I had a 1968 Couger XR7 that had a 351 Cleveland out of a 1970 Mach 1 . 330 HP and 11:1 compression from the factory . The next year for 1971 it was labeled as a Boss 351 .
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For you old myscle car nuts.
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Cool car, but a bit more money than I'd be interested in dropping for a garage ornament too. I can appreciate the uniqueness of them, but I like to drive my cars. Objectively, there's just so many newer cars that are just as fun to drive but so much more practical, I leave the old cars to guys who just want to go to shows in em.
I had friends stop in from out of state two weekends ago to attend Corvettes at Carlisle. We all have Vettes. As much as I admire the older cars, honestly I just can't get excited about owning one. Saw a few 71 370Hp 350 4 speed cars at the show. My older brother had one and that was the first Vette I ever drove. Man I loved tha that car, but I still wonder if I'd want to own one. Anything earlier than about 2005 is just too much hassle for me. Just too old and too impractical. And this coming from someone who's been a car guy since birth. Rode in my first Vette at age 4, a 66 vert. My sister's brother in law's car (at her wedding).
My first car was a Camaro, and I've owned 16 F Bodies in total. Still own a 93 LT1 6 speed I bought new. I've had Fords, Buick, MG, obviously Camaros and Firebirds, Cadillac, but my favorites have been Vettes. Currently have a 13 427 Convertible (Collectors edition carbon fiber car wtih the CF/Balsa wood floor, CF body, etc.) Fast on a scale that's hard to describe, and just finished with HP Tuners on it a month ago after having the heads redone. Just went over 40K miles, never been driven in the rain. Not so much as a windshield wiper mark on the windshield. I use it as a fair weather daily drive in summer. Can't imagine getting less use than that from a car.
And having just come from C@C, I can tell ya we saw plenty of insane numbers on cars. Ironically, there's also great deals there. It's hard to understand why some folks want a fortune and others near give the cars away...
I had friends stop in from out of state two weekends ago to attend Corvettes at Carlisle. We all have Vettes. As much as I admire the older cars, honestly I just can't get excited about owning one. Saw a few 71 370Hp 350 4 speed cars at the show. My older brother had one and that was the first Vette I ever drove. Man I loved tha that car, but I still wonder if I'd want to own one. Anything earlier than about 2005 is just too much hassle for me. Just too old and too impractical. And this coming from someone who's been a car guy since birth. Rode in my first Vette at age 4, a 66 vert. My sister's brother in law's car (at her wedding).
My first car was a Camaro, and I've owned 16 F Bodies in total. Still own a 93 LT1 6 speed I bought new. I've had Fords, Buick, MG, obviously Camaros and Firebirds, Cadillac, but my favorites have been Vettes. Currently have a 13 427 Convertible (Collectors edition carbon fiber car wtih the CF/Balsa wood floor, CF body, etc.) Fast on a scale that's hard to describe, and just finished with HP Tuners on it a month ago after having the heads redone. Just went over 40K miles, never been driven in the rain. Not so much as a windshield wiper mark on the windshield. I use it as a fair weather daily drive in summer. Can't imagine getting less use than that from a car.
And having just come from C@C, I can tell ya we saw plenty of insane numbers on cars. Ironically, there's also great deals there. It's hard to understand why some folks want a fortune and others near give the cars away...
Good friend and neighbor has one. His father bought it new as part of his collection of cars, picked it up on NY, drove it home to here in PA and never drove it again. His parents owned an auto parts store and the Father and both sons collected cars, bikes, you name it. Warehouses full of em. I think Dan's got more than 30 Harleys. His parents are both gone now and both brothers are retired now. I know Randy has a Zonda that I've wanted to get a ride in but haven't yet. They've been Ford guys since birth and boy do they have a trainload of Fords...
Only $110K for this beast https://www.facebook.com/share/1BkDFLb96B/
I am getting like you, I have had my 81 vette for 27 years and barely put 3,000 miles on it. I sold my 74 TR6 last year and still have an 05 Wrangler that I am also thinking of selling. If I get something else it will a 2000+ year and a convertible. Maybe a 911 or Boxter, IDK
My brother-in-law bought a Cayman back in 21. To be honest I don't know what year it is. He loves this thing. His previous fun car was a Jag XKR, now that I really liked. More so than the Porsche, but to each his own. I think from a driving standpoint, they're pretty equal but very different.
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I love that car, although with mu back, I'd never be able to get in and out of the darn thing .
If aI remember correctly, didn't you put an LS3 in it?
That's what I want to do with an old Chevelle, camero, or one of the small Nova's. Something with way more power than a guy needs is what Im shooting for , but I want a solid frame, not a unibody frame.
Something that will handle like a slot car in the corners and be ridged enough for the drag strip.
I tore the rear quarter panels of my 69 camero SS, right where the rear windows meet the quarter panels.
