Vicari to Auction 1969 Corvette with M Code Engine Block at Biloxi Event

Vicari Auction Company announced that they will offer over 400 collector cars at their 16th annual Biloxi event October 12th and 13th 2012 held during the week-long Cruisin’ the Coast car show. About a dozen Corvettes will cross the block including a 1969 Coupe with an M Code engine block. What’s an M Code Corvette you ask? Give an electronic fist bump to the Read More button below to find out.

We weren’t really sure what this “M Code” actually was so we did some quick internet sleuthing to find out more. We stumbled across a couple of interesting discussion threads relative to these unique engine blocks that are populated with all sorts of useful nuggets of information. One thread was found on the Corvette Forum and the other was on the NCRS Technical Discussion board.

According to documents presented in the NCRS discussion thread, M Coded blocks were those made after process changes had been made in the casting tools and/or process. They were inspected after molding and either rejected or accepted. Acceptable blocks headed off to the Corvette assembly plant as part of normal production.

In a letter penned by Roger Wilson from the Saginaw Metal Casting Operations he states that the “M” tags could be used for several reasons including:

• Tooling changes (cope, drag, etc.)
• Use of a new core box as they wore over the course of production and had to be replaced
• Changes in the molding process (temperatures, pressures, sand changes, etc.)
• Engineering changes

So basically the M Code designates that this Corvette’s engine block was produced shortly after some sort of change to the engine block, block forming process, or block tooling.

According to the auction listing there are 12 known Corvettes with an M Code engine block. This white on blue coupe is 1 of 2 known 1969 M Code cars. The M39 coded engine is a matching numbers 350/350 mated to a 4-speed transmission. Other optional content includes power windows and brakes, air conditioning, and the tilt and telescoping steering wheel.

These documents were posted on the NCRS Technical Forum help explain the the M code. They are not related to this specific car other than for explaining the M Code.

So is this Corvette worth more due to its M Code engine block? We’re not really sure that it is, but we’ll let the bidders make that call next month in Biloxi. It is definitely unique and certainly makes for a cool story about the car. And odds are that your neighbor’s 1969 Corvette doesn’t have a M Coded engine block between the front fenders.

The Vicari Biloxi auction takes place October 12th and 13th 2012, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center in Biloxi, Miss. General admission to the auction is $12.50 each day.

Source:
Vicari
NCRS

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