1967 Corvette C2 Big Block Manual following repairs/restoration works.
There is something about a two-seater convertible car with a V8 Engine.
Ever since my father and I built a Rover V8 powered Formula 27 (Caterham replica) Kit Car (nearly 30 years ago), I’ve been hooked on the noise and overwhelming rawness that sitting low in a lightweight sportscar gives you. Then when you add in that noise from V8 side pipes that bellow right beside your ears, you know that your about to have an assault on your senses.
So when this 1967 Big Block Manual Convertible Corvette arrived in our workshop for some recommissioning and repairs, it was certainly a car I was quite eager to drive.
I won’t bore you too much with the repair work, but in short it involved going through the triple carburettors, the Fuel tank, the brakes and some repair/machining work to the gearbox linkage, as the car was attempting to select two gears at once.
After the guys had managed to resolve the issues, I do like to do a final test drive myself on larger projects (whenever possible) and as I was clearly keen to see how the car drove.
Now despite my initial thinking this would be like the Formular 27 car we had built, it’s worth pointing out that the C2 Corvette isn’t actually that lightweight (at over 1500 KG) and it isn’t a particularly small car either at 4.5m, I guess it’s only small by American standards.
So what’s is like?
Interior
Well, I’m about 6ft 2 and I’m not going to lie it’s a snug fit. I don’t think anyone any taller would be able to actually drive the vehicle without some modifications either to the car or to your body . The primary problem being that it has a non-adjustable steering column. This makes getting in and out of the vehicle tricky and the steering wheel is basically in your lap despite the seat being as far back as it goes. Most later C3s had rake adjustment on the steering mechanics and some I think even had reach adjustment, not bad for the 70s, but alas this C2 has neither.
Once inside the vehicle though, things improve dramatically. For a start unlike a C1, which to me feels a little bathtub like, the interior on the C2 is a nice place to be.
From the comfortable velour (well it’s the 60s) seats, to the traditional side quarter windows its all very period and feels quite retro now.
Of course, the view is dominated by the Instrument display that has all the important gauges you’re going to need and I would say they are laid out exactly like a 60s jet fighter. There’s good reason to lay the gauges out in jet fighter format though, because once your turn the key to this 427ci (7.0L V8) beast, a fighter jet is a very good comparison.
Starting it up.
To start the car from cold, as with most classic cars that have a mechanical fuel pump, there’s several pumps of the accelerator needed. After a few seconds and some serious leg pumping, your greeted with an enormous bellow of noise from the side pipe exhausts and the whole car twitches to the beat of the engine and suddenly you’re not just driving some benign object, but a living and if you pump the accelerator too much fire breathing machine. (via too much fuel going in the carburettors).
It’s a job to convey that overwhelming feeling of first starting the big block corvette, I guess its something like being strapped to a snorting bull that someone has told you is very tame and has never yet thrown anyone off. So your like excited, but ever so slightly scared.
Moving the car around in a tight space is not the easiest thing. As with most cars of the period, the side mirrors are very small and the turning circle is appalling. I really wouldn’t want to park this vehicle in a tight car park.
This means a 5 point turn, not that uncommon in our rather tight workshop yard anyway but made a little more tricky by the very heavy clutch pedal. I kid you not a few shuffles backwards and forwards and my left leg was totally dead, this definitely not a car you want to get stuck in slow moving traffic. Whilst we don’t tend to talk too much about fuel economy with classic V8 sportscars..suffice to say that just wasn’t a factory fitted option.
The draw off the open road.
Having finally manoeuvred the car out of the yard to the top of the driveway I attempt to slowly pull out onto the quiet country road that runs past our workshop. With my left leg aching from all that clutch movement, I perhaps didn’t ease up on the clutch quite as slowly as I would have liked and immediately the tyres break lose and I find myself letting go of the throttle to straighten up the car, whilst wrestling with the steering wheel to keep everything in a straight line. This is clearly not a car that you drive, so much as a car that you hold on to.
As with all cars I test drive, I’m like ultra careful and ever so slightly terrified that something or someone might come out of nowhere, so my senses are a little thrown by the immediate detonation of power that’s just gone off beneath my feet. So as I reach the main road, I crawl out at like 10mph and very gradually build up some speed.
As I shift through the gears its very apparent, how close and how smooth this Muncie 4 speed is. Even as I approach a junction and change down through the gears its very silky and feels like its been purpose built for this specific car. If it wasn’t for the car revving ever so slightly high at 60mph, you wouldn’t want to really change this transmission for anything more modern even with more gears….although you might need to join the gym and work on your left calf muscles if you plan to take it through a town.
The important repair work that we have done on the gearbox mechanism is working as it should though and I’m gaining more confidence with the car as each minute passes. So with that in mind, I take it for a few minutes down some country back roads with the mechanic that did the work, where I can just get a bit better feel for the handling and brake repair works the guys have done.
Its fair to say, that unlike a 60s Mustang that by default handle like a ship on a rough sea (sorry Ford fans, unmodified early Mustangs are terrible (although we can change that), you do get the sense that Chevrolet did try and make a vehicle that can handle and all in all its not bad. Yes of course, as soon as you touch the accelerator in any meaningful way, in anything other than a totally straight line you have increased your chances of visiting A&E considerably but overall, its pretty good. It also stops well and feel controllable…at least in the dry.
Then there’s the V8 Soundtrack from those side pipes that are only amplified when you drop down a gear on the country roads and plant the accelerator (I say plant, about 3/4s is all I dare) your pinned to your seat as a huge wave of torque catapults you down the road. So much acceleration that our 6ft 6inch mechanic in the passenger side, almost had a brown pants moment.
All in all it’s a pretty intoxicating driving experience, the ability to go round corners (whilst not accelerating), big power on demand and that V8 soundtrack in your ears is kind of everything you really want from a two seater sports car. Everything you want from a sportscar, provided you’re an athlete (or at least your left-hand side is built like one), you don’t want to park it and you never stray too far away from a BP Garage… which you definitely wont.
But its defiantly one of my favourite cars that’s come through our workshop, and I would say for the 1960s a cut above anything else that was out there. You can certainly see why Neil Armstrong had one, it’s the road going equivalent of a rocket ship.
