Two spectacular time capsule midyear Corvettes at Gooding Amelia Island sale
 

Not my cars but wanted to post the links to these two fine time capsules. My guess is that they will both do very well.

https://www.goodingco.com/lot/1963-c...T&pageNumber=4

https://www.goodingco.com/lot/1966-c...T&pageNumber=4

I’ve heard this is one of the finest 1963 ZO6 Corvettes in existence. Numbers could approach one million?

Wow - kind of forgot about these over the years. Spectacular, they should do very well.

I would be curious to see the ownership history on the silver 63 Z06?

Let me share a story with y’all that may be 100% true as told to me, but hopefully it contains no truth to it at all. FYI - I have no information or knowledge about this specific car and it’s probably exactly as advertised. I have no intention to discredit this car in any fashion.

Long ago I had a close friend / car partner (who was a very knowledgeable midyear enthusiast that owned historically significant cars) and we bought and sold a variety of cars together. He was a “too honest” kind of guy, and when it came to selling stuff he would talk down his own asking prices before potential buyers ever tried to. I took over the sales efforts after a while…

At some point he told me a story about one of his other good friends ’63 Z06 adventure. This 3rd party person was also very well versed in midyear Corvettes.

Anyways, this 3rd person supposedly owned a damaged silver 63 Z06 and acquired a near mint all original low mileage silver 63 in order to perform a transplant. He surgically transferred all the appropriate pieces from one to the other to end up with a flawless correct original paint Z06.

I never saw that car or asked Mr. 3rd person anything about it, because I probably wasn’t supposed to hear the story in the first place. I did question some of the cars and parts that I bought or tried to buy from him after that.

I can’t be the only one who heard this story. After all these years, I would love to know if there actually is any truth to it.

Charlie

I know the ZO6 has been looked over by many very knowledgeable Corvette folks. To make a non fulie/ZO6 into a fulie/ZO6 on an original car would be quite a chore. The first thing I think of are the emblems and repairing the holes in the fenders. That alone would be hard to hide on an original paint car.

Z06
 

----Charlie,,,What you heard is totally untrue. This Z06 showed up at either the 2nd or 3rd ever Fall Carlisle, and I was there to see it and try to buy it from the original owner who was from new York state. My friend, Jack Murray, whom I didn't even know at that time was also there and tried to buy it. Owner was taking offers but wouldn't commit. In the end we all went home discouraged. a few years later a piece of property was traded for the car and it came to the 2nd owner in Illinois, who just happened to be my insurance man and a truly great guy (RIP Bob Lojewski). Jack also used him for insurance up to his passing and probably tried to buy it every time they talked. His wife, also a very nice lady must have finally decided to pass this truly a treasure on to it's next caretaker. I haven't even looked at the second car yet, but I'm guessing it's the 1966 black on black 427 Corvette coupe that my old insurance man bought brand new.....Bill S

I completely agree... The best one could end up with would be a "mostly" original paint car in my opinion. The experts out there definitely know what to look for.

----I was right! Bob just loved this 66 and babied it to death. It is one of the greatest 66's on the planet. I do think that Bob may have cleaned up under the hood just a bit so that it matched his expectations, but I can't imagine that it should make any difference in a purchasers mind. There are absolutely no clouds in this cars history. Just look at the paperwork. So friggin cool!!!.....Bill S

Hi Bill,

To clarify, I'm not questioning this car's pedigree at all. It sounds like the ownership history is well known and documented. Thank you for sharing that information!

If an original paint silver 63 Z06 ever popped up that had "Mr. 3rd party" in my story as a previous owner, I would probably suggest a thorough inspection....

Personally, it's one of my dream cars and I would love to own this one. There's a long term owner original paint 63 Z06 not far from my house (small tank) that has turned down many offers over the years...

----Charlie,,,The original Sebring Silver has never been touched anywhere. I'm an expert and I have looked at every tiny corner of this car,,,,Never touched!!!....Bill S

----Charlie,,,There is no third party. Bob was the second owner,,,end of story!

Thank you for clearing the air Bill. I have known this car for many years........it's a high watermark for any Corvette enthusiast!

