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* The History of this 1960 Corvette S/N 00867S109025 *
1960 Corvette: Written by Owner!
This car was originally purchased by Thomas A. Duffer at the Chevrolet dealer in Hodgenville, KY. It was ordered in February, 1960 and would be the first Corvette this dealer had sold. Due to one of the options specified by Mr. Duffer (283 CID V-8 with Fuel Injection, Solid Lifters, Aluminum Heads producing 315 HP, 4 Speed T-10 transmission),
the car was not delivered until June, 1960.
According to the original owner, Mr. Duffer, whom I contacted and spoke with, the delay in delivery was due to Chevrolet having problems with the Aluminum head castings. According to 1960 Corvette production records only 759 315 HP units were built but according to NCRS there is no record of an aluminum production head ever being shipped in a 1960 Corvette. Due to problems with the Aluminum heads, on 3/17/60 Chevrolet discontinued the aluminum head (P/N 3772894) and shifted production to the cast iron head (P/N 3774693). No production Aluminum heads were ever shipped to retail customers. The vehicle was eventually delivered with the 290 HP version Fuel Injected engine. (See actual gas charge slips in front of restoration history book that led to discovery of previous owners).
Thomas Duffer owned this Corvette until 1964 putting on some 30,000 miles. In May, 1964 he was sent overseas by his employer. He left the car with a friend to sell. The friend, unfamiliar with this powerful sports car, wrecked the car and Mr. Duffer claims he “never saw the car again”. There is a blank space here in the story but, as best can be pieced together, the car languished in a storage yard.
Some time in the 1969 the car was resurrected. By this time the rare engine and transmission had been removed from the car and replaced with a 327 CID w/Powerglide from a 1967 Camaro. The last previous owner to my purchase (Leslie D. Aberson of Louisville, KY believed to be the 2nd owner) presumably bought the car through a person he had resurrected it, a person who worked for BMW of Louisville. I have spoken with Mr. Aberson on several occasions and he had this BMW mechanic do most of the work on the car, so knew little about the mechanics,
but confirmed that he sold the car in 1982 at Louisville Auto Auction.
I purchased the car in July, 1982, from a used car lot of Century Motors on St. Rt. 4 in Fairfield, OH. They had bought the car at the Louisville Auto Auction. It had approximately 36,000 miles on the odometer when purchased which,
based on my discussions with owners, were the original miles.
When I purchased the car it had a 327 CID Chevrolet engine with Powerglide. Tracing the engine number I found it came from a 1967 Camaro. When I did the frame off restoration (April, 2006 to April, 2007) I found the frame, (w/the original VIN number stamped into it) had been straightened and the left front fender and drivers side door were not original. Earlier restoration work I had done on the car found the left front wheel area, A-Frame,
tie rod ends and steering linkage needed repair.
The frame was checked during frame off restoration and found to be true.
RECONSTRUCTING THE CAR’S HISTORY:
On the basis of my discussions with previous owners and my restoration findings the following is a
scenario for this car’s life. I believe the wreck in 1964 involved striking an object on the front left side.
The car was hauled to a junk yard, even though damage was minor, as the owner was out
of the country. It apparently languished in the junk yard where the rare engine and transmission were removed. Some time later, in the 1969, when early Corvette values were beginning to rise, the car was resurrected and brought back to life with the frame straightened, a new left front fender, repair of the left front suspension, a new left door and paint job. I doubt that many miles were put on the car after resurrection since I found the suspension and steering linkage had been incorrectly repaired and needed major work when I purchased the car. Hence, only 6000 or so miles were added during this time. This leads me to believe that the mileage on the odometer (36,140 miles) when I bought the car were the original miles.
Since purchasing the car, my goal was to restore the vehicle as nearly to original as possible. This includes locating an original 1960 Corvette engine which I found in Owosso, MI (S/N 104394 F0208CT). Translating this number it is from a 1960 Corvette S/N 00867S104394. The engine was built in Flint, MI on Feb. 8, 1960 and was a dual 4 barrel with 4 speed transmission. This correctly matches the serial number production dates for this Corvette. The casting date numbers on the engine were checked when the engine was rebuilt and installed in the early 1990’s and match this time frame. The engine was purchased from the owner of a 1965 Corvette who had received this separate engine as
an addition with the purchase of his car.
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