1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

[Bill H.]

Greetings all: My wife and I are the new owners of this 1964 365 HP Coupe that was willed to us by the original owner, a dear friend and near lifetime Corvette owner that recently passed away at the age of 76. The car is a Black/Black 4 spd/3:55 posi/power brake/metallic brake/am-fm optioned car, ordered new by her on 7-9-1963, at Courtesy Chevrolet in Medford, Oregon, and delivered to her on 9-27-1963. She traded in her 1962 Corvette, which the dealer allowed $3000 towards the purchase price of $4920.15 She kept EVERY document, every registration card, and EVERY receipt for every dollar spent on the car from that date to this, including gas station credit slips. She was a friend of my wife's sister for 50 years, and I met her in the 1980's, when I began doing the maintenance and repair work on this car for her. The car is almost completely original, having lost its' original radiator, water pump, and expansion tank over the years, as well as its original mufflers. All else remains completely stock with matching numbers on the block and transmission, with all other original dated differential, carb, starter, alternator, and distributor. There are photos of her and the car at various places around the country, including the Can-Am races in Sept. 1967 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where she was awarded a car show trophy for longest distance driven. I recently completed all the work necessary to make the car road worthy, as it has been in storage, undriven for the last 10 years, as her health declined and she was unable to drive the car. With a drained and refilled fuel tank, radiator, and all other fluids changed, a rebuilt starter, alternator,brake system and carb, new plugs, wires, filters, repacked bearings, new exhaust system, and a set of new tires, we completed a 200 mi. road trip today in a wonderfully driving vintage Corvette!

[James J.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Congratulations. Hope that you drive and enjoy that car the way it was made to be enjoyed. Good story too.

[David K.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

It doesn't get any better than this. Nice.......

[Bill H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Thanks for all your kind postings. I have also photos of the original unrestored interior, the engine compartment, and photos of the block casting numbers, casting dates, and stamp pad, as well as trans tag and stampings, diff stampings, starter, alt, etc. As well as all original documents, including dated letters with envelopes, from the owner of Courtesy Chevrolet, L.H. Averill of Chevrolet Motor Division, and S.E. "Bunky" Knudsen, G>m> of Chevrolet, congradulating her on the purchase of her new Corvette.

[Don H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Have you considered trying to Bowtie it? It sounds like a perfect candidate. Congratulations! Don H.

[Bill H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Thanks for your reply. What is Bowtie?

[Don H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Bowtie is an award that NCRS gives for original cars. I am sure you can find an explanation of the award on this site - sorry I am not providing a link. Basically you need to have the car Flight Judged at a Regional Meet and they will let you know if it is worthy of going the next step which is to take it to a National Convention. Bowtie Judging is only done at the Convention once a year. I am sure many people here can give a more detailed definition. Good luck, Don H.

[Gary S.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Great story and fun reading. If the bill of sale for your 64 also has the VIN of the 62 traded in, would you please post it in the C1 Orphans section. If the owner of that 62 sees your post, he would be happy to have a copy of it. Go to this site to do so.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/forumdisplay.php?82-C1-Orphan-Documents-and-Stamped-Parts

[Bill H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Greetings, Gary: YES!! Included in my pack of original documents for our 64, I found not only the VIN of the '62 that was traded in, I also found the original owners' manual, service manual, and this other doc that has a plastic credit card enclosed with owners' name and car VIN, as well as a letter from "Bunkie" Knudsen!, all for that 62 Vette, which was listed as a "340 hp, 4 spd, with R&H"! Please see attached pics.

[William L.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Very cooland thank you for for sharing the story. Sounds like a perfect car to go for a bowtie. Good luck and keep us all informed.
Bill

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

new exhaust system,

I hope you kept the original pipes if they were the factory original 1964s on the car, other than the mufflers.

Neat story. Have fun with the car!

[Bill H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Hi Bill and Patrick: Thanks for your replies and kind words. Regarding the exhaust system I replaced; I do think the head pipes and intermediate pipes were original, but the mufflers were replaced in the 1980's (Have receipt for the work) I did just replace the entire exhaust system, the pipes had rusted through in several places, and the replacement mufflers were welded to the original intermediate pipes. I do not see any practical reason for keeping the old, rusted-through pipes. I did remove and reinstall the original exhaust heat shields, and re-used the intermediate pipe hangers and clamps and re-installed the ground straps.

[Roger W.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

What an honor to be willed a beloved car from it's owner. She knew that she could rest in peace with her baby being well cared for.

[Bill H.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Hi, Roger: You have written exactly of what has kept me sleepless and unspeakably humbled these last few weeks. Have I truly earned this? Thanks for your insight and kind words.

[Eric S.]

Re: 1964 Coupe willed to us from original owner

Great Story!...Enjoy her! My Dad bought a 64 coupe L76 new and I still have bill of sale for that car...his was $4,762 and he traded in a custom 57' chevy and got $1900 bucks for! that 64 coupe is long gone but, I just purchased one and have started a complete restoration on it. keep us posted sounds like she really new you would enjoy the car.