Alotta love for a little red Corvette
Bought four decades ago, car painstakingly restored to its original 1962 glory
Bob McKay: Wheels Reader Occupation: Dentist The Car: 1962 Chevrolet Cor- vette
I grew up in Oshawa and always wanted a Corvette after three of us went to the Orillia Folk Festival in our friend Max Darlington’s 1957 or ’58 Corvette to see Ian and Sylvia Tyson. It was about1959, and I was 16
Following high school in Oshawa, I studied dentistry at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1968, and moved to St. Catharines, Ont.
In 1973, I bought my red 1962 Corvette convertible from my mechanic for $4,000. The last year of the first-generation C1 series (1953-62), it had the soft top, mag wheels. Although it was missing some parts and accessories, this was my chance.
A year later I got a phone call from a friend who said there was an ad in the paper for a ’62 hardtop for sale in Niagara-onthe-Lake. I drove there in the Corvette and met the owner. “This was my car!” he ex- claimed, realizing he was a previous owner.
He had the original wheels, the ’62 wheel covers, the front chrome bar, the glove box and some other parts.
He wanted $300 for the top and I said: “I’ll give you $350 for all of it.” At the time, a friend who was a car buff said I got more than $1,000 worth of parts that day.
That was the start of my mission to make the car as original as possible. I joined the National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS) and I’m still a member today. It’s the best option for repairs, original and new parts. I got the society’s 1953 to 1972 specification guide, judging and technical manuals.
I found out that most of my car was original, with correct matching numbers. The VIN number dates the assembly of my Corvette to July 18, 1962, and the engine, transmission, rear end, and many other parts are original with correct matching numbers. It even had the original Wonder Bar radio.
I bought a correct interior from Texas and had it installed in St. Catharines. A stainless steel ’62 exhaust system was installed and a new set of radial white wall tires were put on. I had the car repainted in acrylic enamel using the correct ’62 paint codes, which won’t crack like the original paint.
A new four-barrel carburetor made it true to original specifications, with engine chrome, stickers, valve covers and many other missing parts making it all period correct. I made a list of all missing original parts and I’m still working on this bit by bit.
In 2003, the NCRS’s Ontario chapter classed it as a Level 3 car with an 81.5-point score. With recent upgrades I’m sure it is likely a Level 2 (85 points) today. To be top-ranked you need a score of at least 94 and my only regret was to not have done body-off restoration, as getting to Level 1 is impossible without it. Show us your Candy Got a cool custom or vintage car? Send us high-res, horizontal pictures (at least 1 MB) of you (and your family) with your beauty and tell us your story in 300 to 600 words, giving us all the details of how you found your car and why you love it so much. We love photos — the more the better — of the interior, trim, engine, wheels, and emblems.
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