Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

We actually spoke to a Bob Sinn a few weeks ago as we also thought that this could be his car, not sure if you were talking about his father. The Bob Sinn that we talked to raced a Corvette of which his dad was the original owner. Although there were several similarities with the car, incuding several upgrades in 1959. Bob Sinn claims that his car was originally Black not White. He also claims that he never installed a 327 into his car. We do know that Bob Sinn did share race cars with Ed Lowther.

[John D.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

David, Last line you say the vintage '891 (carburetor distributor) fuel injection distributor has 1062 parts installed.
Just figure out that you are saying the '889 Fi distributor has '62 parts installed? Can't figure out what parts from a '62 FI distributor would fit inside a '57 FI distributor? If you know would appreciate knowing. Very interesting info you are posting.
Sorry to say that in the 60's I was not into the race cars much. Yes I was on the pit crew for a Grady David Gulf Research car owned by a local doctor.
Dr. Don Blatchley 63 tanker, etc. But I was just a kid and got all the crappy jobs so I didn't last very long.
And then I wasn't impressed by all the alterations of the race cars so I quickly lost interest. Today I know I made a mistake. Thanks very much, John

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Hi John, very nice to hear from you as I have had a lot of people recommend you. I left you a phone message a few weeks ago. Feel free to call me at 609-221-5584, I would be glad to share more information with you about the car. Do you happen to have any contact information for Clem Zahrobsky or john connelly or frank antocelli? Again, I would be glad to hear your thoughts and share information with you if you have some time to chat. Please give me a call if you have the time. Thanks again, Dave.

[John D.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Hi Dave, Will call you. John Connelly is out of the hobby. But Clem Zahrobsky is still around. Used to be on here all the time when someone paid his dues. He's on Corvette Forum and Vetteheads. Also on Facebook every day. John D

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Here is a picture of the inside of the trunk lid if this helps.

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Special thanks to Clem for providing the attached racing numbers from 1960 for the Corvette Club of Western Pennsylvania auto cross.

The numbers in the 200's include the names:

200 - Donna Mims
201- Don Yenko
202- Ed Lowther
204 - Grady Davis

290 is George Nosky. I could not find much more information on George Nosky including whether or not he raced any SCCA events or just local autocross. It seems with the car being modified like it is, and the BP stickers in the truck, it must have been raced SCCA at some point before George Nosky possibly purchased it. The car is currently black, but the immediate color under the black is Daytona or Nassau Blue.This blue color seems like a Gulf Oil Grady Davis color - seeing as how they all raced together in these autocross events maybe there is a connection. Or maybe I am grasping at straws here. Yenko also raced with this group as shown in the list so maybe there is some credibility as to what we were told about Yenko racing the car in 1959.

[Mike E.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

I'd say you are grasping at straws with the Grady Davis connection. The Gulf Oil cars 61-63 were all white except for the Daytona blue 63. They used a stripe somewhat close to Nassau blue, and 61-62 also used that color in the coves.

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Ok. Good to know. What is known about Grady Davis' personal cars? Like what Corvette would he race in 1960 or earlier at a local autocross event?

[Randy S.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Interesting that in the add section (#4) above it mentions Sinn's Sin - the Black 1957 230 hp 3 speed bomb! Looking forward as you continue to share and discover more information.

Randy

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Here a few more pictures of some of the unique parts of the car. You can see that the "fake" scoops from the factory on the front fenders were removed. It also looks like there is a fiberglass patch where the scoops might have at one time been actually cut out and made functional and then patched back up. The other picture is a close up of the paint colors that the car had.

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Here are pictures where you can see some of the snaps and "clips" on the red dash pad. Not sure if these were from the factory or if they were used as a way to secure a cover over the cockpit when the factory windshield was replaced with a race one.

[Mike M.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

snps and clips definitely not factory. mike

[Mike E.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Tonneau cover clips and snaps. Popular in the day, especially in southern California. Many new hardtop-only cars there. Hardtop came off in March or April and tonneau cover only used till October.

[David C.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

Tonneau cover clips and snaps. Popular in the day, especially in southern California. Many new hardtop-only cars there. Hardtop came off in March or April and tonneau cover only used till October.

OK, thats interesting because this car has a factory soft top.

[Tom D.]

Re: Pittsburgh area 57 Corvette race car discovered

I know George Nosky - He's in FL this winter. Send me a PM which I will pass along to him.
Tom D.