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This is a great story and I just have to share it with you fellow Corvette freaks.
A few months ago a non-Corvette guy e-mailed me, he got my addy from a site where an article I had authored, on GM documents, is published. He wanted to know where he could find someone to give him a selling value of a 57 FI Corvette. He sent me some pictures of the car in a garage with "stuff" stacked on and around it. It has a bubba gold metalflake paint job and looked like do-do! The car has been stored in his garage for over 35 years.
Not being an expert on C1’s I put a post on the Vettehead board for anyone in the Chicago area who could/would evaluate this vehicle. I got two responses, and put them in touch with the owner’s son-in-law, who was doing the deal for his FIL as he is in a nursing home, and needs the money.
When these two guys showed us the pictures of the fruits of their labor and I saw the engine stamping for the first time, which read------------------------
FI0I9EL
17792-10-C
-----------------I almost fell off my chair; I recognized it as a Chevrolet Engineering Work Order number. Most everyone else guessed it was an engine rebuilder’s stamp. I then did a little research and found out that YES indeed it was a CEC WO#----WOW! It confirmed my suspicions, and I later found the complete WO, that I have had for some 15 years, in my own archives. I found it strictly by accident, when a fellow Vettehead asked me to look in my files for something completely unrelated, at this time I wet my pants. This is not just the average CEC WO, it is much larger and contains 185 pages. This WO is the Chevrolet Engineering Center Work Order that was used by Engineering for the Performance Engineering Section Activity, which was the Chevrolet Engineering Center racing activity.
The base WO number is 17792 and the portion that applies to this engine (car) is the –10-C portion. Its Subject says, and I quote "Procure three (3) F.I. Corvette Engine Assys & rebuild for Nassau Races" unquote.
There is more, but I think you get the picture.
A second trip by the "team" revealed that MOST, if not ALL the numbers matched---I kid you not!
I did bid on the car, but stopped at 60K because, in my opinion, the son (not the son-in-law) wasn’t being reasonable to the three parties that were bidding. I had been prepared to go 100K+, but because of his actions or lack there of, I decided to tell him to F… off. He didn’t/doesn’t have a clue as to the real value of this special vehicle. I should also tell you that I DIDN’T know the REAL value of this vehicle until AFTER the bidding STARTED and I also didn’t have any input into setting the minimum starting selling value figure either.
In don’t know who bought it or how much was paid, but I wish him well, he got one hell of a car.
Well that’s in a nut shell and I just wish we could find more of the treasures.
Art
A few months ago a non-Corvette guy e-mailed me, he got my addy from a site where an article I had authored, on GM documents, is published. He wanted to know where he could find someone to give him a selling value of a 57 FI Corvette. He sent me some pictures of the car in a garage with "stuff" stacked on and around it. It has a bubba gold metalflake paint job and looked like do-do! The car has been stored in his garage for over 35 years.
Not being an expert on C1’s I put a post on the Vettehead board for anyone in the Chicago area who could/would evaluate this vehicle. I got two responses, and put them in touch with the owner’s son-in-law, who was doing the deal for his FIL as he is in a nursing home, and needs the money.
When these two guys showed us the pictures of the fruits of their labor and I saw the engine stamping for the first time, which read------------------------
FI0I9EL
17792-10-C
-----------------I almost fell off my chair; I recognized it as a Chevrolet Engineering Work Order number. Most everyone else guessed it was an engine rebuilder’s stamp. I then did a little research and found out that YES indeed it was a CEC WO#----WOW! It confirmed my suspicions, and I later found the complete WO, that I have had for some 15 years, in my own archives. I found it strictly by accident, when a fellow Vettehead asked me to look in my files for something completely unrelated, at this time I wet my pants. This is not just the average CEC WO, it is much larger and contains 185 pages. This WO is the Chevrolet Engineering Center Work Order that was used by Engineering for the Performance Engineering Section Activity, which was the Chevrolet Engineering Center racing activity.
The base WO number is 17792 and the portion that applies to this engine (car) is the –10-C portion. Its Subject says, and I quote "Procure three (3) F.I. Corvette Engine Assys & rebuild for Nassau Races" unquote.
There is more, but I think you get the picture.
A second trip by the "team" revealed that MOST, if not ALL the numbers matched---I kid you not!
I did bid on the car, but stopped at 60K because, in my opinion, the son (not the son-in-law) wasn’t being reasonable to the three parties that were bidding. I had been prepared to go 100K+, but because of his actions or lack there of, I decided to tell him to F… off. He didn’t/doesn’t have a clue as to the real value of this special vehicle. I should also tell you that I DIDN’T know the REAL value of this vehicle until AFTER the bidding STARTED and I also didn’t have any input into setting the minimum starting selling value figure either.
In don’t know who bought it or how much was paid, but I wish him well, he got one hell of a car.
Well that’s in a nut shell and I just wish we could find more of the treasures.
Art
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