1956 Corvette C 1
Meet Mike Lacey,one of the UK's foremost 'Vetteheads with a collection of six amazing Corvettes, although here we're just lookingat one: his amazing 1956 Cl. ..
There are a great many enthusiasts who have a keen interest in Corvettes; some go further and positively develop a passion, and then there are those who become totally obsessed... Mike Lacey, a CCCUK stalwart and previous Nationals organiser, is definitely the latter and now owns a small collection of six models: "It all started around 20 years ago, when I mentioned to my wife that I'd really like to own a Corvette," he recalls. "She replied that the CCCUK Nationals were coming up very soon and maybe we should go along. That weekend the event included a corral, where members were invited to enter their cars that were for sale and a red C3 rather caught our eye. My wife looked it over, inspected the interior and said, 'This is a nice example, I think we should purchase this one."' Needing no further encouraging or prompting, Mike spoke to the owner, agreed a price and struck a deal.
Mike's interest in Corvettes subsequently grew and grew, along with his ambitions to acquire more. Working as an engineer in the petrochemical industry, he was regularly travelling worldwide to 36 different countries on five continents. He spent a great deal of time in the US, where he became even more acquainted with American cars and of course,
Corvettes in particular.
"This definitely kept the fire burning, so I decided to purchase a Corvette
CS, which was followed by a 1964 C2 convertible that I imported from Houston,
Texas. By now I was at the stage where I didn't know which car to take to a show, but that didn't stop my yearning for more Corvettes and so along came a 1963 C2 split window model that I purchased here in the UK. This was followed by a 1978 C3 Anniversary model, which is a project car." Mike has never been that impressed with the Corvette C4 and owning one of them didn't really enter into the equation, so all that remained for him was to purchase a Corvette Cl .
"It took me two years to source and purchase a suitable example and the options to acquire one in the UK were very limited," he explains. "I didn't see anything that matched or came close to the Cl that I purchased in the US. I was originally aware of this car some six months before it was advertised on a website to be auctioned by Sotheby's in Indiana. I wasn't keen to go down the auction route in the US and reluctantly didn't pursue this car any further, preferring to go in search of other cars."
Four months later Mike was still surfing the net and suddenly saw a Cl that looked remarkably like the one that had been in the Sotheby's auction in Indiana. It was being advertised by a dealer in Springfield, Ohio, who specialised in Corvettes and muscle cars. Mike referred to some photos of the model being sold at auction and there in the corner of the windscreen was an NCRS(National Corvette Restorers Society) sticker. He looked at the current advertisement set of photos and, sure enough, the same sticker was clearly legible in the windscreen in exactly the same position; this was definitely the same car. Apparently the Corvette didn't reach its reserve price at the auction, didn't sell and was subsequently purchased by the dealer who was now selling it. Quite a bit of work had been completed, including fitting a new white soft top, new carpets and so on. Mike subsequently purchased this car, which was shipped to the UK, arriving on December 18, 2018. Who needs Christmas presents when you've just taken delivery of a 1956 Cl, a model which a great many 'Vetteheads love and admire?
This 1956 Corvette Cl is one of only 3467 produced that year, with a base price of $3100. It's finished in the very attractive colour of Cascade Green, with beige coves and a beige interior. It's one of only 147 cars finished with this colour combination (Jay Leno also has one) and we wonder how many others have survived? The original owner ran the car for 35 years. Its second owner ran it for 15 years and the third completed a body-off chassis restoration to NCRS Top Flight standard back in the Nineties. Since then the car has covered almost 6000 miles and has been refurbished again. It's a matching numbers car, with the 265cu in VB engine tuned to 225bhp, courtesy of a Rochester dual four-barrel carburettor setup and the gearbox is three-speed manual - 1956 was the first year that the Cl was fitted with VB engines. And although this Cl is a convertible, it looks just as good as a hardtop when fitted with the separate removable hardtop - the aesthetics of either make for a beautiful-looking car.
"I certainly wasn't disappointed with the Cl when it arrived," states Mike. "However, once you get to know a car, then you find out little bits and pieces that require doing
to make a great car even better. Since taking delivery of the Cl, I have worked diligently in further fine detailing, tidying, etc. I have pretty high standards myself and spending time improving things was very enjoyable too. All the dashboard instruments were working except for the ammeter. I then discovered that the voltage regulator wasn't working." Finding a replacement proved to be a cinch. "By a stroke of luck, Claremont Corvette had an original regulator sitting on the shelf. It arrived by post two days later, was fitted and, hey presto, the ammeter worked again perfectly!"
Mike decided that he'd very much like to have his Cl inspected and judged by the UK Chapter of the NCRS,so in early September 2019, a team of judges descended on his house (including UK marque guru Tom Falconer) to inspect the car with a fine-tooth comb. The ultimate aim was to see if it was within reach of a Top Flight Award, something that the car achieved back in the US many years ago; 1956 was the first year that the Cl was fitted with windscreen washer jets and apparently the washer motor on Mike's car is from a 1957 model. Another interesting thing noted by Tom Falconer was that although some Cl s had four rear leaf springs, some had five, but Mike's car had seven. "Each one of the judges then spent time with me explaining their findings and getting my opinion and views," he explains. "Then the judging sheets are sent to the US for processing and verification and after that, I will receive a Flight judging certificate, hopefully a Top Flight Award...
"DRIVING THE C1 CAN BE A BIT DEMANDING FOR US OLDER GUYS, AS IT DOES MOVE ABOUT A LITTLE ON POORLY SURFACED ROADS, DUE TO THE CROSS-PLIES."
"Occasionally the judging requirements seemed to go beyond sanity. For example, I would have been marked down had I not had an original ignition key. Presenting a replacement meant a loss of points. Also brought to my attention was that the shade of red paint on the engine block may not be correct. The silencer boxes on the exhaust system are round in shape; they should be oval. The engine oil dipstick looked too new to be original and so on. Needless to say, I started to get a little wound up!" It's inevitable that after five hours of intense judging of your pride and joy, undergoing the closest of scrutiny, you're bound to get a bit on edge, but that's what NCRSjudging is all about - the most meticulous attention to detail.
The 1956 Cl with its VBengine is certainly no slouch on the road either, with brisk, lively performance. In fact, we had trouble keeping up with Mike as he drove to the photoshoot location. Skinny, cross-ply tyres definitely suit the original period look, although they do have their foibles, especially on uneven and contoured road surfaces: "Driving the Cl can be a bit demanding for us older guys, as it does move about a little on poorly surfaced roads, due to the cross-plies," he grins, "also because the gear selection on most cars is forward for first gear, but on the Cl, first is straight back. Reverse gear is forward, so if you are sitting at traffic lights and forget what you're doing, then you could go to pull away and shoot backwards instead!"
Whether you're a big fan of the Corvette Cl or not, you can't help but admire the two-tone colour scheme on this particular car - using the coves as an accent colour certainly makes it stand out most impressively. Its body styling is fabulously curvaceous and Mike's Cl is a superb example of the model. With his Corvette collection, he's definitely spoilt for choice as to which car he takes for a run. "I nearly forgot to mention that I also own a Corvette Cl as well," he muses. Totally obsessed with Corvettes? Oh * yes, definitely!