These pictures were taken the first day I owned this 1963 Corvette. My Aunt Sil posed with her foot on the Thrush side exhaust covers. Just a few months earlier my XKE convertible was stolen in Brooklyn and using part of that insurance settlement I paid $1200 in 1970 for this 1963 Split Window.

Her grandkids Kris and Holly were over that day and sat on the fender. Today they have their own kids, one is in high school.

One of the features I liked about the 1963 Corvette was the roominess of the cockpit and rear seat area.

That rear area became handy as there were plenty of spares included that I put in the back on my way back to Connecticut from New York.

I drove this car for about 9 years and only had 2 mechanical misfortunes. The front to rear brake line sprung a leak and I nursed it home, using a combination of the 4:56 with the manual trans and shutting off the key to chug to a stop. A couple of times when the battery ran down, I actually pushed the car a little myself, hopped in an and popped the clutch and the 4:56 sprung it to life. Another time the main leaf broke right next to the drivers side long bolt. Luckily no severe damage, but it could have been. It was my fault, I was returning from a Corvette swap meet in New Jersey and had had purchased more than I brought, including a couple of complete rears: a 3:70 and a 4:11.

One thing this Corvette also came with was this copy of the 1938-1963 Chevrolet Parts & Accessories catalog. It was over 4 inches thick, was bolted together and had these wooden covers.

It was invaluable having all the original part numbers. My cousin Steve told me the Chevy dealer left it on the counter and it "fell" off the counter into his hands.

Back to Current Events

HOME