1965 survivor? Is it good enough?

[Jim Baxter]

Got a 65 roadster that has had one owner (Grandpa) since 1964. Long story short we ended up the the vette. We have all the original documentation, protecto plate, buyers invoice, receipts for the past 40 years, All manuals & service manuals.

Over the past 40 he changed a few thing from original but we still have the original parts. ie rear end, rear leaf spring, rear shocks, aluminum radiator, steel wheels to knock offs, and he undercoated the car. Everything else is original, paint, interior, engine, front suspension.

Question is; If we restore the original parts back to the car is it a candidate for a survivor or are we better off just making it a nice driver?

[Mike M.]

Re: 1965 survivor? Is it good enough?

tough to answer without seeing the 65 BUT, if you are entertaining going for bowtie, don't REFINISH any of the original parts now off the car. simply clean them up and try to get rid of the undercoating. then take it to a regional and dale fiet, the 65 team leader, will look it over and give a yea or nay on its bowtie candidacy potential. that is the way the bowtie works- get approval, if appropriate, at a regional, then take it to the national meet for its bowtie judging. good luck, mike

[Jack H.]

Understand....

'Suvivor' is a trademarked term from the competition (NCCB/Bloomington) while Star/Bowtie is the NCRS term for a similar award. Both address 'unrestored' Corvettes but there are differences that can be significant.

At NCCB/Bloomington, the phrase is: "worn in, but not worn out". In addition to judging the originality aspect of the cars interior, exterior, mechanical and chassis, each candidate is expected to complete a roadtrip to demonstrate it's still functional (NOT a race....). The 'cut' line for the award is garnering a 65% originality silhouette in three out of four categories (interior, exterior, mechanical and chassis) AND completing the road trip.

At NCRS, the standard is different and more stringent. The car does NOT have to start/run and isn't checked for operation. It is judged (originality only) along the four category lines, but the yardstick is higher (80-85% originality) and each constitutes a Star Award. So, you can have a 1-Star, 2-Star, 3-Star car plus if it cuts the muster in all for categories, that's called a Bowtie Award.

In general 'tinkering' with an unrestored car to improve its chance of making the grade in Star/Bowtie judging ususally results in 'telltale' evidence the car has been altered from factory original and thus winds up being a penalty.... We typically suggest the owner do NOTHING to the car prior to Star/Bowtie judging as a result, but what you do is your judgement call.

Since the car has to operate and traverse a road course at NCCB/Bloomington, the originality yardstick is lower since the car has to be maintained for road worthiness and it's expected there will be aspects of the car that have been changed from factory original as a result.

I'd suggest the following:

(1) Study the pre-requisites for these awards before you decide what to do with your car. In the meantime, do little/nothing with it until you've hatched your plan to campaign the car.

(2) NCRS publishes its rules and you can read all about them by buying a copy of the NCRS Judging Reference Manual (sometimes called the 'white book') which is available at this website (STORE pulldown).

(3) There are other details I've glossed over to give you the big picture quickly. You will understand them when you study/read the criteria for the awards. For NCCB/Survivor, you'll have to go to their website for more information.

(4) In general, my thinking is it's easier/better to attempt the NCRS Star/Bowtie BEFORE you try for the NCCB/Survivor award UNLESS the car is a true time capsule (purchased and stored on blocks with little/no use/driving). If you go in the reverse order, the things you do to make the car roadworthy may penalize the car's score in Star/Bowtie judging....

[Dennis C.]

Jim, Jack's post is a worthy offering... *NM*