Lyn Adam’s 27th and 28th Corvettes; 2015 Z06 & 1964 Wintersteen Grand Sport Corvette Replica
Dateline: 2-24-21 – This story was first published in the April 2018 issue of Vette Vues Magazine – Owning lots of Corvettes is typically something mostly guys do. But Lyn Adams of Litchfield Park, Arizona is no ordinary Corvette lover. Lyn is actually a transplant from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1967 Lyn’s father bought her a 1966 Ford Mustang convertible, a pretty cool car for a young lady back in the day. But it wasn’t what she really wanted. Lyn wanted a Corvette! She quickly traded in the Mustang at a local Chevy dealer and got what she really wanted; a 1967 327/300 Corvette convertible. That was Corvette 1-of-28!
Lyn truly has an eclectic taste for Corvettes. While her first Vette was bone stock small-block (those 327/300 engines had 380 lb/ft of torque, more than an L84 327 Fuelie!), her affection for Corvettes runs the gamut from mild-to-wild. Many of Lyn’s 28 Corvettes were just drivers, but most were personalized to some degree; some mild, some wild. Except for the Z06 Corvettes, all of her Corvettes have been convertibles. 
We’re showing a few of Lyn’s previous Corvettes that include; her 2009 GT1 Championship Special Edition Z06 (number 24 of 38 yellow versions that were built), this is the car she traded in to get her 2015 Z06), a red 2005 Corvette with black & white checker trim, a Millennium Yellow with black & yellow checker stripes and red stripes (this car had a nitrous system that her husband Jody installed), a white 1996 Corvette with black & white checker trim, a red 1976 Corvette with a supercharged 350 and Hooker Header side pipes, and a custom-bodied 1966 Corvette that Lyn’s husband Jody built, packed with a 427 big block with dual quads on a Pro Stock-style tunnel-ram intake manifold, and an L88 cam.
Not shown is Lyn’s first 1967 327/300, a 1966 with a 350 built to a 365 (this car was stolen and then sold), another 1967 Corvette, a 1979 Corvette with Corvette Light Blue paint and a oyster-white interior, a red 1990 Corvette, and another 1967 Corvette painted with the pearl white paint on the “belly of the shark” blended up into purple.
For a period of Lyn’s Corvette ownership experience, she had three Corvettes at a time for 10 years in a row!
Lyn’s current stable of Corvettes (only two) consists of two cars that couldn’t be much more different. The 2015 Z06 was purchased new and is a modern electronic supercar with all the creature comforts one could want. This is a car that if driven with discipline can be a daily driver or a grand touring car.
The 1964 Wintersteen Grand Sport Replica is a throwback to the old mechanical performance cars.
The Grand Sport replica was built by Lou Dussia; owner of Dreamboat Marina in Warren, Pennsylvania. In 1997 Lou found a 1964 Corvette convertible owned by local resident, Charlie McKinsey. The car was under blue tarps and had been sitting in Charlie’s front yard for eight years. The car was complete enough for a project car, so Lou bought it for $5,000.
The car is a “looks-like” tribute car and is based on a production 1964 Corvette convertible, so there’s no tube frame, lightweight suspension components, and all-out racing hardware on the car. However, this is an impressive and stout street rod Corvette, but not a daily driver or anything you’d want to take a long trip in. Lynn and her husband won’t be driving this car to Bowling Green. Let’s look at the details of the 1964 Wintersteen Grand Sport No. 12 replica first.
When Mr. Dussia found the bare bones of this 1964 Corvette in a junkyard in Pennsylvania sometime in the 1990s, it was probably a few years away from total disintegration. The year-round damp climate in Pennsylvania eats old, unprotected cars alive. After Lou disassembled the car, the frame was cleaned, repaired where needed, and most of the suspension parts and drum brakes were replaced and rebuilt to basically stock. The wheel flares, hood, dash, and front and rear panels were manufactured by Wrangler Boats of Akron, Ohio.
The view under the hood is close to period correct and mighty impressive. The 400-cubic-inch small-block Chevy was bored to 406-cubic-inches. The heads are aluminum with a mild 10.0:1 compression and there’s an MSD Ignition. What looks like a set of classic Weber Carbs are actually Dellorto Carbs with short air stacks. This setup might be replaced soon.
