The 1965 Corvette Sting Ray was in its day the C7 of the era, you might say.
The third year of the second generation featured serious updates for drivers, not the least of which was Zora’s long-awaited disc brakes at all four wheels to provide the best possible stopping ability for the time.
Just as the C7 is the darling of the car magazines these days, so was the 1965 Corvette that was finally judged not only an American status symbol but a genuine high-performance sports car capable of thrilling even the most demanding drivers.
Up for sale at the Mecum Auctions in Kissimmee, Fla., slated for Jan. 16-25 is this 1965 Corvette, but not just any 1965 model. This is serial number 001, with quite a history behind it.
It was part of the famous Bob McDorman Collection for many years and is being offered with complete owner history. Amazingly, those owners have covered just 28,000 miles in the more than 50 years since the Corvette was built.
The car is documented as a pilot car and was built by John Evans and five co-workers at the St. Louis assembly plant on Aug. 6, 1964.
It started life as a show car, used by General Motors to show off the Corvette’s new four-wheel disc brakes that were standard equipment on all 1965 models.
The car remained on the show circuit from August through December 1964.
If you have an eagle eye, you might have noticed the car’s unique paint job. Because the Silver Pearl paint slated for 1965 was not yet available, Chevy had to use 1964 Cadillac ZZ code 1964 Satin Silver instead. That code is listed on the car’s trim tag, which like many Corvette pilot cars was attached with purple rivets.
Under the hood, the Corvette has the L76 327/365 horsepower V8 with a four-speed transmission and 4.11:1 Positraction rear end. It has Kelsey Hayes finned aluminum knock-off wheels with whitewall tires and was the first Corvette ever made with a teakwood steering wheel and a power antenna for the AM/FM radio.
Mecum notes that the car is unrestored and is “THE car for the serious Corvette collector.”
We’d be hard-pressed to disagree.
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Source:
Mecum
Related:
1965 Bonneville Class Record Holding Corvette Heading to Mecum Anaheim
Corvettes on eBay: 1965 Corvette Sting Ray Barn Find
[PICS] Bloomington Gold 2014 – 1965 Big Tank Barn Find
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