The Ballad of Red Eldor’s and His Faithful 2009 Corvette, “Nasty Red”

Published on by Scott

Roger “Red” Eldor and Paula “Trigger” Lawson-Eldor blend their passion for horses with their passion for Corvettes!

Dateline: 2-8-22 Written by K. Scott Teeters, Photos by Roger “Red” Eldor & Paula “Trigger” Lawson-Eldor. This story first appeared in the December 2020 issue of Vette Vues Magazine – Our teen years are arguably the most impressionable years of our lives. Roger “Red” Eldor of Spring, Texas had two powerful interests as a kid; horses and Corvettes. Horses came first, as Red grew up with pigs, cows, and horses; and his family grew their own vegetables. Over the years Red has owned four horses and even started a riding club called, “Cadillac Cowboys and Cowgirls”.

Next came Corvettes. Red was just twelve-years-old when his next-door neighbor brought a brand new 1977 Corvette. It was just the coolest thing he’d ever seen. You could say that was the day when the shark bit him.

All young men have to find a career, so in his early 20’s Red started driving trucks. By 1989, he got his Commercial Driver’s License and has been driving big rigs ever since. In 2016, 2 years after meeting his wife, Red and Trigger started their transport business; BGV Transport, LLC., specializing in the enclosed transportation of high-end vehicles; mostly working in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

When you spend time as an over-the-road trucker, you can have long periods of time to “think”; and in Red’s case, that meant envisioning the day when he would get his first Corvette. One day in 2009, Red saddled up and rode to Sugarland Chevrolet, in Sugarland, Texas, and left in a new Corvette; Black, Ebony/Cashmere interior, 430-horsepower, six-speed, and the 2LT Equipment Group.

In an interview, former Corvette chief engineer Dave Hill explained that Corvette designers are there because they want to be there to be a part of something that is beyond just transportation. Hill said, “… these cars change people’s social lives…” I think we can all agree on that.

Red started attending car shows and began to study the various cars that won trophies to see how they did it. If you go to car shows and just “look at the cars”, it may not be obvious what it takes to present your unique Corvette.

Enthusiasts have been personalizing their Corvettes since around 1954-1955 as aftermarket businesses started offering custom parts for Chevy’s new sporty car. These were the early days of the “Custom Cars” era when the post-war economy was burgeoning and young men (mostly) had extra cash to spend on their cars to personalize and customize. Corvettes have been the subject of some of the wildest custom cars ever built.

By 2012 Red started his project car where many of us do; performance wheels and bigger tires. Red got a set of Savini Forged Wheels, “Signature Series”, 19”x8.5” on the front and 20”x10” on the rear; shod with Hankook Low Pro tires; 245/35 ZR19 on the front; and 305/25 ZR20 on the rear. The low-profile wheels made the car look lowered, especially after Red installed the Ecklers ZR1-style front splitter and ZR1-style ZR1 side skirts.

Custom cars typically have custom interiors. This was around the time Red decided to just go for it and make his personalized Corvette a show car that was also still drivable. Few modifications on show cars makes a bigger splash than a set of Lambo-type door hinges. Red went with a set of hinges by Vertical Doors, Inc, and installed by Josh Williams of Aggressive Dream Cars. The high-rise custom hood by Duraflax was painted and installed by Josh. Aside from the hood, all of the paint is factory and has been color-corrected and ceramic coated by Mario Cuppepper of Zenith Auto Works, in Houston, Texas.

LED lights with special colors are made for custom car projects. Red upgraded his car with LED lights by Oracle. The under-the-car and behind-the-wheels LED lighting kits are also from Oracle. Josh Williams did all of the LED work. All of the exterior under-the-car LED lights are hidden and tucked away so that the only things you see is the glow.

The rear taillight bezels are billet chrome from West Coast Corvettes. Bill Mitchell, the Father of the Sting Ray loved flourishes he called, “elements of discovery”. The chrome “elements of discovery” on Red’s Corvette all came from RPI Designs, Corvette Central, West Coast Corvettes, American Car Craft, and Ecklers. Note Red’s custom license plate, “NA5TY”.

Custom cars typically have some extra grunt to go along with the extra blink inside the engine compartment. Red’s 430-horsepower LS3 engine received a set of Kooks Long-Tube Headers’ and B&B Billy Boat cat-backs and exhaust tips installed by PowerFab, in Spring, Texas. Red is very happy with the car’s performance, and after all, it’s a show car.

While we are talking about what’s under the hood, we must call out the airbrush art throughout the car. The design for all of the art on the car came from Paula “Trigger” Lawson-Eldor. Trigger worked with airbrush artist Robert Clarke of Clarkes Custom Airbrushing, in Houston, Texas to create Red’s homage to his first passion, horses. Although Red is an over-the-road trucker, he’s a cowboy at heart; cowboy boots, hats, the whole setup.

The three horses under the hood are jumping through fire; perhaps the fire coming from the LS3. A cover forward of the radiator, as well as several covers, are painted black with airbrushed flames. The fuel rail covers were painted black with red inscribed “Corvette LS3” lettering. Chrome filler caps, hood hinges, and struts finish off the engine compartment.

Red’s interior looks like what Chevrolet could have done. The Cashmere interior already looked great, but Red took things to the next level. The beginning design for the custom upholstery work was created by Manny Garcia III. Manny redesigned the seat inserts, armrests, and door covers with long embroidered stitching in three lines. Several years later, 5 Star Upholstery from League City, Texas duplicated that design on leather to wrap and custom-stitch the sun visors, gas and brake pedal booties, shifter, and the hatch strut covers. The custom upholstery work also extends back into the trunk, which was the most challenging part of Red’s “Nasty Red” custom Corvette. Black floor mats with “Nasty Red” embroidery are a nice contrast with the Cashmere interior. The rear cargo shade art was also airbrushed to match the car theme of “Cowboy Up”.

Red said that the sound system was the hardest part of building Nasty Red. The design was Josh Williams’s idea, the sound system was built by Josh Williams of Aggressive Dream Cars in League City, Texas, and the woodwork was done by “Derek”. The housing box is all wood with a Texas-shaped plexi cover etched by Josh with a matching horse head. The system uses two Fosgate 10-inch woofers, and a Rockford amp with a Shuriken 600w show trunk battery. The upholstery on the box, the cream-colored center inset, and the storage lids were done by 5 Star Upholstery.

When it comes to making a big impression at car shows, staging is everything. By this time in the “Nasty Red” project, Trigger (aka, Paula) had taken on the role of art and design director. Since Nasty Red is liberally decorated with horses and fire, plus the 450-or-so horses inside the LS3 engine, all those “horses” needed to be in a coral! Trigger worked out the details of her vision and Derek at Aggressive Dream Cars built the coral. Everything is real wood, custom-burned, and finished by Derek.

