Does anybody remember the Bob Dye - Wilson Swilley 57 Corvette Race Car????
After attending a vintage race at Sears Point earlier this year, driving my 1959 Corvette with powerglide was just not the same. In a weak moment, I purchased a 57 Corvette vintage racer.
The car has an interesting history, which is what really hooked me. The car was raced by Bob Dye in California from 1967 to 1972, winning two SCCA races (Cotati and Sears Point). The car was pretty much a wreck when Wilson Swilley found it sitting at a Berkeley gas station in 1975. Wilson was the NCRS Tech Advisor for 56-57's for awhile, and he restored the race car twice. The second restoration involved putting the car back in Bob Dye racing trim (and adding an airbox to boot). The car became somewhat famous in Wilson's hands, appearing in a book by Michael Antonick and on the cover of The Restorer (Spring 1983).
Wilson passed the car on in 1987 to Frank Buck, who owned a number of airbox cars. Frank owned the car for about 5 years, raced it a bit, and then sold the car to Chip Miller. Chip wanted to race the car on the vintage racing circuit on the east coast. Chip ultimately decided that he would have to modify the car too much for east coast vintage racing, so Chip shipped the car back to California in 2000 and offered the car for sale.
Ken Epsman purchased the car in 2000, and raced it over the next 7 years. Ken won his class with the Bob Dye - Wilson Swilley Corvette at the Monterey Historic Race in 2002, where Corvette was the featured car.
The really neat thing about this car - two binders of history (pictures, race programs, race results, etc) have been handed down from owner to owner, starting with Bob Dye. Great stuff, especially the race photos. I built a website reflecting the materials in the binders. A link is provided below
I would really like to add to the binders of information about this car. Please let me know if you have any Bob Dye or Wilson Swilley related pictures, programs, race results, stories, etc.
1957 Bob Dye - Wilson Swilley Race Car
After attending a vintage race at Sears Point earlier this year, driving my 1959 Corvette with powerglide was just not the same. In a weak moment, I purchased a 57 Corvette vintage racer.
The car has an interesting history, which is what really hooked me. The car was raced by Bob Dye in California from 1967 to 1972, winning two SCCA races (Cotati and Sears Point). The car was pretty much a wreck when Wilson Swilley found it sitting at a Berkeley gas station in 1975. Wilson was the NCRS Tech Advisor for 56-57's for awhile, and he restored the race car twice. The second restoration involved putting the car back in Bob Dye racing trim (and adding an airbox to boot). The car became somewhat famous in Wilson's hands, appearing in a book by Michael Antonick and on the cover of The Restorer (Spring 1983).
Wilson passed the car on in 1987 to Frank Buck, who owned a number of airbox cars. Frank owned the car for about 5 years, raced it a bit, and then sold the car to Chip Miller. Chip wanted to race the car on the vintage racing circuit on the east coast. Chip ultimately decided that he would have to modify the car too much for east coast vintage racing, so Chip shipped the car back to California in 2000 and offered the car for sale.
Ken Epsman purchased the car in 2000, and raced it over the next 7 years. Ken won his class with the Bob Dye - Wilson Swilley Corvette at the Monterey Historic Race in 2002, where Corvette was the featured car.
The really neat thing about this car - two binders of history (pictures, race programs, race results, etc) have been handed down from owner to owner, starting with Bob Dye. Great stuff, especially the race photos. I built a website reflecting the materials in the binders. A link is provided below
I would really like to add to the binders of information about this car. Please let me know if you have any Bob Dye or Wilson Swilley related pictures, programs, race results, stories, etc.
1957 Bob Dye - Wilson Swilley Race Car
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