1960 Chevrolet Corvette Competition Coupe “Le Mans”
1960 Chevrolet Corvette C1 Competition Coupe Race Auto met history
4.7 liter 283 cui V8 motor met +-400 pk, gekoppeld aan een manuele transmissie met 4 versnellingen
Professioneel door Corvette Specialist opgebouwde Classic Race Corvette inclusief Fia keurmerk
Deze Corvette heeft succesvol deelgenomen aan diverse classic races oa; Le Mans Legends, Silverstone Classic en de 6uurs race op Spa Francorchamps
Bel ons nu voor meer informatie over deze speciale Corvette
Tom Falconer, Judging Chairman of the UK Chapter of the National Corvette Restorers Society, rebuilt this Corvettte, his approach to the 1960 Corvette was “The way it was, not the way we wish it was”.
The JRG Special 1960 Corvette was raced in the early sixties at East Coast circuits in the hands of a racer called Sarno from Long Island, New York. It was just another 1960 Corvette with the option 419 hardtop and no folding roof, the bumpers and hubcaps removed – a typical ‘B-Production’ Sports Car club of America weekend warrior of the era, probably driven to the circuits not trailered and not sufficiently modified to make the winner’s circle. After a few seasons, the launch of the very affordable 1963 Corvette Sting Ray with its all-independent suspension and superior brakes and handling pushed the old live-axle Vettes like this even further down the field in SCCA races, and this car was retired from the track to pursue a career in drag racing. The JRG is a sister to the four white Corvettes that arrived at Le Mans on 1960, and made such an impressive showing in a race which, luckily for them, was the one of the wettest on record, when the Fitch-Grossman car entered by Briggs Cunningham finished eight overall, a placing not matched by a Corvette for another 45 years.
When bought by Bernie Chodosh in 1989, it was little more than a wreck with the rear arches cut to accommodate giant drag-racing slicks, and only a roll-bar to remind of its racing career, its valuable hardtop long since sold, and it lay in a back yard in Long Island. In September 2005 Tom bought an original hardtop that had once belonged to Charles Saatchi, who’s 1959 he used to service. In a brief discussion about the hardtop with Bernie, the restoration project was planned, Tom sketched an impression of the finished car in felt-tip and crayon, and they arranged to ship the remains of the JRG racer from New York to Kent.
Completed in just over 12 months, the 1960 is as correct as it can be, while still being safe to race. The chassis has been gusseted as recommended in GM’s own performance leaflets, probably penned by chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov himself, while the suspension is strictly stock, but again with period gusseting and aggressive castor settings. Brakes are period heavy-duty drums, drilled for cooling. The wheels are original steels, correctly painted Roman Red, not the expensive Halibrand type used by on the Cunningham cars at Le Mans. Heart of the car is a the 4.7 litre 283 cubic inch cast iron small block, actually a 3756519 casting from mid-1959, prepared and tuned to deliver just short of 400bhp at 7000 rpm. In the pursuit of originality, even the exhaust manifolds are correct period cast iron instead of the usual modern tubular headers. Drive is a through an almost contemporary alloy cased GM 4-speed to the cart-sprung live rear axle.
The car was displayed at Goodwood for the first time on March 3rd, where it collected its FIA papers; the inspector said that he was impressed by the period detail and meticulous preparation.