Car Shows are all about having fun. An awesome customized car with fun staging and lights can make a lasting impression. Who knows, twenty years from now some young person might say, “When I was a kid, I saw a beautiful black custom Corvette decorated with horses and sitting in a coral. And that’s how I got into cars.”

While Nasty Red is a “show car”, it’s also a driver’s car. Red and Trigger have taken Nasty Red to shows from Ohio to Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and of course, Texas. For small local shows, they just drive Nasty Red to the show. For bigger shows when they can set up their coral, they use an enclosed trailer. At the World of Wheels Show in Louisiana, Red won the Best Display Award. At a car show at the National Corvette Museum in 2017, Nasty Red won 2nd Place in Custom Class and a Celebrity Choice. To date, Nasty Red has won Best in Show four times.

Red has declared Nasty Red “completed”. Trigger has a 2001 coupe, so maybe they are already dreaming up something for her ride. Trigger and Red started a Corvette apparel online store offering shirts, tops, and gear for Corvette people under the brand name “Bad Girl Vettes LLC”.

Red and Trigger also have a special Corvette mentor, former Bowling Green Plant Manager, Wil Cooksey, and his wife, Liz. They are now part of “The Cooksey Crew” and attend car shows, such as Corvettes at Carlisle and other shows. Dave Hill was so on the money when he said that Corvettes change people’s lifestyles. Red and Trigger, along with Wil and Liz Cooksey, and others are having the time of their lives! – Scott

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Larry Taylor’s Grand Sport Corvette #004 Replica – Videos!

Published on by Scott

When it Comes to Grand Sport Replicas, Attention to Details Pays Off!

Dateline: 2-1-22 This story was first published in the February 2019 issue of Vette Vues Magazine – Larry Taylor’s passion for Corvettes might be genetic. The Clinton, Utah resident’s grandfather was into Corvettes in the 1950s. Grand Pop passed down his Corvette passion to Larry’s Dad who owned a 1966 Sting Ray that he drag raced a little and also used to trailer his boat. When it came time for Larry to enter the world of automobiles, his first Corvette was a 1959 model that he bought in 1984.

Larry has an affinity for details. Anyone who has ever gone after an NCRS Top Flight award knows it’s all about “details, details, details”. It wasn’t long before Larry’s 1959 Corvette scored a Top Flight award. Classic Corvettes are wonderful, but as the 1990s went on the C4 Corvettes were looking better and better. So in 1995 Larry decided to get a “modern” Corvette and bought a 1990 Corvette. The C4 was really nice, but he found himself pulled back to the classics. Larry sold his 1990 Corvette, but not before acquiring another NCRS Top Flight award. If your passion is classic Corvettes, you can’t get much more “classic” than a 1963 Split-Window Coupe, which, you guessed it, Larry got another NCRS Top Flight award.

While all this was going on, Larry did some open-wheel racing and always liked Corvettes with racer-style. So if you are into “racer-style” and you own a 1963 Split-Window Coupe, it is no stretch that you would be drawn to the 1963 Grand Sport Corvette; the greatest “could have been…” Corvette of all time. If you are new to the Corvette hobby you might be wondering, “What’s so special about a Grand Sport Corvette? It’s a nice model Vette, but what’s the big deal?” Well, we’re not talking about the 1996 Grand Sport, or the C6 and C7 Grand Sports. No, we’re referring to the 1963 Grand Sport Corvette all-out racecar; arguably THE most storied car in Corvette history. Here’s the short version of why the Grand Sport is still being talked about, longed for, and honored with the production and replica Grand Sports.

In early 1962, after the major engineering work was completed on the new, upcoming 1963 Sting Ray, Zora Arkus-Duntov and his team got to work on RPO Z06. Duntov’s C1 racer kit program was hugely successful, such that by the end of the 1950s and into 1962, Corvettes were a force to be dealt with in SCCA racing. The Z06 was to carry on with Duntov’s program. That is until Carroll Shelby’s 2,000-pound Cobra arrived.

Duntov was an experienced racer and he knew that his 3,000-pound Z06 Sting Ray would be no match against the 2,000 Cobra. To Duntov, it was obvious; he needed to build a lightweight Corvette and to do this if would have to have a tube frame, an exotic engine, and a lightweight replica body. But what he really needed was official permission. Fortunately for Duntov, he had a friend at the top of Chevrolet; Semon “Bunky” Knudsen.

Knudsen was a serious “car guy” corporate officer who worked his way up through the ranks at GM. As general manager at Pontiac, he turned the brand’s stodgy image around with his Wide Track, Tri-Power performance cars, and factory support in NASCAR racing. His reward for doing a great job at Pontiac was the general manager position at GM’s flagship division, Chevrolet in 1961.

Knowing he had Knudsen’s ear, Duntov outlined his plan to get around GM’s adherence to the 1957 AMA Racing Ban. Duntov’s idea was to build limited production lightweight Corvettes that would sell for around $16,000-to-$20,000 and let the customers do the racing. Knudsen green-lighted Duntov plan and five, special cars, called, “The Lightweights” were built.

By November 1962 cars were completed and were renamed “Grand Sport”. They looked almost exactly like the production Corvette, but with minor differences and no split rear window. Initial testing at Sebring in December 1962 was very promising. But when word of Duntov and Knudsen’s covert activities reached GM President Frederick Donner, the Grand Sport came to a screeching halt! Documents at The GM Heritage Center indicate that the five Grand Sports and the spare parts were ordered to be warehoused, but that didn’t last long.

Duntov gradually loaned out Grand Sports #003, #004, and #005 to privateer racers. But without a proper development program, the cars were not successful and their performance was inconsistent. By the end of the racing season, Duntov called in the three Grand Sports for a few “improvements”. Duntov wanted to give his Grand Sports a fighting chance against Shelby’s Cobras at the upcoming 1963 Nassau Speed Weeks race at the end of November and the beginning of December.

When Grand Sports #003, #004, and #005 arrived in Nassau under the banner of the “Mecom Racing Team”, they were loaded for bear. This is the now-classic Grand Sport look; fat racing tires on wide knockoff wheels, aggressive vented hood, and big wheel flares. And under the hoods were Duntov’s latest engine jewels, the all-aluminum 377 small-block Chevy with 58mm side-draft Weber carbs. It was a romp for the grand Sports, as the Cobras were thrashed.

Three months later, the 1964 class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring with Roger Penske at the wheel of Grand Sport #005 would be the high-water park for the Grand Sports. This time period saw extraordinary advancement in racecar technology, such that by the end of 1965, the three-year-old cars were outdated.

