Vehicle Description
Vehicle to be offered for Auction sale January 19th - 22nd, 2017 at Russo and Steele's 17th Annual Scottsdale Arizona Auction at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Please contact us for more information.
Soon after it's electrifying 1953 New York introduction, Chevrolet's Corvette was infused with small-block V-8 power and tirelessly developed into a formidable racing contender that shattered speed records at Daytona Beach and utterly dominated SCCA production-class road racing during the late 1950s. A large part of this success was rooted in the growing pipeline of race-bred factory options developed by Zora Arkus-Duntov and his engineers, which made it possible to buy a virtual track-ready Corvette from the dealer showroom as early as 1957 with several high-performance powertrains and competition brake and handling packages. Not even the 1957 AMA racing ban could blunt the Corvette's growing charge and by 1960, it rose to international fame with a hard-won GT 5.0 class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Upping the ante for 1963, the dramatic new second-generation Corvette Sting Ray was now available with most everything necessary for performance-minded buyers to obtain a virtually race-ready Corvette straight from the dealer floor. These race-bred updates distanced the Corvette far beyond most other production cars of the era and some would influence the design of similar industry-standard items years later. Based on fully-independent underpinnings, the new 'Vette captivated the world's motoring press and gave its spiritual godfather, Zora Arkus-Duntov, a car he could proudly take to Europe.
Carefully refined for 1964, the Corvette's body was shorn of some of the styling excesses of the previous year's models and a veritable multitude of exterior colors and interior treatments were now available. A succession of detail changes to the chassis and suspension made a great car even better than before. Powertrain choices were numerous, based around four versions of the famed 327 cubic-inch small-block V-8 ranging from the mild 250- and 300- horsepower units to the 375-horsepower "Fuelie" and the carbureted RPO L76 unit with a large Holley four-barrel carburetor and high-lift, long-duration camshaft developing 365 horsepower. Giving incredible performance on par with the vaunted "Fuelie," the L76 offered far greater flexibility and ease of service while costing $431 less. Transmission choices included one three-speed and two four-speed manual gearboxes plus the Powerglide two-speed automatic, while six rear-axle ratios were available. Record sales for 1964 gave proof positive of the Corvette's excellence.
This 1964 Corvette coupe features power by the hot L76, 365-hp 327 V-8 and it is exceptionally rare with the RPO N03 "big" 36-gallon fuel tank only available with Corvette coupes. Priced at $202 new, this item was tailor-made for endurance races to reduce the need for frequent pit stops. It was also a rare and expensive but useful option for long-distance road use. Just 38 N03 cars were assembled for 1964. According to its NCRS Shipping Data Report, this L76/N03 car was built on March 24, 1964 and it was delivered new to Courtesy Chevrolet in Los Angeles, California.