Charlie, what state did this 3rd party person do the transformation?
I heard of a very similar story to the one you are talking about, but the finished car was completely restored. this happened roughly 25 to 30 years ago if i remember correctly. Also, this original car is not the one I know of or heard of.

Hi Tony,

The car in my story (definitely not the one being auctioned or presented in this post) would most likely have been in CA or Oregon. Your timeframe goes with my recollection.

To all,

My apologies to everyone for mudding up this post about two incredible cars being offered for sale. I'd be happy to chat about my random story with anyone via PM so the focus can return to these special cars. My initial curiosity was regarding the ownership history of the silver Z06 and Bill was kind enough to share that info with us all.

Charlie

sounds good Charlie, sorry to derail the tread also.

I have been told by numerous 63 guys that this is the absolute best 63 in the world, hands down. There's nothing like a low mile time capsule!

Bill,

I love all the information you seem to have on so many high end mid-years from over the decades.

You should write a book.

Tell me about the “warning system” shown on the invoice. What is that exactly?
Is the unsightly key hole in the LH fender have anything to do with it?

I absolutely love this ‘66. Colors, leather, side exhaust, KO and Big powertrain.

Thanks Chris

The warning system is the emergency flasher option and that key is for an alarm installed after it was sold.

----Chris,,,Wisely or not I believe Bob was worried about theft. I think when he did this early in his ownership he was envisioning driving the car more than he ultimately did. His love of originality started early and never waned. I wish I had kept track of how many alarm switch holes we patched at Classic Motors over the years....Bill S

I spent a good amount of time look at the pics. Beautiful examples. Should be an exciting auction.

My former '66 L79 Corvette survivor had the key hole for the alarm in the driver's side fender emblem and my former '67 L36 Corvette survivor had the key hole under the nose adjacent to the headlight bucket. Common practice way back when...

As hard as it is to look at that hole, it may account for the car still being around. I'm sure thieves saw that and may have moved on.

----Funny thing is I can't imagine Bob ever getting more than 20 feet from it when out for a cruise, or at a show!.....Bill S

It seems something’s just don’t change.

Car theft, bike theft, etc. are still rampant today

The 60’s transportation I have in my signature were always being stolen, mostly because of their valve.

Yes, the two Survivor Corvette’s in this thread are amazing and will be fun to watch.

Those fender key mounts were pretty common years ago.

Weren’t they a factory option on late 70’s, early 80’s Corvettes??

----Heck,,,They were optional on 69 Corvettes. The switch was right above the center of the seperate Corvette letters between the tail lights.....Bill S

I had a 75 years ago and it had one on the drivers fender. I assumed it was factory

Sorry, as I don’t mean to be a pessimist here, as this ‘63 Z06 Split Window is being touted as one of the very finest on earth ….. and I agree.

Just a curious question as to why the LH door seems much darker than the rest of the body, especially in that last photo.

Looks like someone repainted the door and they didn't blend the fender and 1/4 panel.

It wasn’t uncommon for a car to be pulled off the line in final inspection or during the paint process so a specific part or section of the car could be repainted. Many original cars have had evidence of this. At the San Antonio NCRS National show a handful of years ago we had the pleasure of seeing a 4 Star Bowtie 67 L36 that had the pass door repainted in what was believed to be an assembly line process. Not unheard of.


Dan

I could stare at those all day.

K

Very common.

In fact - it was common enough that when I followed my '87 pickup down the line as it was being built - I vowed that I would not let them do any post build paint repair no matter how bad it was. (Fortunately - it did not require any repairs).

Additionally - my Chevelle was damaged in the assembly plant (Oshawa). The first time we pulled the front clip to have it repainted there was bondo in one of the front fenders.

K

A friend of mine who is at the auction commented that some of the Euro trash snobs that attend these type of events were wondering what the fuss was all about with these two Corvettes. There is tons of interest with them and think that the family will be very happy this time tomorrow.

Edit, the ZO6 hammered for 1,125,000 and the 66 did 480K. Goes to show that the truly special cars will always bring the big bucks!

WOW - congratulations to the family.

----So happy forn the family!.....Bill S