Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

[Loren Smith]

I saw a set of four (front and rear) NOS Koni C1 shocks on Ebay with a buy it now for $125.00. Remembering prior posts by the late Dale Pearman from the archives, and wanting a better ride for my 59, I snagged them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4520296881&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

They came today, and look great. The part numbers are 82-1169 and 82-1196. They are "Special 'D'" shocks, per the enclosed installation instructions. The shocks also have stamped "Special 'D'" on their body, along with an "012" (date code?) Included is a receipt from 1981, for "shocks for 62 Vette", plus the original boxes.

Here are some posts on the archive regarding C1 Koni Shocks:

https://www.ncrs.org/forum/archive6.cgi?review=14521

https://www.ncrs.org/forum/archive6.cgi?review=12403

Does anyone know anything about these shocks? Are they the heavy duty model, or the standard model?

[Bryan H.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Loren, These are the same five-position shocks that I use on my '56 vintage racer. I looked under mine this evening to check the rear part numbers and they are 96s. I've tried all the settings over the years and the "5" (hardest) setting allowed me to take a trip down the corkscrew backwards at Laguna Seca after hitting a very slight bump under hard braking trying to stay with a Ferrari GTO. Anything above "3" is to be avoided. They are great shocks and Koni will rebuild them if you ever manage to wear them out. Regards, Bryan

[Bryan H.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Loren, These are the same five-position shocks that I use on my '56 vintage racer. I looked under mine this evening to check the rear part numbers and they are 96s. I've tried all the settings over the years and the "5" (hardest) setting allowed me to take a trip down the corkscrew backwards at Laguna Seca after hitting a very slight bump under hard braking trying to stay with a Ferrari GTO. Anything above "3" is to be avoided. They are great shocks and Koni will rebuild them if you ever manage to wear them out. Regards, Bryan

[Loren Smith]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Bryan - that sounds like that would have put the fear of God in you, especially in a C1. I certainly respect anyone who races these cars. Thanks for the tips and the info - Loren.

[Loren Smith]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Bryan - that sounds like that would have put the fear of God in you, especially in a C1. I certainly respect anyone who races these cars. Thanks for the tips and the info - Loren.

[Loren Smith]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

p.s. - Bryan - are yours red (red orange?), or yellow? Looking at the Koni website, it looks like the red shocks are named "special", and the yellow shocks are named "sport', with the sport shocks being set for a stiffer, high performance ride. The special shocks (like the ones I bought), appear to be the street shock?

[Loren Smith]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

p.s. - Bryan - are yours red (red orange?), or yellow? Looking at the Koni website, it looks like the red shocks are named "special", and the yellow shocks are named "sport', with the sport shocks being set for a stiffer, high performance ride. The special shocks (like the ones I bought), appear to be the street shock?

[Bryan H.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Loren, Mine are the red/orange and I probably have about 5,000 racing miles on them starting way back on the old Riverside track and they are still like new.
regards, Bryan

[Bryan H.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Loren, Mine are the red/orange and I probably have about 5,000 racing miles on them starting way back on the old Riverside track and they are still like new.
regards, Bryan

[Mike E.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

My Gulf Oil 1962 racer had Konis on it when I got it in 1980--the ones Gulf put on the car in December of 61. Fronts were still good--rears no good, and Koni would not rebuild them--said the chrome on the shafts were bad. I bought several NOS sets back then---they were orange/red, but had the newer Koni logo rather than the stylized wing that they used back then. That was the shock of choice 44 years ago. We raced Laguna Seca, Palm Springs, etc. in those, (in the late 80's)and found them to be very good for that time and place. Technology may have passed them by--but who knows?

[Bryan H.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Mike, I'm sure that technology has passed the Koni's by, but in vintage racing, at least with HMSA, we are trying to race them as they were then (down to the wing logo on mine; kind of like a racer's version of NCRS). That's not to say that there weren't some innovative interpretatons of the rules in SCCA and Cal Club back then: I've got a magnesium center section for a C1 in the closet and other odds and ends such as a '59 all aluminum 4-bolt 283 from Duntov's skunk works with Echidna heads cast by GM in-house at about the same time; but they really weren't legal then and still aren't. We all had our cars weighed at Laguna this summer at the Pre-Historics, the lighest C1 weighed slightly over 2400 pounds, while at the other end of the spectrum there was Bob Patterson's absolutely wonderful, original '57 FI car at well over 3100. Given the money that some of the owners/drivers of the early race cars could easily invest, its a tribute to Steve Earle that we still have a fairly representative sample of the way it really (except for tires) was. Regards, Bryan

[Dennis C.]

Bryan, Hope I've got this right...

The KO Mag wheels you sold me ended up where they probably belonged. On Chip Miller's race car that Kevin McCay restored just prior to Chip's passing. I enjoyed our short relationship and that of Chip - a super guy. Best, Dennis

[Loren L.]

Wing logo

Is someone reproing the wing decal?
Buried somewhere in the "stuff" is the name of the engineer at Koni who spec'd out "Special D"; I have a photo of Lee Lilley installing them at the Nurburgring in May '60; they're still with the car - dated April and May, 1960.

[Dennis A.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Bryan...

The Old Riverside Track, Gassed up a '57 business coupe in Redlands, drove to the Riverside Track, Gassed up again, Ran the Quarter a couple of times, gassed up and went home...First car I drove to reach over 100 mph

[Bryan H.]

Re: Vintage C1 Koni Shocks

Dennis, I loved those early business coupes, In high school I had a '56 150 utility sedan (2 doors, factory no rear seat, back windows didn't roll down), with a home built 265/240, could only get it up to about 96 in the quarter, but it was great fun! Regards, Bryan