When the Grand Sports received their upgrades in preparation for the 1963 Nassau race, Grand Sports #001 and #002 were made into roadsters and held back, but were eventually sold and raced, as were the coupes. Fortunately, all of the cars survived, are in excellent condition and are each worth millions of dollars. Over the years, Grand Sport Corvettes have thrilled thousands of fans, many have lusted to own one of the five cars, and around two dozen have actually owned Grand Sports.

Enter the world of kit cars. In early 1990 a company called D&D started making Grand Sport kit cars, but the quality was not good. Mongoose Motorsports offers high-quality 1963 Grand Sport and 1980s era GTP Corvette kits and turnkey cars. Then there are the Duntov Motors Grand Sport Continuance Racecars and the Superformance custom built-to-order Grand Sport cars.

When Larry decided to merge his interest in classic Corvettes, racing, and his attention to detail skills, he decided to go for a Grand Sport replicar. The Superformance Grand Sports are fantastic but on the expensive side, so Larry decided to get a Mongoose Grand Sport roller and finish it himself.

When you buy a Grand Sport roller from Mongoose you get the bare fiberglass body and interior, and a 4-inch tube chassis and basic suspension from a 1988 Corvette. The rest is up to you and your skill level. Larry bought the rolling chassis in April 2016. Many Grand Sport replica cars are finished as street machines with modern paint, wheels, tires, and amenities. A few are street versions of the real Grand Sport replicars. If you are going the racecar replicar route, you have to research which livery you want to replicate. Since the three Grand Sport coupes were raced by numerous owners; in different configurations; and liveries; one has to do their homework; and pay attention to details. Fortunately for Larry, he’s very good at that. After careful research, Larry chose the Sebring ’64, Delmo Johnson, and Dave Morgan livery. Today the actual car is part of The Reve Institute in Naples, Florida.

An all-aluminum 377-cubic-inch Donovan small-block Chevy engine with four Weber 48-mm side-draft carbs powers Larry’s Grand Sport. The real small-block Grand Sports used 58-mm Webers, but they are insanely expensive. The side exhausts are hand fabricated. The radiator, oil cooler, and power brake booster are 1963-style. The transmission is an M22 4-speed “Rock Crusher” and the shifter is an original 1963 shifter.

The front suspension is from a 1988 Corvette and has rack & pinion steering. The rear suspension is somewhat unusual. It is a modern coil-over suspension that uses the C4 differential and “batwing” rear cover and carrier. For an authentic look, Larry added a set of C2/C3 leaf springs and painted the batwing differential carrier black.

The wheels are 15×8 Halibrand aluminum replicas that have been powder-coated gold. The real Halibrand cast magnesium wheels had gold Dow 7 Magnesium Coating. When the real Grand Sports were racing they used then state-of-the-art Firestone racing tires. Larry’s Grand Sport replica uses 15×8 period-size correct Goodyear racing tires. As mandated back in the day when the Grand Sports were racing, there’s a spare tire in the “trunk” area.

“font-size: large;”>As delivered, Larry’s Grand Sport interior was bare fiberglass. Larry added some extra bolsters to the fiberglass seats, period-correct seat belts, a fire extinguisher, and a period-correct CB radio and antenna. The speedometer has been fitted with a 200-mph speedometer face and the factory fuel gauge has been replaced with an oil temp gauge. The toggle switches control the main fuel pump, differential cooler, and reserve fuel.

With a ton of photographic references for the Grand Sport #004 that currently resides at the Collier Museum, Larry applied his attention to detail skills to his Grand Sport replicar. As seen in these photos, the car was just completed in November 2018. Larry’s plans for 2019 are to show the car at Corvette shows and maybe at the National Corvette Museum. Then, he will bring the car back into his shop, remove the body, add all of the required modern safety equipment, and then take the car to the track.

The Donavan 377 small-block Chevy engine pulls around 550-horsepower, so weighing in around 2,250-pounds, that’s a power-to-weight ratio that will be a lot of fun on the track. Larry says, “I just want to have the experience of being on a race track with my Grand Sport and other vintage cars, just to be there; not to race and win anything, but just to get a sense of what it must have been like back in 1964.”

That’s something I believe we have all fanaticized about Larry. Go for it! – Scott

The Tale of Two C4 Grand Sport Corvettes in a Tiny Florida Town

Published on by Scott

Against all odds, a 1996 Grand Sport Coupe and Convertible live two blocks from one another in rural Florida!

Dateline: 1-23-22, this story was originally published in Vette Vues Magazine – When we moved to the tiny town of Lake Placid, Florida in 2014, I wasn’t expecting such a robust car culture. It’s not huge, but it is considerable. Once a year in July, Lake Placid hosts their annual Caladium Festival, with a Car & Bike Show at the DeVane Park that is well attended.

Lake Placid is located 15 miles south of Sebring in Highlands County, in south-central Florida. The town was chartered by Melvil Dewey, the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, and is the sister city of Lake Placid, New York. The town is best known for several things: it is the “Town of Murals” (there are 46 murals painted on downtown businesses), the “Toby The Clown Foundation” Clown College, the “Caladium Capital of the World,” 27 freshwater lakes, and in 2012 Reader’s Digest Magazine voted Lake Placid as “The Most Interesting Town in America.”

With only 2.84 square miles and a population of around 2,000, the best way to describe the town is; think “Mayberry” as in “The Andy Griffith Show.” Between Sebring and Lake Placid there are orange groves, farms, and cow pastures. To the south, east, and west of the town, there are more farms, pine trees, cows, and let’s not forget the gators and bears!

Lake Placid is also home to two of the rarest special edition Corvettes, a 1996 Grand Sport Coupe and Convertible. And here’s the kicker – they both reside within two blocks of one another! Ron Ellerman is the original owner of the 1996 Grand Sport Corvette Coupe and John Meyerhoff is the owner of the 1996 Grand Sport Convertible.

I met John Meyerhoff in 2015 after a man tipped me off about “… a guy in Lake Placid that has one of EVERY generation Corvette!” Before the C7 came out, Meyerhoff had one of each generation. John sold his C1 to make room for his future C7, but it gets even better. John’s lady, Mary Carol Plott also has four Corvettes! Now THAT’S a “Corvette Power Couple”! John and Mary Carol appropriately met at a car show in Lake Placid. How’s that for Fate?

John got the Corvette bug back in the mid-1960s thanks to a fellow Navy officer and bought his first Vette, a 1966 427/425, 4-speed Mosport Green Roadster, around Christmas 1965. After John settled down and started a family, the Corvette was exchanged for a down payment on a house.

By the late 1970s, John got into a 1973 350/250 L82 roadster that fell casualty to a divorce and there were no Corvettes in John’s life for 15 years. John eventually remarried and by 2001, bought a new Magnetic Red convertible. John found the 2001 convertible to be a very comfortable road car and started racking up lots of miles. He was also getting close to retirement time.  

