1963 Fuelie Coupe ---- Murdered

[Don H.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

From the economical standpoint 1963 Resto-Mods are bringing in excess of 200K at the auctions. How many 1963 Split-Window Coupes are bringing that kind of money?
Guys are taking them from junk yards and making a living building Resto-Mods!
There is a much larger market for the Resto-Mods than there is for the fully restored Top-Flight Mid Year now!
Just look at the auctions. And meet the buyers!

JR

My answer to this is simply that there is more to life than money. What you describe is exactly the same as the developers that bulldoze historical properties to build shopping malls. At some point there needs to be someone willing to forego the money and maintain the history. In the classic corvette world we in NCRS are those people. (I know I'm not saying anything you don't already know and believe as well)

[Ara G.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]61209[/ATTACH]One example would be this 63 Roadster that was sitting in the Junk Yard since 1963 and nearly robbed of all it good parts to be salvaged to a Tube Frame SRIII with LS3, Tremec, Dana 44 3.45 rear and C-5 front.

Enjoy all you dreamers,

JR[ATTACH=CONFIG]61207[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]61208[/ATTACH]

Joe, that is the EXACT car that is perfect (IMO) to be resto-modded. Dying in a junkyard since 63, etc...

[Steve B.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

I would love to see all of those bogus 67 big blocks turn into restomods.

[Brad K.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Or....As along Clayton Road in St. Louis, the home developers that took a 100 acre farm covered in beautiful trees to bulldoze down all of them to create a treeless, smoldering wasteland in order to more easily build homes for people that will all be yearning for shade in the very near future. The idiots seem to be doing this more and more all over the mid-west. Where did all the decency and respect go? Their MO seems to be...move in.....quickly do your thing.....make your money....get the hell out.

[Jim D.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

My buddies joke with me sometimes when I am at shows with one of my cars saying "dude, it's just a car". It's not, it's survived this long in this condition, it deserves to be treated a little better than "just a car". With so few of them remaining, why don't people respect them a little more for what they are....To sound corny, I think we(as owners) have a heightened responsibility with owning these cars. If everyone modded their original cars, in 50 years no one will know what the heck a "fuelie" is.....unless from a picture. Just my two cents....

Your buddies are correct. They are just cars, nothing more. I've owned many Corvettes, some rare, some not so rare. I bought my 60 when I was 19, I'm now 60. I still have it but it's still "just a car". There are many things way more important than any car. Family, friends and health come to mind. In 50 years nobody will care what a fuelie is.

[Patrick H.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

In 50 years nobody will care what a fuelie is.

I doubt that's true. There may be less who care, but there will be those who do just as there are those who care about the cars of 80 years ago.

[Patrick H.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

My buddies joke with me sometimes when I am at shows with one of my cars saying "dude, it's just a car". It's not, it's survived this long in this condition, it deserves to be treated a little better than "just a car". With so few of them remaining, why don't people respect them a little more for what they are....To sound corny, I think we(as owners) have a heightened responsibility with owning these cars. If everyone modded their original cars, in 50 years no one will know what the heck a "fuelie" is.....unless from a picture. Just my two cents....

My kids at 14, 16 and 19 look at my cars, and the one that they'd fight over if I was gone tomorrow? The 1972 Bowtie car. All 3 know how unique it is and have already mentioned it's the one they'd try for first.

I guess I'm doing something right.

[Don H.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Your buddies are correct. They are just cars, nothing more. I've owned many Corvettes, some rare, some not so rare. I bought my 60 when I was 19, I'm now 60. I still have it but it's still "just a car". There are many things way more important than any car. Family, friends and health come to mind. In 50 years nobody will care what a fuelie is.

this is a specious point because while as you say family, friends and health trump cars all day long, the fact is that humans are very capable of appreciating more things than just those things, such as art, music, architecture, history, animals, cars, etc. In their essence, sure, corvettes are just cars. But subjectively they are much more than that to many of us. Including you. If they were not, why else would you still own your 60? Surely you could have traded it for money to someone many times over the last 41 years. Why didn't you? It is just a car. Hummmm?

[Monte M.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Yes, they are just cars. I happen to have a 63 fuelie. As much as I hate to say it, it just made mine a little bit more rare than it was this morning.

The thing is, to the member of this forum it makes a bigger impact than it would the average person. I am a purest, but it is his car and I have no right to judge what he does. I don't like people telling me what I should do.

I do wonder though, how did he end up with a fuelie. My guess is he paid a bit more for that car than if he would have bought a base model.

All it takes is one significant life experience to make you realize they are just metal and glass. The really mean nothing to anyone except us.

It's just a car.

[Jim D.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

this is a specious point because while as you say family, friends and health trump cars all day long, the fact is that humans are very capable of appreciating more things than just those things, such as art, music, architecture, history, animals, cars, etc. In their essence, sure, corvettes are just cars. But subjectively they are much more than that to many of us. Including you. If they were not, why else would you still own your 60? Surely you could have traded it for money to someone many times over the last 41 years. Why didn't you? It is just a car. Hummmm?

I still own my 60 probably because I never got around to selling it. I've been fortunate to have had a very rewarding career and some very good investments so money has never been an issue. If I needed the money, it would be gone in a heartbeat. And yes, to me, it is just a car.

[Michael J.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

My kids at 14, 16 and 19 look at my cars, and the one that they'd fight over if I was gone tomorrow? The 1972 Bowtie car. All 3 know how unique it is and have already mentioned it's the one they'd try for first.

I guess I'm doing something right.

[Don H.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Mike
now you have gone too far. Your 64 is a beauty for certain, buuuutttt,,,, come on. No squeaks, rattles or leaks? Dependable and reliable as a Honda? Everything works perfectly, [every day?] there is quite a lot of leg tugging going on in this thread. Seriously.

[Michael J.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Come on down and drive her, the kids have and they were very impressed. Will it always be like that? Maybe, if I continue to keep it up, 51 years old and just getting better Don!

[Mike E.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

I do wonder though, how did he end up with a fuelie.

That's easy...He didn't want to drill the holes in front fenders to mount the fuelie emblems.

Mike

[Jim H.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

We dance around the issue of modifications so as not to bruise the feelings of people we don't know, but, yes, there is objective truth, beauty, and taste. There are things that should or should not be done to an automobile whether it's a '54 Ferrari Testarossa or a '63 fuelie. Just because someone has the pink slip to a car doesn't mean whatever they do to the automobile is ok. We don't have to judge them in an insulting or undiplomatic way, but there is good taste and bad taste and those who have the sensibility are free to make their judgment. As for whether these are just cars, I've been too emotionally invested in automobiles since a tender age to ever own something that did not kindle passion on some level. And if I ever fall out of love with any occupant of my stable, it's gone.