Matching-numbers L76 327/340, 4-speed manual, original color combination. NCRS Top Flight frame-off restoration. Runs and drives beautifully. A very correct early Mid-Year Corvette with an awesome pedigree!
Code 923 Riverside Red is the car’s original color, and I’d argue that there aren’t many ways to make a Corvette look better than this. Refinished by Mark Murphy and his team of experts at Murphy’s Classic Restorations, the car still looks spectacular even after nearly fifteen years. It was purchased as an aborted project car, complete but disassembled. It took Murphy about a year to piece it back together, and you know you can’t trust anyone else’s work when you’re gunning for a Top Flight trophy, so everything had to be re-restored. The body was given a spectacular coat of Riverside Red that’s vivid and clear, the perfect red for America’s Sports Car. Fit and finish are surely better than new and panel gaps are excellent throughout. The chrome and stainless trim was professionally refinished at the same time and still looks great with very few signs of age, and all the rubber weather seals were replaced. As I said, even though this restoration is 15 years old and shows about 2300 miles, it still looks fantastic.
The trim tag says this car was originally equipped with a code 490M red vinyl interior, so that is what went back inside when it was refinished. Accurate reproduction seat covers, carpets, door panels, and other details give it a correct look inside that remains quite crisp and ready to enjoy. All the gauges were restored, and you’ll note it carries a correct 6500 RPM redline tach, which was standard equipment with the high-revving L76. All the gauges are fully operational, including the clock, and the AM/FM was still a rather unusual feature in 1963. The big chrome shifter for the 4-speed is a Corvette tradition that works just as great as it looks and seat belts were added for safety—always a good idea. This convertible seals up nicely thanks to a new white convertible top that stows in seconds, ready to have fun in the sun.
The engine is the original, numbers-matching RE-coded L76 327 cubic inch V8, which makes 340 horsepower. Remarkably enough, the L76 uses the same solid lifter camshaft as the fuel injected L84, so it has an awesome mechanical sound and loves to rev. For you numbers junkies, the details are all correct: carburetor (Carter AFB 3461S), alternator (1100628-37A), distributor (Delco 1111024), all on a 3782870 block. It starts easily and makes an awesome sound on the road. This is a performance car, so it’s happiest when you’re running hard, but it’ll idle in traffic without getting cranky or loading up, and our experience with it says that it runs cool so have fun. Manual steering and brakes put you directly in touch with what the machinery is doing, and on a car this light, neither should be considered mandatory. It’s a lot of fun to drive!
The Muncie M20 4-speed manual transmission works as well here as anywhere else, racking through the gears with an indestructible feel that urges you to drive it hard. The ratios are well-matched to the L76’s powerband, and with 3.70 gears in back you’ll quickly learn that first gear is probably superfluous. This car is QUICK! The chassis was nicely detailed during the frame-off restoration and today shows only the most minor signs of use—some dirt here, some oozing grease on the ball joints, stuff like that. Brakes were still drums all around in ’63, but they’re plenty strong for the car’s modest weight and shouldn’t be considered a demerit, especially if you still want to show it. Steering is remarkably precise despite those vintage-looking 6.70-15 bias-ply whitewall tires.
Documentation includes an original owner’s manual, protection plan booklet, and radio guide, a reproduction window sticker, Top Flight Award with judging sheets showing a score of 95.3 points, and a detailed photo album of the restoration.
There’s nothing else quite like being in a bright red Corvette and running that high-revving small block through the gears, each shift picking up right where the last one left off. This fantastic red roadster gets it right on every single level. Call today!
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