Most of us have a soft spot for our “first Vette,” so John began searching for another 1966 427/425 roadster. Finding another Mosport Green 1966 big-block roadster, but he finally found one that was close enough, a super sano Sunfire yellow 427/425 Roadster. With no power steering or brakes and a very heavy clutch, this is NOT a daily driver, but it makes for a great show car.

After full retirement, John’s wife passed and he decided that “Corvettes” would be his retirement.

“I came up with a new goal. I wanted one Corvette of each generation and I happened to find the 1996 Grand Sport Convertible. It was really dumb luck because although I had owned many Corvettes, I didn’t follow the special editions, so I really didn’t know what I had, I just liked the color scheme and the fact that it’s a convertible. It turns out that it’s one of four other Grand Sports with the exact same combo of options. Then to fill up the collection, I got the 1969 427 Convertible, then got a red-on-red 1960 Corvette. Before the C7 came out, I had one of every generation!”

Except for the Grand Sport Convertible, John’s five Corvettes are mildly modified. He doesn’t race them, but he does enjoy them with an occasional blast. John’s attitude when it comes to his Corvettes is that if a modification will improve the car’s performance or durability and drivability, he doesn’t mind making changes.

 

Ron Ellerman’s story is quite different. Ron was a boilermaker by trade and eventually owned a very successful, full-service car wash in Ohio. Over the years Ron had numerous interesting cars and motorcycles, but in his heart, he always wanted a Vette. He got his first Corvette bite when his older brother let him borrow his 1966 427 Roadster while Ron was in high school.

“I was always good at working on cars. As long as I could get something apart, I could reassemble it. In 1996 my local Chevrolet dealer had one Grand Sport Coupe on the showroom floor that he was using as an attraction. I kept looking at the car and thinking how much I wanted it, but the dealer wouldn’t sell! He was hoping to be able to keep it for himself, but I kept working on him. Eventually, he called me and we made the deal.”

Ron was having some health issues and recounts;

“I decided that I couldn’t put it off any longer. I let my business buy the car as a “company car,” paid it off, took the depreciation, and eventually sold the car to myself. The car is totally-stock and has run perfectly for the most part for 20 years. I took the car to a Mecum auction to sell, but couldn’t get what I know the car is worth (1996 Grand Sports are currently very undervalued), so I decided to keep it, probably for good. The car now has just over 10,000 miles on it. I recently noticed a small oil leak at the rear main seal – not bad for a 20-year-old car, I suppose. Since getting the Grand Sport I’ve had lots of “fix-up” cars that I worked on and sold. I had VW Bugs, old Cadillacs, a hot rod Nova, street rods, a few boats, and three Harleys. I like working on and fixing cars, and I love driving my Grand Sport Corvette.”

Let’s talk a little about what makes the 1996 Grand Sport Corvettes so unique. The 1996 Grand Sport option listed for $3,250 for the coupe and $2,880 for the convertible. Here’s what was included: dedicated Admiral Blue paint with white center stripes, special details, 17-inch ZR-1-style 5-spoke wheels with painted black spokes shod with P275/40ZR17 tires on the front and P315/35ZR17 rear tires, rear-wheel flares, all-black interior or black/red interior, iconic red fender hash marks, and sequential serial numbers.

The convertible Grand Sports had slightly smaller tires – P255/45ZR17 on the front and P285/40ZR17 on the rear and no rear fender flares. The reason the convertible had slightly less wide tires was that engineering felt that the convertible owners would not be happy with a more grip with a less rigid chassis structure.  

Except for the red accents on the throttle body and the “Grand Sport” lettering, the LT4 looked identical to the LT1. Inside the LT4 it was hot rod heaven and included increased compression (10.8:1 vs 10.4:1) improved aluminum heads, Crane roller rocker arms, a revised camshaft, stronger crank, and revised pistons. All LT4-equipped 1996 Corvettes had 8,000-rpm tachometers. The Grand Sport option was a beautiful way to celebrate the end of the C4 Corvette line.

When it comes to collectability and desirability, low production numbers are key. Chevrolet offered six special edition C4 Corvettes:

1986 Pace Car Replica (all 1986 Convertibles): 7,315 units

1988 35th Special Edition Package: 2,050 units

1993 40th Anniversary: 6,749 units

1995 Pace Car Replica: 527 units

1996 Collector Edition: 5,412 units

1996 Grand Sport: 1,000 units – 810 Coupes, and 190 Convertibles

No one pays ANY attention to the 1986 Pace Car Replicas; the production numbers were too high and it was just a Corvette convertible with stickers. And while the 1995 Pace Car Replica has the lowest production numbers of all of the C4 special editions, the Grand Sports have the patina of one of the coolest Corvette monikers ever, as an honor to the original five 1963 Grand Sport Corvette racers.

Also, while the 1995 Pace Car Replica has just over half the production numbers than that of the Grand Sport, the Grand Sport has the better LT4 engine, performance suspension, fender flares for the coupe version, and ZR1 wheels and tires. Where the 1995 Pace Car replica is a pretty car, the Grand Sport is a tough guy!

John Meyerhoff and Ron Ellerman are perfect examples of people that got the “Corvette Fever” that’s permanent. Duntov always wanted his customer to “enjoy their Corvette.” So with only 1,000, Grand Sports built, what are the odds of these two unique Corvettes residing in the tiny town of Lake Placid, Florida just two blocks from one another? Pretty amazing! – Scott

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Bench Racing with John Greenwood, Free PDF Booklet & Video

Published on by Scott

Inside the Mind of John Greenwood

Dateline: 10.8.21  To download the free PDF, CLICK HERE. NOTE: When your PDF Reader opens, change the “View” setting to 100% to more easily read the article pages. 

John Greenwood is a legend in the world of Corvettes. Through the ’70s, while production Corvettes struggled to maintain as much performance as possible, John and his brother Burt built a series of stunning C3 Corvette race cars. Arguably, the most famous of the Greenwood Brothers Corvettes was their famous “Batmobile” very wide-body Corvette that was more aerodynamic and produced lots of down-force on the car’s huge racing slicks. Greenwood needed as much traction as he could get to better work his ZL-1 427 engines, rumored to be making upwards of 700-hp, perhaps more. Continue reading “Bench Racing with John Greenwood, Free PDF Booklet & Video” →

Mario Brunner’s Classic 1966 Corvette Pilot Car

Published on by Scott

A Super-Rare Classic Sting Ray in Germany

Dateline: 8.29.21 This story was first published in the February 2021 issue of Vette Vues Magazine; Story by K. Scott Teeters; Photos by Mario Brunner: In the Corvette world, C2 Sting Rays are becoming increasingly rare. With only five years of production, 1963-to-1967, only 117,964 Sting Rays were built. Compare that figure with the 1968-to-1982 C3 Corvette total production of 542,741. Now imagine a 1966 Sting Ray convertible in modern-day Germany in an ocean of Porsches. Let’s add another layer of uniqueness. Mario Brunner’s 1966 327/350 Corvette convertible is a numbers-matching pilot car!

