1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

[Sydney G.]

Hello,

Well I finally received my 63's Shipping Data Report today and it was quite the surprise.
I was expecting to learn that my Coupe originated from somewhere in the northeastern US as I have already partially traced it's history back to about 1970 in the upper NY state area. The car had a number of owners there and then moved on to Ottawa, Ontario and finally to Montreal in the early 80's where it still resides with me for the last 18+ years or so.

According to the ship data report, my car has a production date of May 15th 1963 which matches up to the Trim Tag.

Original delivery dealer was Code 163 in Zone 40

Fraley-Dearing Motors
Wayland, KY

Kentucky?? Amazing.
No way I would have ever guessed!

So now the work begins anew.
Anyone know or heard of Fraley-Dearing Motors or familiar with Wayland KY??
There was no address mentioned.

My many thanks to the NCRS and to Mr. Sinor and also anyone else reponsible for helping me obtain this knowledge. This info is fantastic and I'll always be proud of this beautiful letter!

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Syd

[Michael H.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Syd,

I recieved my title search back from Kentucky yesterday for my 67 and they had no data in there computer system for it. I called and spoke to the lady that ran the check and she said that after 5 years of no activity ( renewals, etc ) they purge the VIN's from there computer system. Also titles were not issued for cars until the mid-70's as they used the vehicle regisration form as proof of ownership.

You can try anyway, go to the Kentucky DMV web-site and fill out the form and send it in, its only $2.

Mike

[Tom H.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Hey Syd !!!

Give these folks a call. maybe they can provide some old dealer info or even pictures. Might contact the library too for a newspaper ad from that dealership. Search the time your car was there.......... you might see it in an ad ! Probably was a big deal for a new 63 Corvette to arrive in Wayland, KY !! Good luck and keep us filled in !


Wayland Historical Society


2662 Ky Route 7
Wayland, KY 41666
606-358-9471

[Michael D.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

...Kentucky?? Amazing...No way I would have ever guessed!...

Why so amazing? They make them here, ya know.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Why so amazing? They make them here, ya know.

Not to belabor the obvious -- but Corvettes were NOT made in Kentucky in 1963.

[Sydney G.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Tom Hendricks (23758)

Hey Syd !!!
Probably was a big deal for a new 63 Corvette to arrive in Wayland, KY !!

Wayland Historical Society


Hi Tom,

Thanks for reaching out and helping so many !!
You are a gentleman to say the least.

My thoughts after letting the Kentucky revelation sink in are exactly like yours. If the shipping data for my car is indeed correct, then it must have been a big deal for the new Corvette design to arrive in a small town like Wayland.

Last night I also dug up the contact info for the historical society and plan on giving them a try. I also sent an email to a resident who has a site including pictures from their family tree and also a picture posted from the Wayland prom in '65.
According to some quick late night research, Wayland seems to be pretty much a coal mining ghost town with under 300 residents. I guess it should be easier contacting someone who remembers this car in such a small community than if it were delivered in a more populated area.

Thanks also for the DMV suggestion Mike.

I'm still quite surprised that my '63 originated in KY.
From sporadic past research over the years including 'Info Wanted' ads in the Driveline, all signs pointed to it being from the Syracuse NY area.
Sometime between 1963 and 1969ish, my Coupe was painted Brittish Green with a Gold stripe down the middle from front to back and it still shows signs of Green if you look hard enough. I even communicated with a fellow member just a few weeks ago who told me that he was certain he remembered seeing my car at the Watkins Glen grand prix in 1968!

Hopefully I'll post some results soon.
Either way, I find this information very interesting for everyone in our club and I know I'll be posting a few questions down the road.

Syd

[Michael D.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Not to belabor the obvious -- but Corvettes were NOT made in Kentucky in 1963.

Agreed, but it should not be amazing to learn they were sold here.

[Sydney G.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Hi Mike,

As I wrote before, I was amazed the ship report points to KY because there was not a single clue of it originating from there in the 18+ yrs of owning this '63 and doing a casual search for it's history during this time.

Seeing that Wayland KY is such a small town I guess my haystack has gotten much smaller.
Mike, with you being from KY, are you familiar with Wayland??

Syd

[Sydney G.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Here is a small update.

Fraley-Dearing Motors was located just outside the small coal town of Wayland KY on Kentucky Route 7.
Sometime around 1975-80 it became Village Chevy but is no longer in existence. The historical society says that the buildings foundation and part of the structure is still there and they will try to locate a picture or two circa 1963 to send me from their museum.

