dull bits cut out." If I was going to build a layout, I'd put only my favorite vehicles on it, and leave off stuff I find boring or ugly.