Before we get into the details of Mario’s unique Sting Ray, let’s review pilot cars. After the details of an updated car are nailed down, a small batch of cars are built for evaluation. Engineers drive the cars to make sure everything works, everything fits properly, no leaks, etc. The cars are not subjected to harsh durability testing, they are driven as a customer would drive the car. Pre-production cars built for durability testing are typically pretty-well beat-up and are eventually sent to the crusher. When you see magazine road tests that come out before or at the same time as the new cars are in dealer’s showrooms, those are pilot cars.

Pilot cars are also built more slowly so that the plant workers can make sure that everything is up to speed for production. As problems are identified, solutions are implemented. Typically around 20 pilot cars are built. Pilot cars can be identified by their very low last three VIN numbers. Any VIN number 001 and above is considered by GM to be saleable.

After evaluation, pilot cars are sold at the GM factory auction to dealers. Pilot cars are not the same as GM Fleet / PEP cars, private fleet cars, or dealer demo cars. Pilot Corvettes have a unique place in Corvette-Land, while they look like a regular Corvette, they are quite rare.

I recently read a humorous expression for us “car people”; we’re the way we are because we have “the car gene”. Mostly guys have it, and some gals too. Typically, the car gene kicks in during our adolescent days, around the ages of eight-to-ten. All races and nationalities can have the car gene.

Mario Brunner grew up in the small German village of Enzweihingen, just northeast of Stuttgart in southern Germany. As a little boy, his family often drove into Stuttgart and would drive by the Porsche factory. Today, the Porsche factory and museum are at the same location. Mario recalls, “I was absolutely fascinated with the Museum and the beautiful Porsches parked in front of the museum. It all started there. My dad was also a car and motorcycle guy. He owned a Harley and some Jeeps. When he passed away way too soon, my mom told me, to maintain dad’s legacy, I had to buy a classic American car.”

When Mario grew up he became a professional photographer. But Mario’s intense car interest was a little out-of-the-ordinary in a European nation; American muscle cars were his passion. At the top of Mario’s bucket-list was a 1963-to-1967 Corvette Sting Ray. In 2010 Mario acquired a 1967 383 stroker engine Camaro and in 2017 Mario bought a 1964 327 4-speed Impala SS. But he still had the Sting Ray itch, and we all know what that’s like. Mario was definitely on the hunt and the car he found is truly extraordinary.

On Craig’s List Colorado, Mario found the car of his dreams; a 1966 327/350, 4-speed Sting Ray convertible with factory side-pipes, knock-off wheels, and a hard top. Much to his surprise, the car was a pilot car with the VIN #194676S100006. Note the last three numbers, “006”, that’s what tipped off Mario that the car is a pilot car. Mario sent NCRS detail photos of the car and they verified that indeed, Mario’s Corvette is a “pilot car”.

NCRS’s 1966 specialist told Mario that the car is very early and rare pilot car and they were very impressed. Concerning the authenticity of the VIN plate and the Options plate, NCRS said that the rivets and the arrangement of certain letters indicate that the tags are legitimate. Another indication that the car is indeed a pilot car is the hand-laminated fiberglass inner fenders in the engine compartment. The inside of the front wheelwells look completely normal.

As if the pilot car status wasn’t enough, the car is numbers-matching, complete, all-original, and well-optioned. The car is a survivor and in 2009 was treated to a new Laguna Blue respray. In 1966 only 2,054 1966 Corvettes were ordered in Laguna Blue; only Trophy Blue (2,054) and Tuxedo Black (1,190) colors are rarer.

The car was optioned out to be a maximum-performance small-block 327 Corvette. The L79 327 engine was rated at 350-horsepower @ 5000 rpm and 360-lb-ft of torque @3000-rpm. The next step up the 1966 Corvette performance ladder was the L36 427 with 390-horsepower and then the L72 427 with 425-horsepower. If a lighter-weight Corvette with plenty of grunt was your passion, the 350-horsepower L79 327 was a $105 option! The base price of a ’66 Corvette convertible was $4,084 and Mario’s car had a sticker price of $5,573. That was a lot back then!

A closer look at the options on Mario’s ’66 Corvette indicates that the car was optioned for performance. Options include: L79 327-cid, 350hp Engine, M20 4-speed Manual Transmission, Side Mount Exhaust System, Power Brakes, Positraction Rear Axle, Cast Aluminum Knock-Off Wheels, Genuine Leather Seats, Soft Ray Tinted Glass, Telescopic Steering Column, Teakwood Steering Wheel, Power Windows, AM/FM Radio, and an Auxiliary Hardtop.

Missing from the option list were Air Conditioning ($412, the single-most-expensive option in 1966) and Power Steering ($94). But if the car was optioned for maximum small-block performance you wouldn’t add unnecessary weight to the very front of the car. The tires are Goldwall Michelin 215 Radials with the tire information on the inside of the tire to maintain a classic look.

In 2019 Mario decided it was time to go for his dream classic car, a Corvette Sting Ray. He sold his ’67 Camaro and ’64 Impala to fund a C2 Corvette. So when Mario found a super-clean, complete 327/350 ’66 Sting Ray on Craig’s List Colorado, he knew others would be looking at the car, so he had to act fast. Mario says, “I haven’t owned the car that long. After being transported to Germany, when the trailer opened and I saw the car for the first time, it was a very emotional moment. Unreal. Mileage is low, with just 65,585 miles on the odometer.”

Mario did some research on the car’s build and found several interesting things:

* The 1966 model year production started in September 1965. This car was built on 9th

July 1965. Body number 5.

* The car has hand-molded inner fenders.

* The engine block has the correct casting number for 1965 models (3782870) but the

correct serial number for Corvette number 6 of 1966. Engine, distributor and cylinder head

were made on 24th May 1965.

* Lot of early 65 parts.

* New color for 1966, perhaps the first 327 convertible ever painted in Laguna blue.

Back in the day, cars such as Mario’s were often driven very hard. I’m certain that somewhere in the car’s past it was driven “with enthusiasm”, but the car is 100-percent complete and numbers-matching and shows no signs of being thrashed.

Mario explains, “Most people that see the car don’t know what it is because there are hardly any C2 Sting Rays in Germany. Germans know what Mustangs are, but not old Corvettes. They also can’t believe a car this old has 350-horsepower. The ultimate pleasure is to drive the car without the top on a warm summer night, listen to the side-pipes, feel the 350 hp V8, and knowing that this is a very special car, especially here in Germany. This is the fulfillment of a life-long dream for me. It’s a privilege to drive something special like this.”

