1959 Chevrolet Corvette, the Purple People Eater Mk III. Photos courtesy Barrett-Jackson.
by David Conwill as republished from blog.Hemmings.com
Dateline October 2015: When Nickey Chevrolet of Chicago decided to sponsor a road racing Corvette in 1958, it wanted to make sure its advertising dollars were getting their maximum return. Accordingly, the dealership decided that to make its car stand out in a sea of white, silver, and light-blue ‘Vettes, something special was required in the paint department. Likely inspired by Sheb Wooley’s hit novelty song, the distinctive metallic purple paint job would result in the car and its two successors bearing the nickname “Purple People Eater.” Next January, the last of these cars, the 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Purple People Eater Mk. III, will cross the auction block in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Purple People Eater Mk. III, was virtually unbeatable in 1959 SCCA B-Production racing, winning every race in which it participated save for the very last. That season marked the second consecutive B-Production championship for Nickey and its driver/mechanic combo of Jim Jeffords and Ronnie Kaplan.
Following an illness in 1961, Jeffords, who died in 2014, would retire from driving and go on to a successful career as a Trans-Am team manager for American Motors, and as vice president of Wisconsin’s Road America race course.
PPE Mk. III would also leave Nickey in 1961, but as related by George Mattar in the May 2005 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines, its racing career continued under the ownership of Bob Spooner. By 1974 the Mk. III’s racing glory was forgotten, and it ended up at the first Carlisle swap meet where no takers were had for the $1000 price tag on the very tired Corvette. At the end of the meet, friends Ken Heckert and Chip Miller pooled their money and purchased the car for $800. After some brief forays into autocross, the Corvette did duty as a lunch table in an auto body shop for about 14 years before being identified as the 1959 B-Production champ.
As described by Barret-Jackson, PPE Mk. III started life as a white car with a black interior, 290hp fuel-injected 283 and a 4-speed manual transmission, Positraction, heavy-duty brakes and suspension, and without a heater. Modifications added an added hood latch, big fuel tank, safety chains and a roll bar. The stock windshield was replaced with a small racing windscreen and the seating position modified to accommodate the 6’3” frame of Jim Jeffords.
The car was restored twice before 2005, and has remained in the Chip Miller Collection until now.
For more information on the 2016 Scottsdale auction, visit Barrett-Jackson.com.
