This is a photo of me and my '65 Corvette taken in the spring of 1970. I was 21 the time. I'm the guy on the right with the "Homer Simpson" expression on my face. This '65 had come off the assembly line as a blue/blue 350hp convertible with a 4-speed, radio, tint, back-up lamps, 3.70 posi, and both tops.
At the time of the photo, my car had about 35,000 miles on it. However, the odometer was already broken. The headlights were always kept "up" because one motor was busted. This Corvette had also been wrecked several times (front and rear), and was on its second engine, third clutch, and fourth set of bias ply tires. The hard top had been sold. I had just replaced the carpet because of repeated water damage from rain leaks. The car jumped to the left when I power-shifted because the front of the frame was bent in about an inch. The tach drive gears in the distributor had broken once.
That next summer I replaced the very patched, but original, front fiberglass with a one-piece aftermarket '67 nose and 427 hood skin from California. I didn't bother to straighten the frame first, so you can imagine how everything fit. All my bodywork was done in my uncle's driveway after work. I then paid $700 for a Deluxe Blue Poly Baked Enamel paint job. I installed a '63 grill and called it done after removing and selling the front bumpers, twisted '65 grill, and ignition shielding for a total of $50. I had to replace the 2818 Holley during the bodywork after ruining it while "installing a kit".
I sold this car in Houston to a banker from south Louisiana just before I got married in 1971.
I paid a Private Investigator $200 to find this same car in 2001. It was sitting in a garage in Baton Rouge, LA. The banker who bought it from me in 1971 had kept it until he got divorced in 2000. He then sold it to a twenty-something construction worker who was about to get a divorce. The young man had parked it in his parent's garage. The front fiberglass had been changed back to the '65 design, but it was another cheap one-piece nose. It still had a '67 hood scoop though. The car had been repainted white with a red hood stripe. The interior color had been changed to red. I noticed that the frame was still bent.
I thought I was pretty cool back then. Margaret remembers this period differently. She says I was the same jackass that I am today.
At the time of the photo, my car had about 35,000 miles on it. However, the odometer was already broken. The headlights were always kept "up" because one motor was busted. This Corvette had also been wrecked several times (front and rear), and was on its second engine, third clutch, and fourth set of bias ply tires. The hard top had been sold. I had just replaced the carpet because of repeated water damage from rain leaks. The car jumped to the left when I power-shifted because the front of the frame was bent in about an inch. The tach drive gears in the distributor had broken once.
That next summer I replaced the very patched, but original, front fiberglass with a one-piece aftermarket '67 nose and 427 hood skin from California. I didn't bother to straighten the frame first, so you can imagine how everything fit. All my bodywork was done in my uncle's driveway after work. I then paid $700 for a Deluxe Blue Poly Baked Enamel paint job. I installed a '63 grill and called it done after removing and selling the front bumpers, twisted '65 grill, and ignition shielding for a total of $50. I had to replace the 2818 Holley during the bodywork after ruining it while "installing a kit".
I sold this car in Houston to a banker from south Louisiana just before I got married in 1971.
I paid a Private Investigator $200 to find this same car in 2001. It was sitting in a garage in Baton Rouge, LA. The banker who bought it from me in 1971 had kept it until he got divorced in 2000. He then sold it to a twenty-something construction worker who was about to get a divorce. The young man had parked it in his parent's garage. The front fiberglass had been changed back to the '65 design, but it was another cheap one-piece nose. It still had a '67 hood scoop though. The car had been repainted white with a red hood stripe. The interior color had been changed to red. I noticed that the frame was still bent.
I thought I was pretty cool back then. Margaret remembers this period differently. She says I was the same jackass that I am today.
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