Nick recently passed along an old CD of photos from a 1969 Corvette that has been in his family since 1971. His dad originally bought the car from the first owner to be his daily driver. It is a 350/350hp, with a 4-speed with a 4.11 rear. It has the removable hardtop and also the soft-top as well. Most current Corvette owners wouldn’t dare drive their prized Vette in the winter, but Nicks father did just that! Check out the old snow tires in some of the pictures! Imagine if you saw a newer Corvette driving in a snow storm next to you on the highway, that’d be a sight!
The car was driven daily until 1977 (was even taken on his parents’ honeymoon!), when it was parked due to the need for a more economical car to carry the growing family in. At 8 years old, the car had covered 144,000 miles. As the family grew more, the old Corvette was pushed outside and sat for almost 15 years untouched. As anyone knows, letting a car sit outside in the elements for a long period of time can be bad news!
Years later, after building a proper garage at their house, Nick and his father decided to bring the Corvette back to life. Originally they had planned to give it a fresh coat of paint, make it safe, and get it on the road again. But upon further inspection, the car needed a “body-off” restoration, and they started digging in to the car. They ended up having to pull the body, replace a rear body mount, and also the top portion of the windshield frame as well as the corners.
The duo then got her road-worthy again, and have been building the car as a “rolling restoration” for the past 6 years. This summer they plan to finish restoring the interior and the soft top. Here are some pictures of the chassis and drivetrain being restored. I bet you can spot a number of Eastwood products in use there!
Here it is all painted and ready to rock and roll again after a long slumber!
We’ll be sure to update as they make some more progress on this old girl this summer. Thanks for reading!