Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Another Corvette World’s Record in the Making?

Right on the heels of the record breaking sale of a 1967 L88 Stingray
for $3.2M at Mecum’s Dallas Auction September 7, Dana Mecum is out
to break his own record for the price paid for a Corvette.The “Dealmaker” knew he’d have to do
something spectacular for an encore at his upcoming Chicagoland Auction,
October 10-12, and as if pulling a rabbit out of a hat he is magically offering
the special modified 1963 Corvette given to Harley Earl by GM honoring his
contribution to the corporation and the Corvette: Harley Earl’s personal Corvette. That's right, Harley Earl's personal modified 1963 Corvette, the unique Corvette that has been invited to Bloomington Gold more than any Corvette in history.

The car became Earl’s daily driver while he lived in Palm
Beach, Florida, during the first years of his retirement.It is a Nassau Blue, 300 HP, convertible
with several one-of-a-kind features: custom through-the-body side exit exhaust,
special gauges which included an altimeter, accelerometer, inside/outside
temperature, and vacuum pressure.In
addition the car has stainless steel door and foot well inserts and plush
carpeting, custom blue leather seats with white trim and dual circuit 1965
style 4 wheel disc brakes.The lot
number of the car is S110 and will cross the block at Mecum’s Chicago auction
in Shaumburg, Illinois, on Saturday, October 12, along with a thousand other
collector cars during the three day event.

Harley J. Earl is the father of the Corvette which he
conceived in the early 1950’s and introduced to the public in 1953.After a rocky start the Corvette has gone on
to be the most iconic car in America.Following his retirement as Vice President of Design for General Motors in
1958, Earl continued to stay on as a consultant, and in 1963 the corporation
wanted to recognize his outstanding contribution and had this special Corvette
built (shop order 10323) based on the 1963 Corvette show car exhibited at the
Chicago Car Show.After Earl designed
the LaSalle in 1927, Alfred Sloan, CEO of GM, was so impressed with his talent
that in 1928, he created the Art and Color Department of General Motors and
appointed Earl as the head.Earl became
the dean of Detroit stylists and set the bar for automobile styling in
America.

Each year the winner of the premier Daytona 500 receives the
vaunted Harley J. Earl Trophy, and in 1965, as Grand Marshall of the season-opening
NASCAR event, drove his special Corvette on a parade lap before the race.After
selling the car later in the 1960’s its ownership history was temporarily lost
until it resurfaced, identity unknown, in 1973. It was purchased at a bankruptcy sale for
$1500 by a amateur racers who intended on drag racing the unusual car.But before they moved ahead with their
project they decided the car might be significant, so they let the car sit for
seven years.

In 1980, they took the car to Corvettes at Carlisle and offered it or sale.The car received a lot of attention, although
there were no buyers.One enthusiast,
Joe Clark, was particularly interested in the car since it was an aberration
having a 1963 VIN and several 1965 components along with custom exhausts which
came through the side of the body where the stock 1963 Corvette had side
vents.Though he did not buy the car at
Carlisle he could not forget it.Research
revealed the car resembled the Chicago 1963 show car and decided that the
Corvette was more than a customizer’s attempt to mimic the show car.He arranged to re-inspect the car in 1981,
and after a month of negotiations with the owners, its identity still unknown,
he bought the car.One evening while
Clark was dismantling the car with Ken Heckert, another Corvette enthusiast, he
discovered a hand-written number code inside a door trim panel: S.O.10323.Following prompting from knowledgeable
Corvette enthusiasts, he enlisted the help of General Motors.Clark
and his partner in the project, restoration specialist Bob Gold, visited the GM
Design Staff and confirmed the car as the very one custom-built gift to Harley
Earl.

Once the origin of the car was nailed down it was restored
to the exact specifications of the car when it was bestowed on Harley
Earl.The Corvette has gone on to
become one of the most significant Corvettes ever produced.It has been invited to Bloomington Gold more
often than any other car and is a Corvette Hall of Fame inductee.The Harley Earl Corvette is a one-of-a-kind
factory special with a historic and illustrious pedigree. Now I was not an economics major but I do understand the law of supply and demand. The record setting 1967 L88 Corvette sold on September 7th in Dallas was a magnificent car. It had undergone a concours level restoration from Nabers Brothers, it had a strong documented race heritage, and it was one of twenty L88 Corvettes produced in 1967. It sold for $3.2M. This car also has an even more impressive provenance, was Harley Earl's personal Corvette, and was the only Corvette produced with modified features and has been the most invited Corvette to Bloomington in history. That's one of one, not one of twenty. It was the "father of the Corvette's personal car which he actually drove for a few years. Now you don't have to be a genius to figure out which car is more rare and significant. So you decide what could this car be worth? Based
on the car’s provenance, pedigree, build specifications and one-of-a-kind
status, the world’s record set in Dallas earlier this month may very well be a
short-lived record.

Rick Tavel …is a free lance automotive journalist and an avid car enthusiast. Though he spent his professional career as a business executive, now retired, he devotes his time to writing, organizing Corvette events, and evaluating Corvettes for prospective owners for his company R/TCorvetteConsultants.He is currently working on a book about the significance and development of the 1999 and 2000 Corvette Hardtop, known as the Fixed Roof Coupe. He raced as an avocation when he was younger and held an SCCA Professional Racing license and raced in the Minneapolis Grand Prix. He was active in the PCA. He currently owns a Corvette C5 FRC and a Corvette C6 Grand Sport convertible. In addition he owns and shows a vintage Pontiac Trans Am "survivor" which he is going to sell to acquire a 2nd Generation Corvette. He graduated from the University of Kentucky’s School of Journalism. When he isn't writing, researching, painting or driving he is usually enjoying time with his grand daughter, Avery, in her wonderful world of discovery and make believe. He lives with his wife and his dog, "Jazz", a West Highland White Terrier, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Gold Canyon, Arizona."

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