No, you're not imagining things, and no, we didn't reverse the photos. The steering wheel on this month's cover car is on the right, the better for keeping this C1 under control on the roads Down Under.
Owned by Barbara and David Kelly of Queensland, this '62 Vette has had virtually every square inch of its fiberglass body customized in one way or another. In fact, just about the only things left untouched are the upper door hinges.
The Kellys initially laid eyes on the car at their first club run after joining the Queensland Corvette Club in 2002. Originally imported from America by Australian rock star Jimmy Barnes, the car was being displayed by then-owner Bill Dixon. It was love at first sight, but Bill wasn't entertaining thoughts of selling the C1 at the time. Barbara and David were forced to wait until the next year when they saw Bill and his Corvette at the Brisbane Hotrod and Street Machine show in the Queensland Club area. Bill mentioned he was thinking of selling the car, and a price was agreed on the next day. Barbara and David had their car.
Their first drive with the C1 proved far from positive. They were shocked to find that such a beautiful Corvette drove "like an old truck." Once the two had the car home, they set out to make the Vette an all-around stellar piece.
At the top of the agenda was improving the car's ride and handling. Keith Fackrell and Geoff Hay at KCF Rallysport in Kippa-Ring got the call to revamp the front and rear suspension by mounting late-C4 parts. They started with a one-off tubular front crossmember, which was used to mount the front suspension from a '96 Grand Sport. The unit bolted to the original crossmember mount points with welded-in upper control-arm and shock mounts. For steering duties, KCF modified an Oldsmobile rack-and-pinion unit, which was revalved by Brisbane-based Corvette Automotive for better feel. The rack is connected to a Flaming River column in polished stainless. Custom adjustable shocks were fitted to the front end for the best handling possible.
Out back, KCF modified the C1 chassis and mounts to accept the 3.70-geared Dana 44 rearend out of a '96 Vette. During the process, KCF built custom coilover shocks and mounting brackets to replace the original '96 transverse-mounted leafspring. The custom mounting system spreads the rear suspension load over three points rather than using the original shock mount, giving the car excellent rear-handling qualities.
From there, it was time to prep the Vette for its drivetrain. KCF converted the early-style front engine mounts to late-model side mounts and fabricated a transmission crossmember to mount a T56 six-speed. While underneath the car, KCF also performed some needed chassis repairs. Little did the crew at KCF Rallysport know they would eventually spend 600 hours getting the running gear up to snuff on the C1. As the accompanying photos attest, the results were well worth the effort.
To push the new suspension and steering to the max, Sam's Performance in Sydney built a 383 stroker pushing over 400 hp on the dyno. The motor has a Scat stroker crank, as well as forged rods and pistons, ported and polished Trick Flow aluminum heads with Isky valvesprings, and a custom-grind Sam's camshaft. Induction duties are handled by a Katicore EFI manifold with eight individual throttle bodies controlled by an Autronic EFI computer, with a CPI ignition and four coil packs to light the air/fuel mixture.
Power from the motor is routed through a T56 six-speed tranny that is attached to a modified Hurst shifter and connected to the C4 rear by a custom-made driveshaft. Exhaust is piped out through a one-off system built by Exotic Exhaust.
Once all the new running gear was in place, it was time to work on the body, interior, and paint. While Annvid Upholstery was recovering the stock seats in vanilla Scottish leather, LDI Kustom Koncepts went to work smoothing, frenching, and modifying the body of the '62. Modifications included removing the front sill molds and side-scoops, molding the underdash area and kick panels, reshaping the wheel arches to better fit the wheels, removing the door handles inside and out (they've been replaced with a remote-operated solenoid system), and a litany of other body and interior tweaks. Lindsay Houston handled the task of spraying the Corvette in PPG 24 Karat Gold and Cinnamon Candy as well as blending in the flames and highlights.
The total rebuild took three years and an astonishing 3,500 man hours of work, but according to Barbara and David, the results make all the time worthwhile. Since the Corvette emerged from the shop, it's been on the Australian National Show Car Circuit, and it was selected as a finalist in the '06 Meguiar's Superstar Series Top Mild Custom class at the Sydney Motorex.
From the eye-popping color to the endless depth of the customization and modifications, this Corvette has definitely achieved one-of-a-kind status.