1963 Chevrolet Corvette in Arlington, Texas

Vehicle Description

1963 Chevrolet Corvette - Split Window Fuelie

In 1963 the "Sting Ray" was born and this was a huge year for Corvettes! It was the first year that the car was ever offered with a roof and production sky rocketed from around 14,500 units to 21,500. This is a big feat considering the previous year was setting records for the first generation of vettes and was followed by nearly a 50 percent increase in sales. This is in part due to the drastic change in the appearance that would forever set Corvette apart from any other model out there. In fact, one article from corvetteonline.com is quoted as saying "While the '57 Fuelie put the Corvette on the performance car world stage, one could argue that it was the '63 split window that turned the Corvette into a lasting automotive icon. Whereas the first generation Corvette had sought to ape the design cues from Europe's best, the second generation car was unmistakably American, a design which would inspire a multitude of sports cars (not to mention subsequent Corvettes) for years to come." There was close to a 50/50 split of roadsters to coupes sold but the coupe actually pulled a higher price which is something you don't see often in car sales. The split window body style was the brainchild of Bill Mitchell's team at GM and although he was a fan of the look the project head disliked the split window appearance so it was discontinued in following years. This made the 1963 quite rare considering it's the only one of its kind. Well not only is the classic you see here a true 1963 Corvette split window coupe, but it also was factory ordered with the highest performance motor available in that time, the fuel injected 327. Only 2,610 63 Corvettes were released with the fuelie motor making this already rare car even more rare! This car has been extremely well maintained since new spending the majority of its life in 1 family. It is all original except for the radiator, coil, starter and 1 repaint. It is coated in the original Riverside Red color that is free of any stress cracks. All of the body panels are original and it has never been wrecked or had any body repairs since new. The Soft Ray tinted glass is in great shape as is all of the original chrome and stainless. Knock off wheels are another rare factory option this car possesses and they are wrapped with Coker white wall tires. This truly is a beautiful example of a rare original survivor car.

As mentioned previously the motor is the 327 V8 with factory fuel injection. Any work that has been done on the engine has been professionally done and well documented. The radiator, coil and starter are the only things that aren't original to the car but the original radiator and coil do come with the car. The fuel injection system has been recently rebuilt by Doug Prince out of California and it received a NOS copper spider. The distributor has also been restored. The car runs very well and for the past 8 years has been stored/run with leaded High Octane fuel to maintain the fuel injection system. Paired with the motor is the original 4 speed manual transmission that moves through the gears smoothly and sends power back to the original 4:11 rear end. The car runs down the road very comfortably and the power brakes slow it to a stop smoothly.

The interior of the car is original as well and was ordered in Black which works perfectly with the Red exterior. The upholstery work is in good condition and from the dash to the rear package tray everything is just like it was from the factory. With the start of the C2 generation the cars continued to have the twin cowl design but the interior had an improved layout and seemed to be more driver focused. This is partly why the car has the oversized speedometer and tachometer both of which are still working as well as the 80 pound oil pressure gauge that is in place. Another factory option includes the Wonderbar AM/FM radio.

This is a very nice, rare classic that belongs to that special group of cars that fit into automotive history. It is the type of car typically hidden away in collections or sitting behind the velvet rope in museums. They don't come up for sale very often and with their popularity gaining now is a great opportunity to buy one.

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