There’s no chrome on the engine, as everything is polished. The exhaust headers are ceramic-coated and the side-pipes are fabricated. Lyn is considering replacing the current header/side pipe set up with a set of Hooker Header side pipes. The transmission is a 4-speed Muncie with a Hurst Shifter. Dan Ruhlman, of Dans Auto and Speed in Youngsville, Pennsylvania, performed all of the engine work.
The dash panel of the car imitates the real Grand Sport Roadster racecar. The interior is nicely finished with racecar flavor, trimmed in rich blue carpeting, refinished white door panels, and white OBX Racing Seats. Lyn replaced the factory-original steering wheel with a smaller-diameter steering wheel from Summit Racing for additional legroom between the seats and wheel. Steering effort isn’t a problem thanks to power-assist steering.
She also plans to soon get a convertible top for the car and clear headlight covers so that the car can be driven at night and on not-so-warm Arizona days. Lyn recently added the 18-inch American Racing Heritage Series Wheels, shod with Nitto Tires; 295×35 ZR18 on the rear and 255×35 ZR18 on the front. Tires and wheels were purchased from Big-O Tires, in Surprise, Arizona. These are the style wheels that were typically used on the 289 and 427 Shelby Cobras in the 1960s. Lyn chose them as an “in-your-eye” poke at the Cobras form when the real Grand Sports beat the pants off the Cobras at the Nassau in 1963.
In 2008 builder Lou Dussia needed quick extra cash to help complete a land purchase and sold the car to Mike Terry of Indiana in July of 2016 for $25,000. Terry did not drive the car very much and quickly sold the car. Owner number three added the Wintersteen livery and put the car up for sale. You can tell from just the small sampling of Lyn’s previous Corvettes, she likes her Vettes on the wild side. When Lyn bought the car in November 2017 for $42,000, it only had 390 miles on the new odometer. Typically, street rods don’t rack up a lot of miles.
After taking delivery of the car, Lyn and her husband Jody discovered numerous minor problems, which Jody took care of. As of this writing in the end of January 2018, the odometer now reads 468 miles. Since street rods are almost always “works-in-progress” cars, more changes and upgrades are in store.
Now let’s move on to Lyn’s modern supercar, her 2015 Z06 Corvette. Unlike her 1964 Grand Sport Replica, the C7 Z06 is not only loaded with 650-horsepower and 650-lb/ft of torque, it has creature comforts and goodies never imagined in a 1960s performance car. It is truly a night-and-day comparison! Chevrolet packs so much into the basic Z06, the only real options are; coupe or convertible, manual or automatic transmissions, interior appointments, stripes and trim, and the Z07 Performance Package that takes the car to “track car” level.
Lyn chose Velocity Yellow Tintcoat paint with a black hood stripe, the taller rear wing, and black wheels with thin yellow pinstriping around the edge of the rims. She really wanted the 8-speed manual transmission, but there was an availability issue with Bowling Green, so she took RPO MSU 8-Speed Paddle Shift Automatic Transmission option; which makes the Z06 a few ticks quicker.
Lyn wanted an all-black interior, so she went with the 2LZ Equipment Group that includes; Bose 10-speaker stereo system, cargo net, and shade, head-up display, memory package, auto-dimming inside and outside mirrors, heated and vented seats, power seat bolster/lumbar, advanced theft deterrent, and universal home remote. So far, Lyn added a Jake hood graphic to the black hood strips that are gloss black on one side and matt black on the other one side, and had a clear bra installed that runs from the front to the back of doors.
Lyn Adams and her Corvettes are no strangers to Vette Vues, Her 1966 Corvette with the big-block 427 and tunnel ram was in the January 2002 issue and her 2009 GT1 Championship Edition Z06 was in the December 2013 issue. Her husband, chief mechanic, and best friend Jody says he doesn’t mind cleaning and wrenching on Lyn’s Corvettes, but the Grand Sport will probably get some changes soon. It won’t be long before they’ll start to hit the local car shows, and no doubt, more trophies will be coming home. So what lies ahead for Lyn Adam’s Corvette experience? More Corvettes, I’m sure. – Scott
PS – Since this story was first published in the April 2018 issue of Vette Vues, Lynn’s Grand Sport has been given some sweet upgrades. I will be updating this story soon.
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Here’s the Wintersteen Grand Sport #002 in action at the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
