Fifty years ago, four very early production Sting Ray split window Z06-optioned coupes with Duntov’s blessings, left St. Louis on a mission: Establish the new Corvette in the international road racing community. Mission accomplished!
It was one of Zora Duntov’s finest hours. The date: October 14, 1962. The place: Riverside Raceway. The occasion: The fifth annual Los Angeles Times Grand Prix Invitational, a three-hour enduro. Although Chevrolet, like other GM divisions, was not officially in racing, it’s presence at the track – both in hardware and talent – was obvious to say the least. It was a banner day for the Number One Team!
Four brand new specially optioned split-window, big-tank coupes, powered by 360-horsepower Rochester fuel-injected 327 engines, were driven from the plant in St. Louis, MO to Long Beach, CA. They were driven rather than trucked to accumulate break-in miles. In the true sense of the word, they were production Corvettes that anyone could have ordered. Chevrolet essentially used Riverside Raceway to introduce the all-new ’63 Corvette to spectators as well as racers.
These four Sting Rays were the first production ’63 Corvettes to be fitted with the new Z06 “Special Performance Equipment for Coupes” option and, at the time, the most expensive Corvette coupe you could order. Later in the production cycle, both coupes and convertibles could be ordered with Option Z06. The “Riverside Tankers” were equipped with the new Z06 road-racing package that included special brakes and suspension, 360-horsepower FI motors and 36.5-gallon fuel tanks, below. After being driven from the plant in St. Louis to Mickey Thompson’s shop in Long Beach, the four cars were hastily prepared for the Riverside Grand Prix.
Even though driven by Bob Bondurant, Jerry Grant, Doug Hooper and Dave MacDonald, the chances of brand new automobiles with untested (on a race track) suspensions and brakes, even finishing was a long shot. The drivers were pros and experienced racers did the prep, but the competition was intimidating. As might be expected in a three-hour endurance race, three of the four Corvettes experienced mechanical failures and were retired. However, the fourth Corvette (#119) driven by Doug Hooper averaged over 84 mph for the more than 250-mile race, putting him on the podium to take a First! Artist George Bertels illustrated the cover of CORVETTE NEWS, (Vol.10, No.3) showing Hooper & his Z06 at Riverside, above.
Many established marques fell prey that day to the all-new Corvette, including Carroll Shelby’s new Cobra. Within days of its public introduction, the ’63 Corvette had already gained track cred and road racing would never be the same again. Zora, his team and a bunch of Chevrolet and GM executives were very happy! Even though Chevrolet was not in racing, an early '63 Corvette factory press release photo showed the new split-window Fuelie with a guy holding a helmet and wearing a USAC racing suit, below!
Like the legendary big-block L88 and ZL1 (1967-1969), the original Z06 Corvettes were engineered for racing and ill suited for normal street driving. Approximately ten times more Z06 Corvettes were produced in 1963 than L88s in 1967 and many were driven on the street. The 327/360 Fuelie Z06 Corvettes were considerably more streetable than the later big-blocks that had outrageous compression ratios, aluminum heads and convenience option deletes. Corvettes optioned with Z06 came with brakes that worked efficiently only when warmed-up and suspensions that were seriously stiff. Of course, filling a 36.5-gallon tank with high-test today would give new meaning to “sticker shock!”
Then there was the issue of cost, responsible for keeping Z06 production to under-200 units. A base ’63 Corvette coupe had an MSRP of $4,257 and the original Z06 option price was $1,818.45, including the optional 327/360 FI engine, right. Later in the production year, the option price was reduced to $1,293.95 as it excluded KO wheels and the 36.5-gallon tank.
Duntov’s Z06 package for the ’63 Corvette, a extension of his work with earlier solid-axle RPO-684 racing Corvettes, included in addition to the FI motor, a new 36.5-gallon tank, special suspension (springs, shocks and stabilizer bar) brake drum air scoops, special brakes with finned drums and cooling fans, forward self-adjusting brake mechanisms, sintered-metallic linings, dual-circuit master cylinder with power booster, Muncie four-speed and knock-off alloy wheels.
A very limited number of early Corvettes actually came through with the knock-offs, as there were serious casting problems. Few were actually installed on the line in St. Louis with most installed by dealers later in the year. Production Corvettes came through with standard black steel wheels and hubcaps, while all Z06 models were delivered with body-color painted steel wheels.
Fifty years ago at Riverside Raceway a podium finish for the new Z06 Corvette thanks to Doug Hooper and Mickey Thompson, established the brand as an international sports car racing challenger and crowned Zora Duntov King for a Day. He continued to create legends for years to come!
For more about the legendary Z06 Corvettes and photos from the historic 1962 Riverside Grand Prix, please visit The Registry of Corvette Race Cars,
http://corvetteregistry.smugmug.com/Cars/Legendary-1963-ZO6-RaceCars/26084933_m2fpsL#!i=2166699830&k=Xr9tsNx
And Dave MacDonald’s site, http://www.davemacdonald.net/gallery/closeups/00stingray.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment