Month: December 2012

Corvette enthusiasts know you can’t take it with you, so you might as well enjoy it now.

Take John and Brenda Cianciolo, for example.

Back in 1978, after they had just bought a house and paid as much down as they could, they had just $312 sitting in the bank.

That didn’t stop the couple from buying a 1966 GTO like the one Brenda had driven in high school when the opportunity arose, however.

“A friend called and said he knew about a ’66 GTO convertible that had been tapped in the back and needed some work,” John explains. “He said we could get the car for $300. I thought, ‘How can I tell my wife about it when we only have $312 in the bank?’”

But the next night, over supper, John told Brenda about the GTO. “She perked up and said, ‘Here’s how I look at it. Whether we have $312 or $12, we’re broke anyway, so just buy the car.’ ”

They followed her advice, fixed up the GTO and three years later made enough profit to buy a 1958 Corvette that they’ve been in the process of restoring for years but hope to have completed by 2014 in time for the National Corvette Restorers Society convention in Kansas City.

That’s not only the Corvette the couple has owned, though. They’ve had a ’61, ’65, ’67, and ’72 and currently have a ’67 with an interesting history behind it.

They bought the very nice black convertible four years ago that had already been through a frame-off restoration and had earned a prestigious Top Flight Award from NCRS in 2002.

The Cianciolos found out after it was built, the car was sent to Chevrolet Engineering Division in Warren, Mich., for research and development. John believes engineers added the tilt/tele wheel there to work out any problems for future 1967 models.

One of only 815 black Corvettes that year, and one of only a few with the saddle tan interior, the car still has its original drivetrain and has only gone about 4,000 miles since being restored.

Source:
Kansas City Star

Related:
Joe Jackson’s 1961 Corvette is a Thing of Beauty
Retiring Employee Receives a 1972 Corvette for His 40 Years of Service
Car and Driver: Driven – Don Sherman’s 1967 427 Corvette Convertible

 

Here’s another rare Corvette taking part in the January auction frenzy next month. This rare red on black 1963 Corvette Z06 out of collector Rick Davis’ stable is one of the 199 built that year and will traverse Mecum’s red carpet Saturday January 26th around 2:40pm eastern time. It’s completely unrestored and has claimed Bloomington Gold and Survivor awards as well as claiming NCRS Top Flight and Chevy Vettefest honors.

Just 199 Corvettes had RPO Z06 on the options list in 1963. Far less than that are known today and they carry a healthy six-figure price tag with them. Z06′s were factory racecars. They were equipped with heavy duty brakes and suspension, the 360hp fuel injected 327CI engine, and a 4 speed transmission. A 36 gallon fuel tank was available for a portion of the production run. The option package added $1,818.14 to the base Corvette price of $4,252.

This matching number Riverside Red Z06 is being offered as Lot S128 at Mecum’s monster Kissimmee auction in Florida next month. It’s documented with the dealer invoice and receipts back to 1963. It starred in the 2001 GM Corvette Z06 relaunch brochure and spent its first 43 years with one owner. Most of 2000 and 2001 were spent living inside the National Corvette Museum. The nifty white racing stripe and chromed wheel covers were affixed by the first owner shortly after taking delivery from Jack Schwartz Chevrolet in Elizabeth, Illinois on August 14, 1963.

Mecum’s 10-day Kissimmee auction takes place January 18th – 27th at the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. Hundreds of Corvettes will be offered as part of the 3,000 vehicle docket. We’ll take a look at some of the other January Corvettes over the next few weeks.

Source:
Mecum Auctions

Related:
[PICS] The Corvette Racers of the 2012 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals
Dick Lang’s Reborn 1963 Corvette Z06 Tanker Unveiled at ProTeam Corvette
[PICS] Subtle Outrageousness: 1964 Corvette Named “Lydia”

 

If Santa left you wanting more this holiday season, here’s a little something from our friends at TopSpeed.com – a rendering of the 2014 C7 Corvette in Black. This render is based on the latest leaked images of the C7 Corvette so it’s fairly up-to-date with the rumor-mill.

It’s been a little while since we’ve seen a C7 Corvette rendered in Black, which is surprising given the fact that Black remains the most single popular color for Corvette.