It had a pumped up 396 CI that was Dyno'd at 455 HP., it ran liw 10s in the 1/4 mile, and handled like a dream, after changing out the front soft suspension. Which I got good at doing. I could swap out the springs and shocks in just over an hour. I have no idea how many times I made the swap, a lot!!!
Fun cars, I miss owning one.
Gonna try to fix that problem soon.
Dan.s
Love the color that you went with, it super nice looking. I bet it's a blast to drive, once you get into it. LOL!!!
I got my drives license the day I turned 16 yrs old. I bought a 1965 Chevelle SS from or local police Cheif, I was dating his daughter.
I was 15 yrs old when I bought the car, it had a stock 396 CI in it that had a super bad rod inock.
My uncle said he would put one of his engines n a in it as soon as mine blew up. Mysteriously, it blew up 3 days later. LOL!!!!
It's amazing what turning 10 grand in first gear will do to a big block.
My uncle was an engine builder for blown alcohol hydroplane boats. H also raced them. Anyhow, he put q pumped up 393 into my car, and it was untouchable in our area, it was scary fast. He made me pay him $100 a month for 2 years to pay for the engine. I paid him, but he lost money on that one. That engine was easily worth $5000-$6000, easily, it was a beast. Oddly enough we never Dyno'd it, I imagine it was close to 600hp if not more, it was super twitchy driving thhat car, I loved it.
Qnd I also wrecked it in my 3rd yr of owning it . That was the end of fast cars for me, it killed me that I wrecked that car. I sold what was left of it for 4 grand, and bought a Toyota 4x4 which is most likely the best vehicle that I've even owned, that thing could haul 4 kegs of beer and our camping gear almost anywhere. I was really into deer hunting back then so it was perfect.
I was 15 yrs old when I bought the car, it had a stock 396 CI in it that had a super bad rod inock.
My uncle said he would put one of his engines n a in it as soon as mine blew up. Mysteriously, it blew up 3 days later. LOL!!!!
It's amazing what turning 10 grand in first gear will do to a big block.
My uncle was an engine builder for blown alcohol hydroplane boats. H also raced them. Anyhow, he put q pumped up 393 into my car, and it was untouchable in our area, it was scary fast. He made me pay him $100 a month for 2 years to pay for the engine. I paid him, but he lost money on that one. That engine was easily worth $5000-$6000, easily, it was a beast. Oddly enough we never Dyno'd it, I imagine it was close to 600hp if not more, it was super twitchy driving thhat car, I loved it.
Qnd I also wrecked it in my 3rd yr of owning it . That was the end of fast cars for me, it killed me that I wrecked that car. I sold what was left of it for 4 grand, and bought a Toyota 4x4 which is most likely the best vehicle that I've even owned, that thing could haul 4 kegs of beer and our camping gear almost anywhere. I was really into deer hunting back then so it was perfect.
You are correct Dan, 430 LS3. Roadstershop chassis, dual set of mufflers with a switch
, IRS plus a bunch of comfort stuff including a rear view mirror camera setup that eliminated the terrible view you had with the split window, which is why many 63 owners back then had them replaced with the full window of the 64. We put in Locar's speed shifter which had just been introduced. Locar also made us an exact copy of the original chrome ball stick for it. This eliminated the third pedal and provided a little more space. You push the stick over once in drive and you have all the gears to go through manually. The color was a project. It took us 6 months to find the right shade and tweak the pearl content. At 72 I can still get into it, the back complains a bit but I tell it to shut up.
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Ah, now that's sweet! You should have been with us at Carlisle 2 weeks ago. Have you ever been there? It's a BIG show, and there's an incredible number of Corvettes there. In a day you can't possibly walk it all. Can't even come close. I'd say if you took a count of all the C1s and C2s there, 30% are LS conversions.
At Carlisle there were several booths selling new chassis for whatever car, built as a package almost ready to roll. I asked at the one what one of them cost, he said $38,000 as shown. Now, this was complete with a totally new frame, new suspension with brakes, new driveline complete from the bellhousing back through including the transaxle. 4W Independent suspension, basically attach your engine and stick your body on thing and you're ready to go. But still no small investment. However you ended up with a modern hyrdoformed frame with no rust and ready to accept any LS/LT engine combo (or Ford/Dodge/Toyota/whatever brand you want).
