Vehicle Description
1963 Chevrolet Corvette - Split Window Fuelie
In 1963 the "Sting Ray" was born and this was a huge year for
Corvettes! It was the first year that the car was ever offered with
a roof and production sky rocketed from around 14,500 units to
21,500. This is a big feat considering the previous year was
setting records for the first generation of vettes and was followed
by nearly a 50 percent increase in sales. This is in part due to
the drastic change in the appearance that would forever set
Corvette apart from any other model out there. In fact, one article
from corvetteonline.com is quoted as saying "While the '57 Fuelie
put the Corvette on the performance car world stage, one could
argue that it was the '63 split window that turned the Corvette
into a lasting automotive icon. Whereas the first generation
Corvette had sought to ape the design cues from Europe's best, the
second generation car was unmistakably American, a design which
would inspire a multitude of sports cars (not to mention subsequent
Corvettes) for years to come." There was close to a 50/50 split of
roadsters to coupes sold but the coupe actually pulled a higher
price which is something you don't see often in car sales. The
split window body style was the brainchild of Bill Mitchell's team
at GM and although he was a fan of the look the project head
disliked the split window appearance so it was discontinued in
following years. This made the 1963 quite rare considering it's the
only one of its kind. Well not only is the classic you see here a
true 1963 Corvette split window coupe, but it also was factory
ordered with the highest performance motor available in that time,
the fuel injected 327. Only 2,610 63 Corvettes were released with
the fuelie motor making this already rare car even more rare! This
car has been extremely well maintained since new spending the
majority of its life in 1 family. It is all original except for the
radiator, coil, starter and 1 repaint. It is coated in the original
Riverside Red color that is free of any stress cracks. All of the
body panels are original and it has never been wrecked or had any
body repairs since new. The Soft Ray tinted glass is in great shape
as is all of the original chrome and stainless. Knock off wheels
are another rare factory option this car possesses and they are
wrapped with Coker white wall tires. This truly is a beautiful
example of a rare original survivor car.
As mentioned previously the motor is the 327 V8 with factory fuel
injection. Any work that has been done on the engine has been
professionally done and well documented. The radiator, coil and
starter are the only things that aren't original to the car but the
original radiator and coil do come with the car. The fuel injection
system has been recently rebuilt by Doug Prince out of California
and it received a NOS copper spider. The distributor has also been
restored. The car runs very well and for the past 8 years has been
stored/run with leaded High Octane fuel to maintain the fuel
injection system. Paired with the motor is the original 4 speed
manual transmission that moves through the gears smoothly and sends
power back to the original 4:11 rear end. The car runs down the
road very comfortably and the power brakes slow it to a stop
smoothly.
The interior of the car is original as well and was ordered in
Black which works perfectly with the Red exterior. The upholstery
work is in good condition and from the dash to the rear package
tray everything is just like it was from the factory. With the
start of the C2 generation the cars continued to have the twin cowl
design but the interior had an improved layout and seemed to be
more driver focused. This is partly why the car has the oversized
speedometer and tachometer both of which are still working as well
as the 80 pound oil pressure gauge that is in place. Another
factory option includes the Wonderbar AM/FM radio.
This is a very nice, rare classic that belongs to that special
group of cars that fit into automotive history. It is the type of
car typically hidden away in collections or sitting behind the
velvet rope in museums. They don't come up for sale very often and
with their popularity gaining now is a great opportunity to buy
one.
Call for price!