In it's heyday before the coal ran out, Wayland had a population of about 4,000 but now has less than 290 residents. I've got the contact for one of the dealers owners (Fraley) daughter who still lives in the area so my next step is contacting her. The last descendant from the Dearing family passed away just a couple of years ago.

I was told by the historical society that they remember a Corvette in town at that time and they gave me the owners name and the city where he now lives. If it is the same car, this person received it upon graduation in early 1964.

Oh, I also got an open invitation from the society on behalf of the town of Wayland to visit. And if I bring my '63 they want to take pictures for their museum!

Pretty cool stuff !!

Syd

[Tom H.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Is this fun, or what !!!!

[Sydney G.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Tom Hendricks (23758)
Is this fun, or what !!!! [/quote]

---------------------------------------------------

Yes Tom...it is fun and exciting.
Especially with so many members all waiting for and receiving their info around the same time frame!

The arrival of my shipping data report and subsequent excitement from Wednesday took an abrupt turn in the road this morning.

I received an email from Roy Sinor and the ncrs telling me that they had followed this thread and read how I was surprised that my ship data report pointed to my '63 Coupe originating in KY.
Roy explains in the note that they decided to take another look at the data as it pertains to my car and says that the microfiche for the stated Zone 40 in my report is of poor quality.

The assumption can therefore be made that it actually reads Zone 48, which would put the original dealer as:

Franklin Chevrolet
Pulaski, New York

Now, as I had thought for many years it would appear that my '63 did originate in the Upper NY state area. The piece certainly fits in the puzzle.
A quick new search shows the town of Pulaski near the shores of Lake Ontario and very close to Syracuse NY where I know there were quite a few owners in the late 60's early 70's.

I'm supposed to receive a new shipping data report showing both KY and NY as possible points of origin.
I feel a bit bad for bothering the very nice historical society in Wayland KY but I guess there is still a remote chance my car did come from there.

Even though my detective work just became a lot harder, I'm grateful to the ncrs for taking the initiative to revisit my file on their own accord.

Tom, where should I start in Pulaski?? I could not find a similar historical society for this town.

Best to all,
Syd

[William N.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Hi,
Well I can tell you that in 1976 they were Franklin Chevrolet-Olds-Buick inc. dealer 48-154 . I purchased a new 1976 Corvette thru them, (acturally thru my Dad who was the Buick DSM,) but had it delivered to a dealer in Dearborn MI. Anyway Pulaski is not a big town, and the NY DMV likely won't be able to help much, NY didn't have titles back in the 60's or 70's just registrations. A 63 would have drawn a crowd. I will look through my records and see if I can find a name that signed some paperwork from the dealership.

I found my receipt for the car and the dealer's name was Bob Franklin, you might do a search for that name in Pulaski.

[Sydney G.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

quote=William Nichols (1947)
Hi,
Well I can tell you that in 1976 they were Franklin Chevrolet-Olds-Buick inc. dealer 48-154 .
I found my receipt for the car and the dealer's name was Bob Franklin, you might do a search for that name in Pulaski.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi William,

Thanks for the help and taking the time to dig up this info for me!!
I'll give this lead a try.

I'm a bit confused at this point in regard to the Dealer Code in the Shipping Report.
My initial report stated Zone 40 Dealer code 163 - Wayland KY.
If the Zone is in fact Zone 48 - Pulaski NY, will the Dealer Code now be different??
I guess it would (Code 154 ?) and that the new report being sent to me would clarify??


I know it's a bit ridiculous to take up more space on the TDB but I suppose I should start a new thread about Franklin Chev in Pulaski NY in the hope that someone here knows or remembers anything else.
Hope no one minds too much!!

Syd

[William N.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Well to be slightly more precise the 48 was the zone which if memory serves me was Syracuse and the 154, or in your case 163, would have been the dealer in the zone. Anyway it is possible they changed the dealer code when they added on Olds or Buick.

[Sydney G.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Shipping Data - KY

Hi,

I suppose they must have changed the Dealer Code from 163 to 154 or I'm still confused.

If the microfiche that the data came from is hard to read for Zone 40, I can easily understand that it might in fact read Zone 48.
I've spent hours looking at pictures of all qualities of '63 trim tags over the years to sympathize.
But I think it would be easier to decipher the difference between Dealer code 163 and Code 154.
Perhaps my car came from Zone 48 - Dealer Code 163??

Syd