First 65 Big Block

[Bill W.]

Re: I know of 3 L78's after (ex) Charlie's

Wayne ,you are probably right, I am very dislexic. Those are the same 3 I had.

[Rich G.]

Re: Just the "LAST 396" licence plate

Wayne

Yes, that car still has the "Last 396" plates on it. I can't confirm the VIN, but it has to be the same one. Just curious, are the later serial # cars known to still exist?

Rich Giannotti

[bill stephenson]

Re: Here's Trim Tag data from this VIN 00003

Mike,

-----Your pics didnt show up for me, but Im assuming you are talking about the car that showed up at at an NCRS meet in Chicago sometime around 1980. It was serial# 3. The fella that owned it at the time drove it down from somewhere in Michigan. Since I cant see the pics, is the overflow tank mounted in front of the carburetor in your picture? It had the Bill Mitchell grates on the floor at that time, and had those one of a kind modified 65 fuelie type emblems with Mark IV 427 in the middle if I recall correctly. Although the other poster may be correct, it seems to me that I remember the car being a fuelie new and having the original color tag still on it saying it was black with tan leather. Stretch saw the car and you know how good his memory is! He remembers it exactly as I say. As a sidenote, Carl Strohm and I looked that car over for a couple of hours that day. It had many more minor differences. The front seats were the original tan leather ones but they had simply been painted the same color as the exterior along with the rest of the interior. There was some evidence of pealing and you could see the tan underneath on the seats as well as other pieces. The only item in the interior that wasnt simply painted was the carpet which was some pretty high rent cut-pile matching color stuff.
-----I, as well, have often wondered where that one of a kind car disappeared to after that day. As I recall it was our best guess then that the car was pulled and sent to the tech center for modifications so it could do some show duty somewhere, but I stress the "best guess" part. We have also laughed many times thinking that the first big-block Corvette wasnt a 396 but its slightly bigger brother. I have asked guys who were within the GM ranks back then here in Michigan and no one I have asked to this day remembers the car! Oh well.
-----Maybe you could E-mail me those pics since they wouldnt come up on my 'puter?.................Bill S

[Clem Z.]

the orignal corvette 396 engines

were the only 396s blocks that could be bored to 4.250,427 size so i would guess that they were to be 427 but the suits at GM said no. JMHO

[Michael H.]

Re: Here's Trim Tag data from this VIN 00003

Hi bill,

Sorry the pic's didn't come up. I'll send then directly to you. I wonder why they were a no show? I know sometimes pic's DL slowly if yer not on DSL or cable but should still come in.

I'm pretty sure this car was at the meet I went to in Flint back in about 78 or 79? I showed the phony white Z06 there and if I can find the paperwork, I'll know for sure.

I only looked at the car for a few minutes so I didn't get to thoroughly check it out but I remember the interior looked strange. Probably correct on the dye job. The overflow tank is mounted above the thermostat housing, very strange. The bracket looked factory, not homemade. There were a lot of strange things on the car and i made a list of everything but I can't remember all of it now. I think you're correct on the floor grates. I'll have to dig out more pic's of the car and refresh my memory, if that's a possibility at my age.

I assumed the car wasn't an FI car originally as it had the side flag emblems but I suppose they could have been added as well.

Michael

[Michael H.]

Re: the orignal corvette 396 engines

I think you're exactly right Clem. It was an ongoing fight to increase engine size. I remember reading something about that when the 66 427 came out. The AMA or whoever else had a problem with it asked Zora about the new larger engine size. His reply was something about it not being for more HP but for less vehicle weight. After all, he said, 31 cubic inches of cast iron weighs quite a bit.

[John H.]

Re: the orignal corvette 396 engines

That was at the short-lead press introduction at the Proving Grounds in the summer of '65; during the Q&A session in the tent after all the writers had driven the cars, one of them asked Zora why they'd gone bigger, from 396 to 427 cubic inches, wasn't 396 big enough? Zora, with tongue firmly planted in cheek and a smile on his face, said, "It's for weight reduction - any time you can remove cast iron and replace it with aluminum, the car goes faster.." (or words to that effect); one of his great one-liners

[Loren L.]

The car was also DRIVEN from MI to

the Boston National convention at the Sheraton 3 1/2. Car was ignored by NCRS.........others crawled all over it...pictures of the handformed "gills" in the front fenders where the '64 slots had been cut away, etc.

[bill stephenson]

Re: The car was also DRIVEN from MI to

-------Loren, your memory isnt as bad as I thought!!!! I remember those pre-production gills now as well.
-------See you soon at B/J.............Bill S