Recent illustrations by Car & Driver show the C7 Coupe in Red while Inside Line recently rendered the first Yellow C7 convertible. In fact, we had to go back to September to see the previous black C7 rendered by Trinity Animation.

Click here for a larger view of TopSpeed’s Black 2014 C7 Corvette Coupe.

TopSpeed’s illustration wears slighly different wheels than the previous rendered versions and you can make out “GoodYear” on the tires. Rumor has it that Goodyear is going bye-bye with the C6 and that all C7 models will be wearing Michelins. To that we say “It’s about time!”

TopSpeed also has a nice recap of the latest leaked C7 images we first displayed on Christmas Eve and have included them with this render. Check them out at TopSpeed.com.

Source:
TopSpeed.com

Related:
Inside Line Renders the C7 Corvette Convertible in Yellow
Three New 2014 C7 Corvette Illustrations from Car and Driver Magazine
Jalopnik: This Image Will Make You Fall In Love With the 2014 Chevy Corvette

 

Back in the fall of 1988, I bought a shiny new red 1989 Corvette coupe from a dealership in Calhoun, Ga.

It was my pride and joy for a couple of years before other priorities led to selling it with about 15,000 miles on the odometer.

Not surprisingly, it was literally a trip back in time when this story appeared recently in the LA Times about a 1989 red Corvette convertible that has just been found after being stolen from a new car lot in 1989 – and hidden ever since.

It’s a story so strange that it’s almost unbelievable.

Apparently, a man stole the car or helped steal it and then immediately drove it to a nearby self-storage building, with the sticker still on the windshield and just 67 miles showing on the odometer.

He has paid the rent, at first $50 a month and since last summer $300 a month, for the past 23 years, despite never having used the car at all!

Back in September, the renter instructed his attorney to call police and tell them that store-all employees would soon be cutting the lock off his unit and would find a stolen Corvette.

Apparently, the renter was an immigrant from Ireland and was forced into stealing the car in 1989 by some shady characters and then had to rent a storage room to hide it in. What has not been explained is why the car was never chopped up for parts or sold on the black market. Why steal it and hide it?

San Diego Police Department auto theft Det. Andrew Spear says that he was told the renter would get calls every so often from his accomplices asking if he still had the car. “He was supposedly instructed to continue hanging onto it,” Spear said. “If it’s true, then he felt threatened and kept paying.”

In fact, Spear believes the man has paid some $70,000 over the past 23 years to store the car, about twice its value in 1989.

Det. Spear indeed visited the storage unit and found the 1989 Corvette, with four flat tires and covered in dust, but otherwise in fine condition, even with the new car smell intact.
Since the renter had cooperated with authorities and so much time had gone by since the theft, police didn’t file charges against him.

Meanwhile, a man named Corky Rice has entered the picture by buying the car. He’s got it listed on eBay in an auction that will close just after 12 noon on Sunday. As of Thursday, the top bid was $22,200.

If he doesn’t get what he hopes, Rice says he’ll take it to a big car auction in Phoenix in January.

It’s definitely a very unusual story, one that could make for some interesting bidding.

“I’ve bought and sold over 25,000 cars in my career, and I’ve never encountered something like this,” Rice, 58, of Sherman Oaks said. “It would be a perfect display piece in a Chevrolet dealer’s showroom.”

Raymond Amerson of Mid America Motorworks says the final price could surprise everyone.

“If I owned it, I’d drive it, not park it,” Amerson said. “I don’t buy cars to collect them, not in this economy.”

Update:

An advertising agency owner named Mike Robertson was the high bidder on ebay for this stolen 1989 Corvette and he picked up the Corvette on Christmas Eve. Robertson reportedly paid nearly $40,000 for the Corvette. Ironically, that is nearly the price on the original window sticker. Here is a video from Los Angeles television station KABC-7:

Source:
LA Times
KABC-TV

Related:
Kansas Man Tackles Suspected Corvette Thief
Oregon Man’s 1985 Corvette Stolen Twice in 24 Hours
A 1968 Corvette Stolen a Decade Ago Found in Aussie Shipping Container