Hi everone,
I did not know of this board until a few days ago, when you are 68 years old somethings slow down. Well my car has not slowed down one bit. I still love the feel of being pushed back into the seat as my car rockets forward. I now have a 2007 Z06 which I took delivery of in Oct 2006. This is the ultimate car for me.
I purchase a 1963 Corvette Z06 in Oct 1962, took delivery of it on June 4, 1963 the day before graduating college. I really enjoyed the car from day one until I sold it in 2006. NCRS people tell me that I was the last of the original owners of the Legendary Z06. I bought the car so I could have have the fastest car available at the time. I had been drag racing and racing Stock Outboard class power boats since I was 14 years old. So I just loved speed. I was going to race the '63 even buying wider mag wheels and racing tires but for some reason I will never know I never raced the car on the track, did do some street racing though.
My brother and I did build a race car that eventually was towed to the track with the 1963 Z06, I was clocked at over 125MPH on the NY Thruway towing a trailer coming home from racing in upstate New York.
I loved to drive the car, racking over 210,000 miles before deciding to replace the carpets which had large holes in them. Well, just about the time I started to replace the carpets I met a Corvette guy that was really into Z06 Corvettes. He convinced me that I should restore the car to factory look. I was lucky I had saved the original wheels, tires, fan belts and anything else that I had removed from the car. I even had the origianl battery which was used by restoration company as a sample. I had only painted race cars and boats so this was all new to me. I did OK and started to show the car which had become a trailer queen. I was invited to the first Bloomington Special Collection and while there received a Bloomington Gold. I also showed the car with NCRS and received the Duntov Award and then the car was invited to Chip's Choice at Carlisle and twice to the Field of Dreams at the winter NCRS show in Orlando, Fl.
It got to the point where I could not drive the car on the street with out some fool nearly running us off the road. I made the descision to sell the car but no to be without a Z06. I did sell the car in early 2006 at Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale. I ordered a new Z06 which I thought would be a 2006 but the wait was so long I had to wait until Oct when I took delivery at the museum. To fill in I purchased a 2006 Z51 coupe which I traded in on the Z06 and was surprised to not losing much on the transaction.
The new Z06 is a much more pleasant car to drive. The '63 did not have a radio or anyother creature comforts. The '07 not only is pleasant to drive but also is a lot faster and handles a lot better in all conditions. I plan on keep this car also for 40+ years which will make me 107 years old, LOL.
If anyone has any questions or just want to talk feel free to continue this thread. You can see a picture of the 1963 Z06 on my web site at
www.aeroliner-boats.com
David Van Weele
z06vett
Speedwrench23
