1963 Corvette Coupe Fuelie

[SupremeDeluxe]

I realized I never started a thread on this car. Figured I would share for the general interest of the enthusiasts here.

I heard about this car a couple times earlier in life, but never confirmed it existed. It was owned by a father (and later daughter) in the area since 1972. In 2019, it was consigned at Corvette Mike's in Burr Ridge, IL. I saw it online and inquired within the first two days it was listed, but was already sold. At that time, I didn't know it was the same car I had heard about in the past. Just a tired-looking 63 coupe that appeared to be a real fuel injected car.

Later on I found out the actual buyer was a Corvette friend of mine. He and his son removed an ancient undercoating job and detailed the underside and engine bay. They earned two chapter Top Flights (97.x and 98.x) with the weak paint and still quite a few repro parts and small incorrect items on it. They also obtained CCAS certification on the engine, confirming it is an original fuel car as I thought initially. After ~2 years of their ownership, I was very fortunate to finally own it in October 2021.


On to the car itself--

Originally a northern California, it's one of the most rust-free bodies and frames I've owned among 10+ midyears. I don't know how it arrived in Chicago, and probably never will. I do know all the history from 1972-present, having spoken with the long term owner who is still doing well and working (now well into his 80s). It shows 58K miles, which are probably true miles.

Body has never been off the frame. All original body panels, never wrecked or flared. Interior is also original sans a replacement carpet. Appears to be one (lame) repaint over the original lacquer. Looks nice from 15 feet, but there is an eyeful of sins up close.

I'm really fussy about old cars running and driving better than new (probably not as picky as Tim, though), so I spent about a year of very limited free time going through it and making it as mechanically perfect as I could. The injection was restored and dialed in on an instrumented test car by Ken Hansen. It runs awesome with the throttle response of a modern EFI car.

Due to intervening life matters and having too many cars, I didn't drive it very much after the mechanical refresh, but working to change that soon. Eventually it will get a full repaint and some other cosmetics, but the body will never be off the frame because I value cars that have never been fully apart.