Antique mall finds

Usually when Connie wants to go into an antique store, I'm just along for the ride, as I don't really expect to see anything in those sorts of shops of much interest. Once I did find a pretty decent tripod, or maybe an interesting tool, but by and large, I'm just there to keep Connie company as she looks around for any antique depression era etched glassware that she has an interest in.

But a little while back we were up in Dothan Alabama (for a gun show, no less) and she spotted an antique mall that looked interesting, and I actually found something I was interested in. Not sure who made these things, and certainly they can't be old enough to be really considered as antiques, but something nice to sit on the shelf, nonetheless, I think.

What is your favorite year of Corvette?

Nanci said:

What is your favorite year of Corvette?

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On looks alone, I would have to say the C2 generation (1963-1967).

But it wasn't until the C5 generation (1997-2004) when reliability, power, and comfort all came together to produce a vette I actually wanted to own.

And things do seem to be improving with every subsequent generation.

I do like the new C7s but not sure I want to pull money out of the retirement fund to buy one. But I can see that sooner or later I may not be physically able to drive a manual transmission car any longer, and that might be an influencing factor if I would like to be able to keep a Corvette in the garage or not.

GM just recently announced the new ZR1 in C7 styling, and I have to admit, I think they overdid it a bit. Maybe they are trying more to attract a much younger audience than in the past, but in my opinion the car is just, well, tacky looking.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCJOMzlJGgU

Certainly not my cup of tea. And wouldn't have been even 40 years ago.

If they invent a time machine before I die I want to go back and get my '63 split window coupe. I was sorry that I traded it in on a '68 Corvette convertible, because that one had a powerless 350 engine. Nice on the road but no power. I traded that one in for a '69 Corvette convertible 427 with factory side pipes. Wouldn't mind having that one back too. My wife said not to even look at a newer Corvette because I'd need help getting in and out of it. I told her to let me get one and I'll crawl out of it on my hands and knees if I have to.

Yeah, back when I was looking for my first car, I REALLY wish I had purchased the used 1967 427/425hp Corvette for $3,500 instead of the used 1966 GTO I only had to pay $1,200 for. At least that is what I remember the price difference being back then.

Of course, my dad was about to have a kitten when I wanted the GTO with the triple deuce carburetor system on it, so I guess his head would have really exploded over the Corvette proposition. :blowhead:

When I got my first job I was car shopping at a Roseville Michigan Plymouth dealer. The salesman told me he had something I would like if I could keep my heartbeats under 150 per minute. He showed me a Belvedere sedan that wasn't very good looking, except it sat higher than the other cheap Belvederes next to it. I looked inside and it had the typical bench seat but coming out of the floor was a beautiful Hurst shifter. He popped the hood and there was a 426 Hemi with dual quads, and a ton of chrome, plus huge headers going into what looked to be 3 inch exhaust pipes. He said it was a Super Stock race version, built very light, but with a ton of horsepower. He said I could have it for $2500 plus tax, title, and dealer prep, etc. The problem was I needed a co-signer, and my dad wouldn't sign for anything with a V-8. It took months for me to forget about that car. LOL.

Wonder what something like that would be worth right now? Probably best that you don't know, I would imagine.

I never saw one for sale, but I have seen imitations going for big bucks. I would have probably been in trouble with the law over that car, as street drags were common in my town. In 1971 the Ford dealer got a new Pantera in and the salesman talked me into trading in my '69 Vette. They wanted $10,000 for the Pantera, but when I asked him about warranty work, if needed, he said nobody at the dealership knows how to work on them. He said it can go from zero to 60 in 5.5 seconds. I said that was great until something went wrong and nobody could fix it. At least the Chevy dealer could work on my Vette.

Heck, I remember when a car that could do zero to sixty in 5.5 seconds would be considered as pretty darn FAST! Nowadays, if your car can't do that in under 5 seconds, then you must be driving grandma's grocery getter. :laugh:

I remember being proud that I could get my GTO into the thirteens in the quarter mile. And that was with custom engine mods.

Now, well, the 2015 Corvette Z06 STOCK off the showroom floor could do the quarter mile in under 11 seconds, and go zero to sixty in 2.95 seconds.

No telling what the newer models are going to be capable of. But I will tell you, it's pretty exciting to see the car manufacturers engaging in a horsepower war once again.

I was checking out a Roush Mustang and I asked the owner if it was 700 HP. He said it was the 700 HP version but he had engine work and it now had 850 HP. Can you imagine paying big bucks for the Roush and then paying for engine work too? In our younger days when you saw two strips of rubber on the road it meant someone had "got on it." Then for 30 years two strips meant someone locked up their brakes. It's good to see enough horsepower to lay down two strips again, although my wife said I'm going through my second childhood. LOL.

The guy who came down from Georgia to do the initial tune of my C5Z, who specializes in custom high powered cars, said he estimated that my car was putting down around 850hp to the rear wheels. With a custom made 427 engine and the twin turbos, that would be expected.

A while back I was talking to a guy working on a mustang he was making track ready. He had just about everything he could get out of the car stripped out of it and proudly stated that he had gotten the weight down to only 3,200 lbs. The curb weight of a stock 2015 Roush Mustand is a hair under 3,900 lbs. The stock curb weight of the 2002 Corvette Z06 is just a hair over 3,100 lbs. That is a significant weight difference.

I've never been much interested in just burning rear tires off of a car, however. All it takes is a bit of wheel hop and you've blown your drivetrain. Of course, I also have all sorts of braces and supports to keep that from happening on my car. Just in case.....

Lord have mercy, 850 at the rear wheels. Back in my day we didn't quite have the tires with such a big footprint as they do now. So you needed a bit of grab when pulling a hole shot. But there's a world of difference between smoking the tires, like the Count on Count's Kustoms does with his Corvette, and getting traction.

Traction behind lots of power always needs a fusible link in the system. Too much power and too much traction, and something important is likely going to break. Personally, I would rather the weak link in traction be the tires than anything else I can think of. Producing smoke is pretty cheap, all other things in the driveline considered and compared.

When you mentioned weight I was reminded of a 427 Shelby Cobra that usually has a curb weight of 2355 lbs. What a rocket ship. I was riding my bike on a paved back road and a Cobra passed me, doing all of 20mph. The driver looked about 80 years old and I don't know why he was going so slow. I yelled 550hp? and he said yes. I followed until he turned on to a road with posted speed of 55. I wanted to see him crank that 427, which sure sounded mean. He shifted gears and I swear he never got above 1500rpm
and a top speed of 45. What a let down.

Those look to be Hofbauer magic crystal models.

Buttons said:

Those look to be Hofbauer magic crystal models.

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Thanks. Yes, I found that out when I did a search on "crystal corvettes". Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they made very many models of the vettes. I think they made a C1 version, which I guess I would pick up if I ever find one at some antique shop Connie wants to visit.