Hybrid View
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07-10-2009 04:51 PM #1
Went for a ride in a 58 corvette
Was out in my 37 when I stopped to get and icecream cone and saw the most beautiful vette I've ever seen. It was purple all stock except for a 327 our of a 63 vette. I got talking with Bill(don't know how he sits in the car as he's about 6'3") and he just spent $35,000 on a renavation and boy did it show. I finally got to ride in and older vette and they are nice but the suspension will kill your kidneys. After about 25 miles I was glad to get out. The stock 4 speed tranny shifted great and with a stop watch it reached 60 in 5.2 seconds. Always wanted and older vette but would change suspension for a smoother ride.Keep smiling, it only hurts when you think it does!
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07-10-2009 05:28 PM #2
Yep, they were essentially riding on 54 Chevy suspension as I recall. A buddy of mine had one somewhere around the year of the one you rode in, and if he didn't keep the kingpins greased it was a bear to steer. But there sure were cool cars.
Don
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07-10-2009 05:46 PM #3
Now you made me jealous! I owned....a long time ago....about 14-15 pre '63 Vettes! (I was buying and selling) A couple were keepers, but eventually I gave them up to do 409 cars. I sure miss them though, as they were there for some of my best adventures.....and near-misses! :-)
I wonder what ever happened to that white and red '58 I had????
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07-10-2009 08:07 PM #4
My first wifes Uncle had a 67 vette 427 4 spd and when he went to martis gras every year for 2 weeks he would leave it with me because i had a garage. It was a ball to drive.
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07-11-2009 05:16 AM #5
Owned this 56 back in 59, had a 58 270HP in it. You're right it was all 49-54 Chevy underneath.
Didn't stop well, cornered "OK" but if you got it aimed roughly where you wanted to go................HANG ON.
Another one I shoulda kept!Buying parts I don't need, with money I don't have, to impress people I don't like
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07-11-2009 07:13 AM #6
Well Bart, you stirred a 45 year old memory here.
Summer of '64, I was coming up on the end of my shift at the grocery store. One of the clerks there named Sandy asked me if I'd take her car over to her mechanic. It had developed a bumping noise in the back on her way to work that she wanted looked at. Sandy was a prototypical SoCal '60s blonde babe, seeming perpetual tan, ponytail, and a GREAT rack! Sweet personality, and to a hormone juiced 17 year old an exciting "older woman" (about 20). What "gentleman" wouldn't say yes to ANYTHING she asked!
Oh yeah, the car..........a maroon '58 Vette. Yep, I was jazzed! But then I drove it. To a teenage kid in SoCal in the mid '60s a Vette was pretty high on the automotive pecking order. Mystique by the boat load. The engine had plenty of power, the 4 speed shifted nicely, and cruisin' along closer to the road than in most "normal" cars was great. But it felt like driving a lumber wagon except for the mild neck snap when you stabbed the go pedal. From then on I never quite looked at those early Vettes the same as I had. Still nice to look at, just fell short when it came to drive time. Hmmmm, kinda like some women we've all probably known...........Last edited by Bob Parmenter; 07-11-2009 at 07:19 AM.
Your Uncle Bob, Senior Geezer Curmudgeon
It's much easier to promise someone a "free" ride on the wagon than to urge them to pull it.
Luck occurs when preparation and opportunity converge.
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07-11-2009 08:13 AM #7
My 64' doesn't ride too bad. Wouldn't want to do a hot rod tour in it though.
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07-11-2009 09:20 AM #8
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, Live for Today!
Carroll Shelby
Learning must be difficult for those who already know it all!!!!
Ditto on the model kits! My best were lost when the Hobby Shop burned under suspicious circumstances....
How did you get hooked on cars?