“The only repairs I had to make was replacing the intake manifold gaskets, shocks, flywheel, and clutch, that’s it. I drive the car as much as possible. It is pure joy and adventure to drive. NCRS recently confirmed that the car is indeed one of the rare pilot Corvettes. For me, this is the best and last classic car in my life.”

When asked what he intends to do with his 1966 327 Corvette Sting Ray pilot car, Mario gave the right answer, “Drive it. Take care of it, and learn more about the car’s history.” Yes, spoken like a man with the car gene! – Scott

PS – Mario Brunner is a professional wedding photographer in Stuffgart, Germany. Check out his work HERE.

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Tom & Deb DeBold’s PERFECT 1960 Fuelie Corvette

Published on by Scott

St. Louis never built Corvettes like this!

Dateline: 6.16.21 – This story was first published in the August 2018 issue of Vette Vues – Story by Scott Teeters, Photos from Tom & Deb DeBold:

Imagine spending twelve years restoring a Corvette, winning all kinds of NCRS awards and such, only to at one point being told that your Corvette is “too perfect”! That was Tom and Deb DeBold’s experience at the 2017 NCRS National in San Antonio, Texas event. How could that be? We’ll explain later.

Corvettes have never been “cheap”. Even in the early days, a new Corvette cost about the same as a mid-level Cadillac. In 1975 I bought a 10-year-old 1965 327/300 Sting Ray Coupe with side-exhausts for $2,800, which is in 2018 dollars around $13,500. That’s around the same price some 2001-to-2004 C4 Corvettes are going for today. The point is that, back in the day, if a young man wanted to be driving a used Corvette, was willing to work hard, and work some overtime (remember that?), he could get a Vette.

But as the 1960s wore on, car insurance companies went to war on young male Corvette owners. A lot of that had to do with the way young guys drove back then. They did tend to get into more accidents, and Corvettes had a much higher theft rate. (I know, mine was stolen!) So, it was not uncommon for young guys, even with an older Corvette, to be “insuranced” out of being able to own their Corvette.

That was Tom DeBold’s experience. In 1966 as a young single guy, Tom purchased a 1959 Corvette. This was his daily driver for only 8 months before his insurance company raised his rates into the Unaffordable Zone. They didn’t like the idea of an 18-year-old guy in a fast sports car. In 1970 Tom and his sweetheart Debbie were married. But Tom promised his new bride that “someday” he’d get another 1959 or 1960 Corvette.

The DeBolds raised a family in Ohio and Tom had a long career in sales, eventually becoming a sales manager for a national pesticide manufacturer in Kansas City, Kansas. Deb had a long career as the Human Resources Director of Benefits for Dick’s Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While on a business trip to Orlando, Florida in 2001, Tom found a barely running 1960 Corvette Fuelie basket case. He knew it was time to take action, so he called Deb and told her, “Deb, I’m buying another Corvette!” According to NCRS Master Judge Steve Neal, there are currently only 15-to-17 original 1960 Fuelies in existence!

By this time, Tom and Deb had a second home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tom had his new, 41-year-old, barely running, 1960 Fuelie Corvette transported to Las Vegas. Once Tom got the car home he was unsuccessful in finding a restorer that he felt comfortable working with. Tom didn’t want to just fix up the car to get it running again. Tom decided that his goal was to have an NCRS-level restored car. A year later, after some searching, Tom found Cub Gustafson, in Chandler, Arizona.

Cub’s background was mostly with rare European cars, such as Mercedes, Bugatti, Alfa, Ferrari, and others. Cub had never restored a Corvette but was up for the challenge. Tom and Cub found a local 1960 Corvette (not a Fuelie) in need of restoration and decided to do both cars. A long-term friendship formed from working on the two cars. Once completed, both 1960 Corvettes went through the complete NCRS judging process together and both received the coveted DUNTOV Award at the 2017 National NCRS Convention in San Antonio, TX. The second Corvette was restored for a friend and was a non-Fuelie car.

Working out of a two-bay garage, Tom and Cub took the 1960 Corvettes completely apart. All of the parts were cataloged, examined, refurbished, and repaired if possible. And thus began a 12-year restoration project. You are now probably wondering why it took 12 years to complete the restoration? First of all, it was just Cub and Tom working on the disassembly and reassembly. And secondly, Tom decided that he wanted every single part on the car to be a vintage 1960 Corvette part; everything. No reproduction parts were used during the restoration.

When Tom got his car, it was barely running and needed a lot of help, plus over the years, there had been numerous repairs done with newer parts, so everything had to be examined to make sure it was a 1960 vintage part. If a part was deemed to not be from 1960, Tom and Cub had to source the part. It turned out that sourcing parts took a lot more time than they thought it would. Plus, in the early 2000s, car parts were not as cataloged on the Internet as they are today.

So, Tom and Cub had to do a “parts juggling act” getting the car together. While waiting on parts for one component, they’d work on another component until it was completed, or stopped because a year-correct part had to be sourced. As you can imagine, the process got complicated. The guys started with the frames and step-by-step worked through everything on the cars. This is why the project took 12 years because the end goal was that everything had to be to NCRS standards.

Tom’s 283 Fuelie engine received a total rebuild and was balanced and blueprinted by DeWayne Samuels of SST Performance Engines, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Fuelie engines are notoriously challenging to get running right. Jerry Bramlett in Mobile, Alabama rebuilt the Rochester Fuelie unit, “dialed it in” to the engine, and then dynoed the engine to produce 325HP.

While Tom and Cub were working on the chassis of Tom’s Corvette, the body was sent to Steve Loy in Scottsdale, Arizona for the full body treatment. Steve put hundreds of hours perfecting the entire body. The guys knew they would take a few points hit by over-restoring the body, but it was just too gorgeous to not make perfect. Therefore, everything else about the car had to be perfect

Loy painted the car with Roman Red Urethane paint and wet-sanded with 5000-grit sand paper between eight coats of clear. Tom and Cub could have stopped there, but chose to take the body to Distinct Detailing, in Scottsdale, Arizona where Scott Nicholes took the already amazing paint two stages farther by wet-sanding beyond 5000-grit, then polish, polish, polish, and polish again. The end result is Roman Red that looks VERY deep.

The Tom and Deb’s 1960 Fuelie was completed in 2014 and immediately hit the NCRS circuit and has racked up an impressive resume of awards, including:

2014 NCRS Chapter Top Flight
2015 NCRS Regional Top Flight
2015 NCRS Performance Verification
2016 NCRS Regional Top Flight
2016 Bloomington Gold
2016 Triple Diamond
2016 Chicago Concours Gold
2017 Arizona Concours Best in Class
2017 NCRS Regional Top Flight
2017 NCRS National DUNTOV
2018 Boca Raton Concours Best in Class
2018 Boca Raton Concours Sponsors Choice (out of 247 cars)
2018 Tri-Power
2018 Keels & Wheels Concours Best in Class

Along the way, Tom did an interesting thing. He used the judging as an indicator of what needed to be corrected. So whatever a judge picked up that wasn’t quite right, Tom would go back and correct. Do this, and eventually, you’ll get to “perfect”. Even the tires on the car are really from 1960!

