(engine revving)
(techno music)
- Hi.
I'm Stefan Lombard, with Haggerty,
here today with arguably
the sexiest thing on four wheels, a 1963 Corvette.
Built from '63 to '67,
it's the second generation C2 midyear Corvette.
Whatever you wanna call it,
it's a fantastic car.
But there are things you need to know
before you buy one
so that you know you're getting
exactly the car you're paying for.
Now, one of the coolest things
about the '63, kinda makes it iconic,
is the split rear window.
It was a one year only thing.
It'll always make the '63's
that much more desirable over, say, a '64.
The '65's, you start to get into the big blocks,
so that's a different story.
But if you're looking for the iconic midyear Corvette,
you're probably thinking a '63.
The car sits down on a perimeter frame
instead of sitting on top of the frame
like the first generation.
In the coupes, rigidity was improved 90%
over the previous car.
Convertibles, less so, about 10%.
And even though these cars are fiberglass,
and you don't have to worry about rust there,
the frames are steel,
and the substructure, or birdcage,
within the cabin is steel, as well.
And if you're gonna find rust on these cars,
it's gonna be in the frame or that substructure.
You can't really tell
looking at the outside of the car
if there's rust in there,
but water can get up underneath this windshield.
You wanna look at the headliner in the car.
If there's signs of water damage,
or maybe even the smell of mildew,
that could be a sign that water has gotten in there
and rotted that substructure.
So, if the car you're looking at
does show signs of water getting in
under the windshield,
and you suspect that there might be rot
beneath the cowl or up in the substructure,
walk away from the car.
It's gonna be a lot of money to try and fix that,
and if you're looking for a driver,
you don't wanna mess with that.
Another place to check for rust on these cars
is in the rear suspension,
particularly the rear trailing arms on either side.
Something to keep in mind with these fiberglass bodies
is that it's not all one piece.
There were several panels that were put together
with bonding strips,
and one example of those
is up underneath this rear wheel well.
You can feel in there, and there's a little seam.
Now, what you wanna be looking for
in the surface of the car
is signs of cracking
where those panels come together.
One final thing to check on the outside of these cars
is these popup headlight motors.
Lot of times, they fail, or
one headlight comes up or goes down before the other,
so you kinda get that winking look.
So, you're gonna wanna make sure
to check those and make sure that
everything works as it should.
(snap)
(headlight motors whirring)
Just like that.
These cars came with a range of engines,
so let's pop the hood
and talk a little bit about what was available.
So, you really had some great choices,
depending on how much power you could handle
versus how much you could afford.
There are no bad Corvette engines,
and they came either with carbs,
or with Rochester fuel injection,
but after '65 the fuel injection went away,
and they were carbs only.
They are stout, mechanically,
they're easy to work on,
they're easy to rebuild
and fairly inexpensive to rebuild,
so that's one of the nice things about these cars.
For as exotic as it looks,
it's very conventional, mechanically.
Now when we're talking about Corvettes,
one of the biggest factors is numbers.
It's totally a numbers game,
and there are so many numbers on this car,
and so many codes to decipher,
it would make an IRS agent go crazy.
But what you wanna do,
if originality matters to you,
is start comparing.
All the major components in the engine bay
had casting numbers from the factory,
and you can decode all that stuff,
or have an expert who can decode it for you,
to make sure that the engine and the transmission
that are in the car you're looking at
came with that car.
You wanna make sure that part numbers are correct,
the clamps are correct, all that stuff.
For some people, that's very important.
If you just want a driver
that works and goes, it's less important,
but it's still something to think about.
Now, these weren't just Plain Jane,
bare bones sports cars.
You could spec these with a lot of different options.
Convenient stuff, like air conditioning,
tilt steering, AM/FM radio,
but also performance upgrades, like
positraction rear axle, heavy duty brakes,
heavy duty suspension,
and also, a 36-gallon gas tank.
Those cars are called Tankers.
Now, all these options add up,
and they add value to a Corvette,
so it's very important to know
how the car came from the factory
when you are looking at one.
And so, in addition to all the numbers,
there's a lot of paperwork involved.
Corvettes with paperwork
will bring more money than cars without.
While numbers are important with Corvettes,
what I'm really concerned about right now
is how this thing drives.
So, let's take it out,
let's listen to it, let's feel the acceleration,
see how it handles.
We can make a more informed judgement then.
(engine revving)
This '63, and the '64's that came after,
were equipped with drum brakes,
and they're very good drum brakes.
They've got great stopping power,
and they actually inspire confidence.
And you could upgrade those, get heavy-duty
sintered metallic brakes,
if you really wanted to get on it.
After '64, so '65, '66, '67,
came with four-wheel discs,
and that was a big step up from the drums.
So, these cars, as well as they go,
have always been meant to
stop with equal fervor.
'Course, no one bought these cars for the brakes, really.
One of the absolutely fantastic things
about these Corvettes,
they make me giddy,
'cause in a time when
Jaguar was giving you a
265-horsepower E-type, and that was it,
and Ferrari was giving you a
300-horsepower, 275 GTB, and that was it,
that was your output,
that's where the Corvette was starting.
It was 250 in the base motor,
or 300 after that,
but you could go all the way up to
430, 435 by 1967, with the Big Blocks.
So, it was kind of the way for
Chevy to just kind of say, "Screw you, sports car world.
"We've got a variety, you can pick your poison."
And they were all so poisonous.
(engine revs)
God, that's nice.
The balance that you get from a Corvette,
even in a 300 horsepower car like this,
this is almost a perfect car.
All the power you could hope for,
but the way it's delivered
through the rear wheels is so confidence-inspiring.
You don't ever feel like
you're gonna lose control if you mash the throttle,
the car stays planted,
so it's a very enjoyable car to drive.
And that's always kind of been the
mantra for the Corvette.
They wanted people to drive these cars and enjoy them
and have a smile on their faces
just from the sheer, visceral experience,
and it's hard not to like a car like that.
One of the nice things about
these C2 Corvettes is, despite their
low, lean, mean appearance,
there's actually a lot of headroom in 'em,
which is great for
a taller guy, like me, and even
people who are taller than me,
although I would recommend the tilt steering,
'cause with a fixed steering column,
getting in and out of these things, and
wedging your legs underneath the wheel,
it's a little annoying, but it's
a small price to pay for the experience.
And the steering itself,
it's a recirculating ball system,
which is a big improvement over the
worm and roller system that was in the first generation.
These are really quite easy to steer,
and the great thing about these
big, American V8's, even the small block V8's,
is it's just power on demand, and you get
fantastic access to this horsepower from
way down low in the rev range,
all the way up to rev line.
And, of course, that'll only increase
the bigger the engine you got.
It's a really nice feeling, just have it
right at the palm of your foot, so to speak.
(engine revs)