The ones I really pined over for years was when I had my 98 C5 Convertible, there's a company called Classic Reflection Coachworks (CR Coachworks) that makes a conversion for what was at the time the C5 convertible, but later the C6 (which honestly didn't always look right) but they converted the donor car convertible into a C1 or other car, but with all the modern electronics and parts availability. The cars are BEAUTIFUL. In person, I swear to ya, these looked like GM had just produced a brand new C1. The fit of the interior and the body was a marvel to behold. Like seriously stand and look close trying to find a flaw. I wasn't so thrilled with the C6 conversions because the size of the cars was just out of aspect for my eyes. Again though, the cost of these was $70,000 for the kit and that was eons ago, so not something for my budget as a toy. If I were to find one used that was reasonable, I'd consider it strongly, but the used ones I've seen for sale are perverse money, and I just don't do enough cruising to justify that. Not only that but my garage is full and its tough to get rid of a 427 Vette or a 93 Formula you've owned since new and ordered pre-production...
CRC had a booth at Carlisle last time I was there but I didn't see one this year, however we didn't see everything so it's likely they still had a booth and we just didn't find it.
For some serious eye-candy conversion cars, check these out. There's a gallery of cars on the link below. And for your Ford guys, they used to do Cobra kits and other stuff as well. Not sure if the Cobra's also went on the C5 Vette chassis or not, but they sure looked sweet!
Classic Reflection Coachworks | Full Carbon Body Retrovette
The original full carbon fiber Retrovette. We invite you to discover your new dream car that will not want to stay in the garage!
www.crcoachworks.com
Aware of the Carlisle shows but have never been to one. Got to find one close and plan a trip for sure! Yup familiar with Coachworks. Can't say I'm that fond of their rendition of a 63 SW but that's just me. It took me almost 2 years to locate my 63 and another 4.5 years to get it in the condition you see now. The mission was to maintain the original 63 coupe design of B. Mitchell/L. Shinoda while mildly improving a few aesthetics: side pipes, added passenger side mirror and wheels. Of course, the unique color too. Shorty after it was finished in late 2020 I was offered $350k for it but had no interest in selling. No clue what it might bring 6 years later but the answer would still be the same. 
I agree on their 63SW cars, but if the truth be told, I'm not a fan of the originals. Give me a choice of a 63 or a 64/65/66/67 and I'll take the latter every time. That stupid window (which Zora hated btw), does nothing for me. I choose my cars because they're what I want, not because I want someone else to notice it or care.
About 4 years back they had a C6 GS converted into the 63 SWC at Carlisle and it was so big and so wide It simply wasn't right. The C5 base car made into a 58 C1 looks perfect. That 63 had the height wrong, width wrong, just looks wrong... An unsuspecting observer might think the 58CRC is a real 58. No chance on the C6 63.
About 4 years back they had a C6 GS converted into the 63 SWC at Carlisle and it was so big and so wide It simply wasn't right. The C5 base car made into a 58 C1 looks perfect. That 63 had the height wrong, width wrong, just looks wrong... An unsuspecting observer might think the 58CRC is a real 58. No chance on the C6 63.
Zora tried to keep the split window out of the design but failed. No question in use, it sucks and agree with the belief even back then that it was a safety issue. We solved the issue with the rear view mirror/monitor attached to a small camera by the license plate. Wires were run up the spine. So, good look but functionally 10x better. I've seen a photo of that converted C6 GS, and agree with you it's just not right in many way. Yeah, the 67 coupe is probably the most desired, but similarly I went for the 63 because it was what I wanted.
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If you'd like to go to one, let me know. I live 2 hours north of Carlisle. It's held in August every year. It's pretty much the holy grail of Corvette shows. I'm not sure where you are in IN, but I've made it from my house to my sister's house in Decatur in 5:15, though I'll admit there was no moss growing under the vehicle... Most folks take a little longer... :D
I don't generally think of a car as an investment because I know it's rare that one actually appreciates, and even more rare it appreciates more than inflation. That said, some can be a good investment and your car fits the bill there. But then again, you don't want to sell it, so the it's back to not really being an "investment". You wanted one and scratched that itch, good on ya there. A car at those prices/value simply isn't affordable for me, so then the cars of a year or 4 later at 25% the price become much more appealing. Though I doubt I'll ever own one. I did try to buy my sister's brother in law's car after his death some years back, but his son wanted it and that was good enough for me, that's who should have it. The car was in pretty bad shape and needs a complete re-do. It's value to me was that I rode in it when I was 4, so it would have been fun from that angle. Of the older cars, It's the late C1s and all the C2s that I would want most if I were to do an old Vette. That said, this'll surprise some but I really would like to own a Corvair... (:hides under table while saying this:). Lol.
The thing I disliked most about the CRC 63 is the split is gigantic. Yours is a vision impairment, the CRC is basically like not having a back window at all. With theirs, you could lose a semi truck parked behind you. If you've seen them, I bet it's 10" wide or more. I don't know if it's caused by NTSB regs on the pillars or if it's because they needed to use the original glass due to the cost of having so few custom glass made, but the width of the cars is so different they had to separate the glass more so that gap needed filled in with more pillar.
I like your camera idea. I wasn't aware that was being done. Very cool!
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