These cars were every day drivers !

[Jack P.]

I thought I would post my response to a forum member on one of the other popular corvette forums. He had made a statement about "How could some one have cut some holes in the bumper braces for a trailer" since he felt it was some kind of sacrilege to have used a corvette to tow a trailer. My response is below. As you can imagine, many long time owners responded to the post with many great pictures and stories of the real life use of these cars by us teen and early twenty year olds. Lets see your pictures and stories.


Hi, as a more then 4 decade owner, I laugh at new owners that can't understand how these cars were used 40-50 years ago. We only owned one car , most of us, and it had to serve all the functions of daily go to work or play functions. Matching numbers was unheard of to us, if we needed a carb, which we did a lot, we took off the old one , took it to the parts place, gave them $35 , and walked out with a new rebuilt Holley, or starter , fuel pump, or what ever.

It was just a great car that had to get us to work the next day

Jack

Ps. We were in our late teens or early twenties , not gray haired baby boomers , we were out for fun with a corvette

Some of you tell us your stories, it is good to make new owners appreciate how rugged these cars were

[Bill W.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

Here is a picture of where my 65 lived from about 1973 until I bought it in 1980. The next photos are the day I brought it home .It was just an old car that was stored to get it off the streetsDSC_1657.jpgDSC_1659.jpgDSCN1458 - Copy.jpgDSCN1460 - Copy.jpg
My car was parked behind the white sign on the second picture . In the 1980s that storage lot was full of cars . Now just the remains of a few .

[Harry S.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

Jack, my 63 vert. was driven and neglected until I bought it. Lots of rust and NAPA parts. It's had a body off and is done and will never hear the words trailer queen. I drive it as often as I can. Wasn't that why they were built.

[Ed D.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

In 67 traded a 66 GTO for a new 67 Corvette, 350 hp, 4 speed. Drove it everyday for work, rain or snow ( had studded snow tires). Courted my wife in it, had the hardtop stolen off it, when in the movies. Drove it from NJ, to Florida to Nova Scotia, all the way around no ferry, When it got tired in 72, with 115,000 miles, traded it in for my 72. Sorry no pictures available.
Ed

[Jack P.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

No pictures, me too. I just did not take any. It was my car, not my trophy then. I now wish I had!

[Dennis O.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

As long as we're reminiscing, I picked up my new Sunfire Yellow L79 coupe the second week of June, 1967. It was our everyday car. A few things I remember. I was really disappointed that I couldn't order the newly released "Wide-Oval" tires from the factory, so I did the next best thing. I was working as a computer programmer (IBM 1401/1410) for an outfit called Gamble-Skogmo at the time. (They were a mid-western hardgoods/softgoods retailer of some repute back then.) As an employee, I was able to get a real good deal on tires, so I ordered 4 of their premium, double white-stripe tires for it; two 7.75/15's for the front, and two 9.15/15's for the back. I mounted them up, and quickly found the rear tires would hit the fenders if I encountered any kind of a bump. My immediate urge was to have the fenders flared, but at $150 a corner at Vic's Fiberglass Repair (do any of you Minneapolis guys remember them?), I decided not to go that way. I finally solved the problem with a piece of 1/2" water pipe and a hacksaw; put a 1 1/2" pieces under the rear spring on each hanger bolt. Raised it a bit much for my tastes these days, but back then, I thought it gave it a racy. kinda' drag car look. I sold the 2-ply Uniroyal Laredos with less than 100 miles on them to uncle Louie for $50 and he put them on his old Ford pickup.

The second thing I remember is that it wouldn't start on the first real cold day in a Minnesota winter. Back then, we didn't mess with automatic chokes as they were for sissy's and old people, so on went a regular old choke cable, Never had a problem after that.

Now that I got started, I could go on, but for your benefit, I won't. All in all it was a great everyday driver, and I never remember having any traction or handling problems in the ice and snow.

[Gerard F.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

Ed,

How are you doing!

Here's a few pics of my 67, two from 1986 going snow skiing in CA, two more recent (2012) in a parade and on the San Diego Road tour.

Notice the luggage rack, ski rack, and trailer hitch.