The NCRS “Performance Verification Test” is especially challenging. Most cars attempt this six or seven times before achieving their Performance Verification. The test is a 12.4-mile drive with over 350 points that have to be passed. And when the drive is completed, it has to be EXACTLY 12.4-miles. Not 12.3, or 12.5; 12.4 on the dot! A car has to score 100-percent. If you score 99.9-percent, you fail! That’s why most owners attempt this test six or more times. (sounds worse than the Bar Examination, doesn’t it?) The DeBold’s 1960 Corvette Fuelie passed the Performance Verification Test the first time!

So where and when were Tom and Deb DeBolt told their car was “too perfect” and points were deducted? At the NCRA Regional Top Flights in 2014 and the Duntov in 2017. The judges told Tom and Deb that the car is absolutely perfect, but he would have to take off one point. And what was that? The paint. The judge determined that the paint was simply “too perfect”, as no production Corvette’s paint would ever have been that good. The judge also pointed out that no Corvette would ever stand a chance at a Concours D’Elegance show with a factory paint job. Of course, this was part of Tom’s plan, to begin with.

While the DeBold’s 1960 Fuelie Corvette has won every award there is in the arena of the Corvette hobby, there’s always more. Tom explained that what’s ahead for their Corvette is the Concours D’Elegance circuit and plans to do two or three shows per year. They have already won Concours D’Elegance Best In Class at the 2017 Arizona Concours, the Boca Raton Concours in 2018, and the Keels & Wheels Concours in Sea Brook Texas in 2018. They also won the “Sponsor’s Choice” award at the 2018 Boca Raton Concours D’Elegance event. Tom and Deb are looking forward to attending Concours D’Elegance events in Atlanta, Amelia Island, Boca Raton, Hilton Head, and the ultimate, Pebble Beach. So, the DeBolds are well on their way.

We’re sure that Tom and Deb DeBold will do quite well. The ultimate achievement will be Pebble Beach, as there has never been a Corvette at this most prestigious event. When Tom and Deb’s 1960 Fuel Injected Corvette makes its showing there, we’ll let you know. – Scott

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Chevy’s Secret Duntov Engines Hot Rod Mag E-Book

Published on by Scott

Duntov’s Dec 1967 Hot Rod Magazine Cover Story; Secret Exotic Chevy Engines

You can download your PDF booklet HERE.

Car magazines were my friends when I was a young teenager in the late ’60s. While I was crazy about Corvettes, there were no road racing tracks, only a drag strip close to where I lived in Collingswood, New Jersey. So, if I wanted some racing action, the drags was it; which was fine by me because tire-burning muscle cars regularly roamed the streets of our town, and were SO COOL.

Zora and his brother, Yura were making and selling their Ardun hemi-head conversion kits for flat-head Fords in the early 1950s.

Hi-Performance CARS, Popular Hot Rodding, Car Craft, Car and Driver, Car Life, and Hot Rod Magazine were my favorite flavors for fun reading. But somehow, the December 1967 issue of Hot Rod got past me, as I did not see that issue until way after eBay sellers started selling them 20 years ago. Recently I picked up a copy to add to my Corvette library.

The BIG SPLASH is the cover! There was Zora on the cover of Hot Rod, in a corporate gray suit, white shirt, a narrow black tie, and all smiles; but then again, Zora never knew a camera he didn’t like. And why wouldn’t he have been a happy guy, sitting there with four exotic experimental Chevrolet engines; single-overhead cam heads, and double-overhead cam heads with fuel injection systems of different configurations. Duntov even pushed to offer a SOHC kit for small-block Chevy engines via the Chevrolet Parts Catalog! Imagine that under the hood of your Vette!

Hot Rod’s editor, Jim McFarland got the plum assignment to go to Detroit with a recorder and interview Duntov about “some” of the experimental engines Chevrolet engineers were playing with. After the sixth paragraph, McFarland turns over the mic to Zora to take it from there. Duntov was very exacting and articulate in explaining everything he was allowed to talk about. Zora may have been the ultimate corporate misfit in his time, but he knew when to stop talking.

Here’s Zora and Jim McFarland many years after the famous Hot Rod Magazine “Inside Chevy’s Secret Engines!” December 1967 cover story.

The article is a fascinating peek inside the thinking of Chevrolet performance engineers, circa 1967. Enjoy! – Scott

PS – You can download your PDF booklet HERE.

PSS – You can access the entire collection of Corvette E-Booklets and the Duntov Files HERE.

1963 Aluminum 377 Small-Block Chevy Engine

Published on by Scott

Before the 1969 427 ZL1, there was the All-Aluminum 377 Small-block Chevy!

Dateline: 5-7-21, This story by K. Scott Teeters was first published in the October 2019 issue of VETTE magazine – In the early 1960s, an aluminum performance engine was as exotic as fuel injection, independent suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes. The first mention of an all-aluminum engine for a Corvette was in Zora Arkus-Duntov’s proposal outline for the Q-Corvette in 1957. Ed Cole was Chevrolet chief engineer from 1952 to 1956 and was the lead engineer in the design and development of the small-block Chevy.

The Wintersteen L88 Grand Sport #002 resides at the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Part of the collection includes the hand-made #002 Roadster replica body and one of the all-aluminum 377 SBC engines that Dr. Simeone purchased from Jim Jeager. The replica body is mounted to a chassis buck with an interior.

Cole was a mechanical engineering visionary. After he became Chevrolet’s general manager in 1956, Cole announced his 1960 Q-Chevrolet concept that would put a transaxle into every car to improve traction and handling and eliminate the transmission hump that would open up the interior. Cole’s plan included the Corvette.

Even before going to work for Chevrolet, all Duntov wanted to do was to build racecars. Based on his racing knowledge, Duntov’s Q-Corvette was spectacular and included; a four-speed transaxle, four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, and an all-aluminum fuel injected 283 engine. Duntov is usually credited with the all-aluminum small-block Chevy, a deeper look tells a slightly different beginning.

The design parameters of Cole’s SBC were that the engine should be; small, lightweight, simple, and inexpensive. Cole reasoned that an aluminum version of the SBC using a new aluminum-silicone alloy would be obviously lighter and probably less expensive to make. To keep costs down, there would be no valve seat inserts, no pressed-in valve guide inserts, or cylinder liners. But sometimes a simple idea turns out to not be so simple.

