1962 with a gold grill

[Larry Parylla]

Last September I bought a 1962 with a Gold grill, at first I thought it was replated by the prior owner. I now know it was a pretty rare grill that were put on a few of the 62s at the factory. Does anyone know where I can find more information about these gold grill 62s? I have a few books but I never saw anything mentioned about gold grills

[Wayne P.]

Re: 1962 with a gold grill

I have an original 62 built near the end of production. It also has a gold grille. It has lost most of its color and a lot of people think it is a silver 61. I have seen discussion on these in NCRS articles over the years, but nothing specific comes to mind.

[Donald L.]

62 gold grills

I have read on the archives a comment by Dale Pearman speculating the use of gold grills on the 62 Corvette as GM s 50th anniversity edition. This has never been confirmed. My 62 which Ive had since 1968 has a slightly gold grill which I believe
is from the paint having worn off. I too would like to hear comments from other 62 owners.

Regards,
Donald #31176

[Larry Parylla]

Re: 62 gold grills

I went through over 800 of the archives using the search "gold grill 1962". I didn't find anything but there are still 1,600 more to check.

I have included a link to the Ebay ad thaat shows the car I bought. The gold grill shows up pretty good. I am old enough to remember when the 62 first came out and it is strange that I never heard anything about a gold grill till last september when I bought my car

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2432215107&category=6168#ebayphotohosting

[Clare Carpenter]

Re: 62 gold grills

Larry, Either I don't know the secret to the search function or it leaves alot to be desired, 3200 hits on a '62 gold grill? I've had similar results for searches I've done. There must be a way to narrow a search down!?

I can't comment on the how or why certain '62 Vettes got the gold anodized grill instead of the black one but it sure looks good especially on your black car. Maybe it was an extra cost option. Paragon carries both types, (same price and expensive) as reproductions. By the way, I remember seeing your car listed on Ebay. Sweet car!

The '57 Belair also had the gold grill "option".

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1962 with a gold grill

So is the car as original as the eBay ad said it was? I too remember the listing.

Of course, us original car nuts hope that if it IS that nice, it stays that way. They're only original once.

Patrick

[Larry Parylla]

[Mike E.]

Re: 1962 with a gold grill

Back already in an article in the 70's or early 80's, I talked in the RESTORER about gold grilles--without any certainty. 25 years later, we still know n more with anything absolute. What's very interesting to me is a FI 62 that I picked up about 3 years ago--original everything--bought by this owner in 65, last driven in about 77. The garage it sat in allowed direct sunlight only at a specific limited time each day. About half of the grille, which I believe had the light hit it, is gold--the rest is very faintly gold, but mostly black. Could it be the result of fading? The silver 62 I've owned since 76 has a grille has a gold hue with a purplish tint--again looks to be faded from black anodized--was an originally Southern Cal car.

[Don22567]

Re: 1962 with a gold grill

I have a black 62 fuel injected corvette that I bought from the original owner in Chattanooga TN back in 1995. The car has 28,000 original miles on it with everything original including belts, hoses, etc.. It has a beautiful gold grille on it that is not faded at all. I even have a picture of the car from 1965, front end shot, that shows the gold grille perfectly. the original owner even told me that he had people come up to him when he brought the car to a local show that told him that his grille must have been replaced because it is not supposed to be gold. He told me that the gold grille is what was on the car when he picked it up brand new at his local dealership. I have the GM shipper copy for the car also and it does not show the grille as an option. The shipper copy is shown in the NCRS Restorer last year, either spring or summer issue, about the "1962 corvette build sheet".

[Clare Carpenter]

Two black with gold grills

Larry and Don both have cars that are black and definately have the gold grills. Wayne doesn't mention his car's color but says his car definately has a gold grill. Everyone else seems to think their grills appear to have faded from black. I wonder if all grills were anodized first, then painted to black them out, with the gold being available only with certain colors-like black. I can only remember seeing gold on black cars with roman red a one-time exception.

[Roger Legge]

Re: Two black with gold grills

Not directly related, but I just watched an American Musclecar on Speed Channel covering the tri-five Chevies. There was a comment that in 1957 Chevrolet offered a gold anodized trim package that included the grille.

Roger

[Larry Parylla #41143]

Re: 1962 with a gold grill

I just got my CD copy of the NCRS restorer and found a article in the winter 80
I'ts too long to post the whole thing but here are the last couple paragraphs

The question still remains unanswered - why gold grilles
on a few 1962 Corvettes? Anodization can be done in a
number of different colors, but one would think that the
print would indicate any authorized variation. The print
specifies the following as far as finish: "Anodize under
suitable conditions to produce desired luster and corrosion
resistance per GM 4472-M code 20. Dyed black finish to
match engineering sample."

Unfortunately, records were not available as to the
original vendor supplying the grilles. There could have
been more than one vendor, with one supplying black-
anodized, while another used alodine or iridite preparation
prior to painting with some grilles getting through
unpainted.

The case is not closed - but yes, there certainly were
authentic gold grilles!!

[Mike E.]

Re: 1962 with a gold grill

Larry--
Thanks for quoting my 23-year-old article. Nothing has yet changed, has it?
Mike Ernst

[Larry Parylla #41143]

Re: 1962 with a gold grill

I am glad I found it, it has cleared up a lot of the confusion. I highly recommend that anyone that is interested in the subject read the entire article it was very helpful.