1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window Coupe

The arrival of the Corvette Sting Ray in 1963 marked a dramatic turning point for America’s sports car. With its four-wheel independent suspension, available fuel-injected 327 V-8, and unmistakable Split-Window Coupe styling, the new Corvette was as technically advanced as it was visually arresting. Its competition potential was immediately apparent, particularly in Z06 form, and the model quickly became a formidable presence in SCCA racing. ‌ The Corvette presented here, chassis 30837S102899, was completed in November 1962, finished in Riverside Red with a black interior, and equipped with the desirable L84 fuel-injected 327/360 hp V-8. Its original owner, Southern California racer Gary Pickens, was associated with Harry Mann Chevrolet, the prominent Los Angeles dealership that advertised itself as America’s largest Corvette dealer. ‌ When the first Z06 Corvettes made their competition debut at Riverside in October 1962, the limited initial allocation left Pickens without one of Chevrolet’s new factory-prepared racers. Undeterred, he acquired this fuel-injected Split-Window Coupe and prepared it for SCCA racing with a roll cage, extensive weight-saving measures, competition brakes, and other specialized equipment. Although not a factory-built Z06, the Corvette shared its fuel-injected engine specification and reportedly incorporated appropriate competition components as they became available. ‌ Pickens gave the car its memorable identity by rendering its competition number, 711, as a pair of dice. Throughout 1963, the red “7 11” Corvette appeared at sports car meetings across Southern California. Available records indicate that Pickens placed 3rd in Class at Del Mar in April and 2nd in Class at Santa Barbara in May. At the Riverside divisional races in June, the Corvette retired with distributor trouble; that October, Pickens again campaigned the “7 11” in the Riverside One Hour, held during the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix weekend. ‌ The Corvette’s most memorable appearance, however, came not at the racetrack but on the silver screen. During the summer of 1963, MGM assembled an extraordinary group of genuine racing cars for the production of Viva Las Vegas, starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. With its vivid paintwork and distinctive dice livery, Pickens’ Corvette was ideally suited to the film’s climactic road-race sequence. According to an account attributed to Pickens’ friend Peter Luongo, MGM rented the car and engaged Pickens to drive it during filming, reportedly awarding him a $500 bonus for performing its memorable spinout. ‌ Pickens continued racing the Corvette into 1964 and installed a replacement fuel-injected 327/375 hp competition engine after the original unit was damaged. The car later passed to racer Ron Herrera and, in 1972, entered private ownership in Los Angeles. Still substantially in competition configuration, it was eventually placed into storage and remained out of public view for nearly four decades. ‌ Rediscovered in 2011, the Split-Window Coupe was acquired by Corvette specialists Mike Scott and Gary Nabers. Nabers Brothers of Houston, Texas, subsequently completed a comprehensive restoration, preserving much of the surviving interior, the period-replacement 1964 engine, and Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed gearbox. Presented in its celebrated No. 711 livery and period competition configuration, it received the NCRS American Heritage Award and was accepted into the Registry of Corvette Race Cars. ‌ For approximately the past decade, the “7 11” Corvette has resided in a significant private collection containing some of the finest postwar sports, GT, and racing cars. Sparingly used during this period, it has been exercised occasionally on the road and enjoyed as the charismatic dual-purpose sports car it was intended to be. ‌ Combining genuine period competition history, evocative Southern California provenance, and an unforgettable appearance in Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas, this early Corvette race car possesses a character, visual appeal, and cultural significance few of its contemporaries can match. *Please note that this vehicle is sold on a Bill of Sale. car

Schätzpreis:€267,225

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