-A Certified Milestone Car from 'The Mount Dora Museum of Speed' floor display-
A great, original, Dark Metallic 'Daytona Blue' "Survivor candidate" w/ Navy Bucket Seats. A 'real' Number's Matching orig. California Car with the 327/360hp Solid Lifter Fuel Injected Motor, Four Speed, with Optional Positraction, Original Navy Blue Steering Wheel (not replaced), AM/FM Radio, 'Whitewall' Nylon Bias Ply Tires, Original (now yellowed) Clear Plastic Floormats and an incredible 60,326 'ACTUAL' Miles w/ Matching Unbranded Title. Plus, the Standard equipment touted as: Circular Gauges, Hidden Electric Headlights, Tachometer, Dual Exhaust, (1) Exterior Chevy Rearview Mirror, , Heater & Defroster,''Chevrolet'' Safety Belts,Vented Cabin, Electric Clock (still works), Fake Hood Louvers and Split Rear Window (this year only). It still has the orig. Trigger Chrome Shifter, and beautiful 'Spinner' Hubcaps. Offered in just Seven Exterior colors this one in it's original color of "Daytona Blue" with Matching Interior.
I purchased it originally in 1978 from Steve Tancy, the original promoter of the 'World of Wheels Show" in Indianapolis. All 'meaningful' numbers match !!! Now for sale for the first time from the floor of the retired Mount Dora Museum of Speed - (2000 -R.I.P. 2019) near Orlando FL.
The Story: It was Friday 12:53pm, November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 'Little Stevie Wonder' had just released his first LP album, Liz Taylor got paid $1mil for starring in the film "Cleopatra", Joan Baez and Bob Dylan performed together at the Newport Jazz Festival, Jerry Lewis and Stella Stevens starred in the hit movie "The Nutty Professor", KODAK developed the first “Instamatic Camera”, Johnny Depp (actor) was born while Patsy Cline, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Robert Frost (poet) would all expire.
Based on the seeds planted by Bill Mitchell, Larry Shinoda and Zora Duntov, the Corvette Sting Ray Special Racer and Experimental XP-720, the groundwork was layed for the legendary 1963 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe and then the Sting Ray Convertible. Their Dream Car was designed with pivoting headlights, smooth fastback profile, doors that cut into the roof line, belt line dip, and Split Rear Window ....turn's out, despite Zora Duntov's objections, ALL those features ended up in the production line 'Sting Ray' that followed. Although this Vette was 4"shorter than any previous model, less fiberglass, twice as much steel and luggage space sacrificed for sheer beauty.....The new Sting Ray coupe was born!
It is now considered a Milestone Car by the Milestone Society (as well as, by any red-blooded American Car Lover)...The 1963 Corvette Coupe is seen as a pivotal car for any classic car collection. General Motors designer, Larry Shinoda, takes credit for 'holding the line' on the dorsal spine that began at the hood and continued at the crease-line across the roof and down the tip of the boat-tail canopy. History has it, the only nay-sayer of the original design was Zora Argus Duntov himself, who criticized the rear visibility. The 'real' working hood vents originally intended for production were also sacrificed 'to make production-line budget' and were replaced by the chrome 'fake' vents (some see as, the only fault in design and only used One-Year). Today, the 1963 Corvette Split-Window is viewed as a Coveted Classic for not only it's distinctive silhouette but, rare production numbers and performance!
Underneath, the new ladder frame replaced the old "X" Braced Chassis but, far more noticeable, was a new Independent Rear Suspension...A three-link set-up with double jointed drive shafts on either side and a transverse leaf spring. Power Steering was available for the first time and even Air Conditioning (except on the more powerful performance motors). Only 1,114 Vettes got REAL Leather ("Saddle" was the only color avail. ) and only 2,610 got Fuel Injection ( total for both Coupe and Convertibles). Four speeds were the most popular, with only a small percentage opting-out for the 2-speed automatic ( Fuelies got 4 -spd's only ). Output from the carbureted 327 V8 ranged from 250hp To 340hp, while the $430 fuel injected version belted out 360hp. Performance was 'stellar', with the 'Fuelie' hitting 60 mph in just 5.6 sec., blasting through the quarter mile in 14.5 sec at 102 mph. (Stellar for 1963) Road and Track Magazine bragged: "The Corvette sticks with great gripping gobs of traction". The Sting Ray's debut was heralded with as much Bally-hoo as the E-type Jaguar, which debuted just a few years earlier, as the public screamed "Yes..yes" to it's revolutionary design and performance. Sales, of course, followed suite with 10,954 coupes sold, edging-out 10,919 convertibles. Only 12% of production in 1963 were fuel-injected cars!
This particular car is quite 'unique' for us because as the owner, here at Classic Dreamcars, in that I lost this (actual) car to lawyers' fee's in a divorce in 1980 and thought he would never see it again. You can imagine, 20 years later, when a VA. Museum called offering it, and started describing the car.
Originally purchased in 1978 from the principle promoter of the World of Wheels Car Show in Indianapolis. He also promoted the shows in Birmingham, Chattanooga and Shreveport. A famous drag-racer (known as "The Godfather"- 73 Vega "Fuel FC" category) he was also an Avid Car Collector. After scrutinizing the car (condition, number's, compression test, etc) I closed the sale and immediately drove it from Indiana to Fla. It was sold during the divorce, in 1980, to an Oil Baron in Texas, where it resided for approx. 7 years. It then found it's way to a new owner in Virginia and then to a Car Museum there in 1989, where it resided for 10 years. The owner eventually sold the building the cars were stored in and offered it to me with 37 other cars. Story goes, it is an original Southern California car that was sold to Steve Tancy by Bob Wingate near Los Angeles (San Dimas), CA. Steve told me "he bought two cars that trip...... the famous 1957 Chevy "Black Widow" and the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette 'Fuelie' coupe".
This car is almost all original, save one lacquer paint job, having been 'painted in 1978 but, still showing extremely well. However, it just completed an extensive /expensive rebuild of the fuel system including Fuel Injection, Fuel Head, Fuel Pump, Spider, orig. OLA Gas Tank, Heads (orig), Fan Clutch and Brakes...using all N.O.S. parts. I'm offering it for the first time, direct from the car Museum floor at $165,000.