I have had the car since 68. I was in the Navy in Little Creek,VA when I got the 67 from my roommate. He was going to get transferred to Philly and was going to get married. His wife to be, told him to "Get rid of the Vette and get a nice family car"
I happened to have a 67 Renault 10 at the time. So I told Don, "I have a perfect family car, 4 doors, 4 banger in the rear, the seats go down into a bed , so you can go camping with the wife and kids."

The rest is history, we traded cars in December, 68. (with a little money to him)
California

The trailer hitch went on in 1969, as I needed to haul a small hydroplane I had built in my hometown of Queens, NY to Little Creek,VA.

The luggage rack also went on in 1969 when I thinking about moving from New York to California after I got out of the Navy
I did get out of the Navy in late 69, and had gotten a job in California. So I moved from NY to CA in December 69 with everything I owned in the back of the 67, along with a big Samsonite luggage on the rack (no trailer). What a trip that was at 24 years old.

The new Samsonite luggage in the picture from the San Diego Road tour is a memory of that trip. The labels on the luggage say "California or Bust 1969"

Yes, these cars were once our everyday drivers.

I still have mine, and am still having fun with it.

[Alan S.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

Hi,
I traded a 68 GTO in on my 71 that a small dealer had ordered for stock.
I drove it 35,000 miles in the next year and a half. We had a very icy winter and I had to bang on the headlight doors and wiper door with my fist to crack the ice loose so they could open.
I never really made a conscious decision to keep it…. it just sorta 'hung around'; I drove it another 10,000 miles until I started restoring it in the early 90s.
It's still 'hanging around'.
Regards,
Alan

Early April 1971


October 2011, headed to Flight Judging

[Paul H.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

Jack, As you know I've had my 65 Glen Green convertible since the early 70's. I paid $1,500 for it as an 18 year old. It was my daily driver in college. Lots of great memories.

[Brad K.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

I bought my '59 in 1969 from a fraternity brother for $900 when it already had 100M miles on it....I graduated from the University of Missouri engineering school in 1971, got married, took my wife to the hospital to have our first child (yes, in the '59 Corvette......it was the only car we had!) I drove the the car until 1985 , tore it completely apart when it had over a quarter million miles on it. I built the car from the ground up over the next 20 years and turned it into a Triple Crown winner.....I'm very proud of that car!........

[Michael J.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

I can't relate any stories about using a Corvette as a family workhorse. By the time I could afford one, even though I had wanted one since I was a teen in the early '60s, I was almost a gray haired baby boomer. When I finally got one it was treated as the special car I had always dreamed of, so no hauling kids, towing boats, using tire chains in the snow, or anything like that. I would never have dreamed of that in my very special new first Corvette. And I have treated all the ones since then the same way, sorry.

[Gerard F.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

Found another one from 1971.

Remember when we used to park them on the street.

Here's my 67 with my first company car (65? Belair) in 1971.

[Bill M.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

I bought my second car which was a 65 coupe when I was 19 . I used to park in N Y city to go to the movies. Just picked up a 2015 coupe 3 weeks ago have 1400 miles on it. Drove home from Long Island last Saturday on the Taconic State parkway hit a snow storm and the car handled like a 4 wheel drive. the only thing that hurts these cars is fire

[Patrick B.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

I'm impressed that Gerard and Allen both still have their original 1970 era license plates on thier cars. I got my first Corvette also in 1971 and my second (which I still have) in 1972. However, neither were my every day drivers for the simple reason that the insurance cost would be outragous for an early 20's male. I found it cheaper to have a "beater" for every day driving and insure the Corvette as a second car.

[Jim D.]

Re: These cars were every day drivers !

Since we're walking down memory lane, in 1972 (at 18 years of age) I went looking for my first Corvette. I looked a 63 coupe with F.I. but the car ran like crap and I hated the split in the back window. I ended up with a 64 coupe that had a brand new LT-1 and it ran awesome. Both cars were $2K. In 1973 I decided I wanted a convertible so I sold the 64 and bought a 1960 (also for $2K) and still have it today. Both cars were daily drivers. Back then, insurance for a teenager with a Corvette was very expensive.