55 3 speed introduction

[John S.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

on the mule car that was in the McDorman collection i have it listed as the original ex87 arizona proving grounds record car, 163 mph. original experimental V8 installed by smokey yunick into a 1954 test mule. it was later given a new tracking number #5951 in which duntov fabricated the headrest-tailfin and increased the engine displacement from 283 to 307ci. same engine was later installed in corvette, 6901, which set a new record at daytona. sold may, 2009 for $310,000. on the harvest gold duntov mule car , i have this listed as one of two 1956 protypes built, 1955 body, 1956 chassis. originnally silver with a blue center stripe. sold by RM auctions for $134,750.

[John S.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

researching car 6901, 6=1956, 9=corvette, 01= #1 prototype i find this car is placed on 55 chassis #194.

[Dick W.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

researching car 6901, 6=1956, 9=corvette, 01= #1 prototype i find this car is placed on 55 chassis #194.

John this particular car is a mish match of years. You are correct on the '54 and '55 info. I was not aware of the '56 deal. The body still had the 5951 tag on it when it was near me. The owner still had the leather bound engineers log with hand written notes initailed by serveral engineers including ZAD. The body was put on another frame, with the body retaining the VIN, but there is another car with the same VIN that exists and is titled as such. Noland and I talked about this maybe 20-25 years ago.

I first saw the car when it was given to NASCAR to run in their short lived sports car circuit. It was then given to Alvin Hawkins, the promoter at the Bowman Gray track. He ran the car a few races and then sold it, in 1957 or '58 to a gentleman here that owned a trucking company. Sometime before the sale, the head rest and the SR-2 style windshield got removed. The windshield ended up on a '57 in a salvage yard in SC, whose owner would not part with it.

The car was converted to a drag car, going thru several renditions, from a 2X4 engine, 6 Stomberg 97's on a Weiand log manifold, to a Paxton blower with 5 side draft carbs. It sat is a storage building for several years in the '60's until the owner passed away. It ended up with a salvage yard owner for tried for a couple of years to sell it. The last owner here paid a WHOPPING $800 for the car. He noticed the 5951 tag on the cowl and started a quest to find out what it meant. He finally got up with ZAD in the late '70's or early '80's at a Corvette show in Dallas. Some time after they met, ZAD sent him the leather log book. That owner donated the car to the Bible Broadcasting Network. And you know the rest of the story

[John S.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

thanks dick, if you are able to find out which chassis is under it i'd like to know. i have a list of current 55 cars and neither number has shown up.

[Loren L.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

This issue is being addressed and when complete, it will be published. If it could be arranged for the "rumor river" to be dammed up for six months, we could probably issue the full story in a month.
John, I don't know you but you would be well served if you would got to the blackboard and write, 500 times, in all capitals:

"DO NOT RECORD AUCTION OFFERS OF INFORMATION AS FACTS.".

#5951 and #6901 are Engineering numbers assigned for tracking purposes and "O1" does NOT indicate a "prototype", it is simply the first car chosen by engineering as a test mule during that time period. 6901 was the prototype body for '56 - always recognizable by the lack of fender scoops - mounted on a "massaged 55 frame.
The earliest Work Order I have that deals with #5951 is dated April 14, 1954 - REPEAT, 1954 - for brake system design work. Please tell me that you agree that the 1955 Corvette assembly line was not running in April 1954.
Now, forget the above. In November 1955, a WO is issued to build a '53 and a '55 Corvette INITIALLY specified with 1956 2 X 4 motors, '56 3 speeds and a '56 rear axles with 3.27 gears. They were also to receive small plexiglass windshields, etc., etc. and were to be delivered to NASCAR for their new SCOAD (Sports Cars Owners and Drivers) on dirt short tracks. This initial WO also states that the '53 is to be REBODIED.
We must then skip to an explanatory WO that CANCELS the November WO and recites "to cover work already completed" on the '53 and '55 #1399; they received 1955 engine and rear axle assemblies removed from "new 1955 Corvettes purchased for development testing". Three speed close ratio transmissions were installed and BOTH CARS WERE REBODIED, the '53 with another '53 body and the '55 with the BODY FROM ENGINEERING #5951 recently returned from the Arizona Proving Ground where it was, indeed, the finned and belly-panned car that ran 150+ mph.
#5951 was then cannibalized; engine, steering column, trans and rear to #6901 after the motor was taken apart and examined by Rosey Rosenberger and friends. Please note that this was NOT THE ONLY MOTOR SUPPLIED FOR #6901 but all of the motors WERE BUILT BY ENGINERING and not Smokey Yunick. As such, they PROBABLY had the WO # that the motor was built under stamped on the block's pad, somewhat better than "record holder" written in yellow grease pencil.
#5951 lost its body, minus fin and belly pan, to '55 #1399, en route to NASCAR. The "auction provenance" has '55 #1399 as the first car with the V8, the DPG records setter, Eng. #5951, etc., etc.
But wait, on January 17, 1956 another WO is issued with subject:

"Rebuild Car 5951 for Proving Ground 'Axle Hop'
Development & Demonstration Purposes"

#5951 still exists and those GM fools think they still have it. The special instructions read:

"Car is to be used as a Special Demonstrator and is to
kept as clean as possible."

The specs of that work order call for a 1955 Production body removed from #6903's frame(ala the 3 speed '55 that would become Sebring 5 or 6),'56 front end shims, the 3.55 RA and engine out of #6901, etc.
Not documented at this time, but it is our belief that this "Special Demonstrator" became "EX 87", a CA car, owned by the same owners since 1968, that has an EX 87 VIN #, registration and personalized plate. The registration also notes under "First Yr Reg'd" - 1956.
Sorry for the length - but it easily could have been a lot longer.

[John S.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

loren, sorry about including any type of value on a vehicle. as for anything else i mentioned i do not see where there is any misrepresentation. i also could have included more on the cars, but i certainly do not have the knowledge you have on them. you have presented more insight on #5951 than i found while researching the car. so here is the first of 500 "DO NOT RECORD AUCTION OFFERS OF INFORMATION OF FACTS".

[Loren L.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

"...do not see where there is any misrepresentation".....How about the fact that it is NOT the DPG car, NOT the motor that was at the DPG, Steve Tate was not the purchaser of the car.....

Too much swimming up hill - let's go another way - you find me ANYTHING that documents the claims made for this car at auction, other than the fact that it has PART OF THE BODY of the DPG car

[John S.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

to clarify the installation of the v8: chevrolet chief engineer and three-time indy 500 winner mauri rose had daytona legend smokey yunick install an experimental v8 engine into a 1954 corvette test mule, which was given the factory designation ex87.

[Loren L.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

God, it's painful to read this crap more than once. Please give a source other than "auction documentation" for your statement. To begin, surely you are not stating that Mauri Rose was the Chief Engineer...but that's how it reads. Ed Cole would have been very surprised.
In Mike Lamm's bood about the 1955 Chevrolet, the Table of Organization of Chevrolet Engineering carries Mauri Rose as one of EIGHT
"Vehicle Development Engineers" reporting to A.C. Hazard.
The first installation of a V8 is documented to have occurred in October 1953 and the recipient vehicle Corvette VIN 002, the base car for what later became EX 122.
EX 87 is a title that does NOT EXIST UNTIL ENGINEERING DECIDES THAT THE CAR IS TO BE SOLD. Like EX 122, the label is an effort to call attention to the fact THAT THE CAR IS NOT A REGULAR PRODUCTION VEHICLE and NO, the numbers were not issued in order.
By the way, did the "documents" ever point out that the '55 in question was Harvest Gold with Green interior and not white? I can put you in touch with the original owner of the '53 - purchased in 1958 from NASCAR in non-running condition for $350 - he was the same fellow who later painted the '55 red to go with the horrible green interior.
Smokey's own book details his first dealings with Ed Cole - in hammering out a deal for the Darlington race in 1955.

[Edward M.]

Re: 55 3 speed introduction

loren, sorry about including any type of value on a vehicle. as for anything else i mentioned i do not see where there is any misrepresentation. i also could have included more on the cars, but i certainly do not have the knowledge you have on them. you have presented more insight on #5951 than i found while researching the car. so here is the first of 500 "DO NOT RECORD AUCTION OFFERS OF INFORMATION OF FACTS".

Supposed to be "DO NOT RECORD AUCTION OFFERS OF INFORMATION AS FACTS".

Sorry, I just could not stop myself...