Vette Redux for '62

A guest post by Kent Bowers

Here is a project that I started in 1963. I believe you can easily see what I had in mind. 

Here's a photograph of a 1962 Corvette. Note that 1962 is the key year that I was targeting.

Here is a photograph of a 1963 Stingray.

Now, let's take one step back and look at a 1960 Corvette. 





So, it is easy to see the transition from the curvy Corvette of the 1950's to the sharper and crisper lines of the classic stingray of the 1960s.


Here is my project car.

This is the 1962 Corvette with the translation being exactly turned around. The sharper and more angular lines of the stingray are used on the front of the car while retaining the curvy lines on the rear.

The years have not been kind to the little plastic car. The tires have flattened and the canopy is yellowed with age. All the glue has released its grip and all the parts are somewhat warped. It doesn't fit together quite right and nothing holds it together. I found it in an old stationary box up on the shelf. The box was still about half full of blank paper. When I picked it up the chassis fell out from under the body and the interior tumbled out.

I remember that my friend Tom Braley had a Vacuform machine. I carved out the shape of the canopy from Balsa wood. The machine heated a sheet of plastic and then pumped all the air out so that it fit perfectly. We could re-create or fabricate plastic parts to suit our desire.

Another interesting feature of this car that I had completely forgotten is the engine. This is a supercharged 409 with four, two-barrel carbs. This car would not have been fast… It would've been terrifyingly fast.

    

So, there she sits; up on the shelf, over a half a century later. An alternate view for one nine six two.