Problems started right from the beginning. The complex molds used sand cores and the completed castings required extensive machining. Sand-cast aluminum is high in porosity and low in density. During machining, cavities would open up in the castings, causing a high rejection rate, which drove up the cost.

Another indication that this is likely to be one of the Nassau Invasion 377s is the chrome stamped steel valve covers. Photos in the “Corvette Grand Sport” book by Paddock and Friedman from the race show the same valve covers.

Aluminum pistons on aluminum bores were hard to lubricate and would scuff the bores. Between the strength of materials and the casting challenges, pouring aluminum into molds designed for cast iron wasn’t going to work for mass production.

Weber carbs were THE hot setup in the 1960s before fuel injection became more efficient. The 377 used four massive 58mm side-draft carburetors. The “EW” on the float chamber cover stands for Edoardo Weber, the founder, and inventor of the Weber carburetor.

A few aluminum engines were completed. Duntov installed one in his CERV-I car in 1959, but the valves would freeze to the guides when the temperature went low. Mickey Thompson got an aluminum engine for an Indy car project and bored the cylinders to installed steel sleeves to reduce the C.I.D. to the Indy limit of 255-C.I.D.

Note the non-stock location of the alternator. This was to slightly lower the car’s center of gravity.

Roger Penske had TRACO modestly build an aluminum SBC to just 300-horsepower for his Cooper Monaco. When TRACO was done, the engine weighed just 350-pounds; the lightest of all the aluminum SBCs.

Forensic evidence gleaned from the book, “Corvette Grand Sport” by Paddock and Friedman indicates that based on the shape of the collector on the headers, this was most likely one of the engines used during the Nassau assault in 1963.

The original SBC was never designed to be cast in aluminum. So when exact copies were cast in aluminum, the basic weaknesses of the original design were obvious. In 1960 some Corvette brochures offered 275 and 315-horsepower fuel injection engines with aluminum heads but were canceled early in production due to breakage. Briggs Cunningham was to be given several sets of aluminum heads for his Corvette Le Mans assault, but none were installed.

When Duntov started planning his Lightweight Sting Rays in early 1962 to battle Shelby’s Cobras, the SBC had 327-cubic-inches. Duntov insisted on an all-aluminum 327, reasoning that the heavy-duty parts from the L84 Fuelie would be more than enough for his racing engine. Unlike the previous aluminum engines, steel cylinder liners were pressed into the block. After each block was machined, it was water-tested for leaks. If leaks couldn’t be fixed with welding they were scrapped.

The most significant change to the basic block was that the main bearing webs were thicker and four-bolt main bearing caps were used. The earlier aluminum SBCs were not delivering any significant power increases, so it was decided that more cubic inches were needed. A 4.00-inch stroke yielded 402-cubic-inches. However, experimentation showed that the engine was happier with a 3.75-inch stroke that yielded 377-cubic-inches. Notches had to be made into the insides of the block for connecting rod clearance.

Numerous cylinder head designs were considered. The wildest was a hemi head design with two spark plugs per cylinder. The hemispherical combustion chamber allowed for larger 2.20-inch intake and 1.72 exhaust valves. The intake system was a Rochester constant-flow fuel-injection unit. This was Duntov’s preferred engine for his Lightweight but never was developed or tested. Engineers expected 600-horsepower from the 402-cubic-inch configuration.

The Mark II big-block with its unique “porcupine” semi-hemi heads was in development, so engineers designed and cast similar sets of aluminum heads for the SBC. Initial tests showed that they did not flow as well as the standard wedge combustion chamber heads, so the concept was dropped. If the heads had been developed they could have been a game-changer and made it into production cars.

Twelve aluminum 377 blocks were successfully machined and designated “A” to “L”. When John Mecum took delivery of three Grand Sport Corvettes as part of his Nassau invasion, the cars had aluminum 377s with four 58-mm Webers. After the Grand Sports stomped the Cobras at Nassau, the cars were bought and sold at a brisk pace.

Engineers learned that the aluminum 377s were good for short races, such as Nassau, but not durable for long races, such as Sebring. When Penske raced Grand Sport #005 at Sebring in 1964, his car was powered by a steel version of the 377 and performed very well.

Several of the engines were sent to Jim Hall and installed into his Chaparrals. Hall was instructed to install the engines and not to change anything except for timing and settings for the Webers. The engines were plugged in, raced, and returned to Chevrolet for evaluation.

The inscription of the transmission is unusual and indicates that it was likely to have been a specially built unit. “W.O.26310” could have meant “Work Order”. “TRANS #7-B” could have meant the second rebuild of transmission #7. Also note that the bolts on the case side plate are aircraft safety wired. A special team at Chevrolet built all of the 377 engines, the safety wiring was likely a deterrent to tampering.

As the engines were raced, eventually nearly everything either failed or upon examination was soon to fail. For instance, when one engine threw a rod, engineers used a new process for making rods called, Vacuum-Induction Melt steel to insure no impurities in the raw forging. When bolts were magnafluxed and showed signs of stress, all bolts were then over-designed. Rocker-arm lube was another issue and there were electrical problems with the early-transistorized regulators and ignition amplifiers.

Note the serial number on the back of the block casting, “0240983” and the casting date, “8-20-63”. This “could” have been one of the engines used in the 1963 Nassau assault in early December 1963 that stomped on the Cobras.

Exhaust headers were showing signs of cracking at the ports due to metallurgical problems. This was fixed by using a different welding process. Camshaft gears were failing when dry-sump oil systems were installed. Excessive stress and wear on the camshaft drive gear caused the distributor to retard the timing; causing a drop-off in power.

Privateers raced all of the Grand Sports and many changes were made to the cars. One of the previous owners of the Simeone 377 built this expanded capacity oil pan. Original versions of the engines used as many stock performance parts as possible

The perceived advantage of the all-aluminum SBC was weight; the complete engine weighed 150-pounds less than a cast iron version, however, the aluminum engines didn’t make quite as much power. Because durability was such a serious issue, in the early years, development work went into durability.

Eventually, the aluminum SBC reached optimum development, priced itself out of racing, and didn’t contribute any parts that went into production engines. Close to the end, there was talk of an overhead-cam kit for the SBC, but no action was taken. The amount of money spent on the program was an accounting nightmare for sure. At best, all the problem-solving saved years of development time for the all-aluminum Can-Am block and the ZL1. In a sense, the all-aluminum SBC was a prehistoric ZL1, domed by the basic “bread and butter” design of the original SBC. – Scott

Reproductions of this post’s lead illustration of the All-Aluminum 377 Small-Block Chevy and the Grand Sport #005 are available as 11″ x 17″ prints, signed and numbered by the artist, CLICK HERE!

And for fans of the 1963 Grand Sport Corvette, we have LOTS of Grand Sport Corvette prints CLICK HERE!