Chris’s 1968 Convertible

Membership # 432 -  Joined - July 2011
My Vette has an interesting history.  Built in Bowling Green Kentucky in 1968, it came off the production line in Safari Yellow with black trim and a hard top.  It was painted red in the US before being imported to Australia by Ian Parkinson some 30 years ago. Ian had it converted and then he stripped it down before repainting it in it's current colour (Midnight Blue is as close as I can get to describing the colour).  I met Ian in 1985 when our wives gave birth to daughters on the same day.  As a neighbour and close friend I watched him going through renovating his car - something he didn't quite finish before succumbing to cancer.  He passed away seven years ago and the car was left virtually undriven, with his two daughters taking it out only occasionally.  

Admiring the Vette since I first saw it, I eventually bought it from Ian's wife Melinda some 8 months ago.  There was a fair bit of work to be done - the tyres were worn, flat and the rubber was perished, the exhaust was rusted out, the transmission had dumped it's fluid all over the floor, and the brakes needing repair.  The engine hadn't been started for three years and when it did finally kick there was enough blue smoke to set off all the smoke alarms in the street.  Did I mention the miss!  It miss-fired on one cylinder and despite a new dizzy, new leads and newish-looking plugs I couldn't get it running on all 8!  Thinking I had to do some internal work on the engine, I put the car in to a mechanic who sorted the problem out almost immediately.  It turned out that one plug was not pulling it's weight.

This car was crying out to be driven regularly, something I've done in between spending some time bringing the paintwork and chrome back to a good finish.  Although the wheels gave the car a good stance on the road (the suspension had been lowered just a bit), they too were screaming for some attention.  Spending about two days on each wheel, I sanded and polished the alloy, and finally painted the badly stained rough cast metal.  I describe the wheels now as "lipstick on a model" - the finishing touch that makes my car stand out as Corvettes do so well anyway.

I've left Ian's number plates on the car for two reasons.  Firstly, they fit neatly into the frames, but more importantly they are a testament to the hard work and dedication that Ian put into the car before he passed away. 

I'm looking forward finishing the interior, and in spending many enjoyable days in my new Vette.

Chris