You might not think a super rare Corvette would ever wind up in Canada.
But you can see a “Tanker” 1966 Corvette at the Luxury Supercar Weekend and Canadian Concours D’elegance that winds up Sunday, Sept. 11 at VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The “Tanker” Corvette is one of only 66 Corvettes in 1966 that were built with option NO3 – a 36-gallon gas tank that nearly doubled the standard 20-gallon tank.
How this Sunfire Yellow Corvette wound up in Canada is an interesting story.
The unusual Sting Ray was the culmination of a dream for a very patient Vancouver homebuilder named Peter Werner, who decided in 1960 he wanted a Corvette. But unlike most of us, he was disciplined enough to save his money for five years so he didn’t have to finance the car. Finally, in 1965, he had reached his goal and ordered a 1966 Corvette from Vancouver dealer Collier Motors.
Not just any Corvette, though. He checked as many option boxes as he could, including the top-ranked 427/435 engine with a four-speed transmission. He probably knew it would take a lot of fuel to feed that monster of a motor so he got the optional 36-gallon gas tank, one of only two such Corvettes delivered to Canada that year.
With that powerful engine, Chevy wouldn’t let you check the box for air conditioning (though in Canada, he might not have had much use for it), but he did get the special F41 high-performance handling package, power brakes and gold line tires, along with black leather seats, telescoping steering column and a teak steering wheel.
He wanted a silver car, but it came to the dealer in Sunfire Yellow for some reason.
Since he had waited five years already, he took the car as it was and used it as a work vehicle with his tools stored behind the seats for the first five years. Then in the early 1970s, he realized what a rare car he had and stored it away.
Longtime Corvette enthusiast Brent Connors heard about the car in 1984 and tried each year for the next 20 years to buy it. Finally, in 2004, Werner called Connors and told him his car was finally for sale.
No word on the price, but we’re sure a 35,000-mile, one-owner, completely original except for one paint job Corvette didn’t come cheap.
“I am honoured to be the curator of this car being a very special Corvette,” Brent says.
Since being sold to Connors, the car has earned Top Flight and gold star preservation excellence awards from the NCRS and has even been a restoration reference car for others.
We love the story Brent tells about an originality issue with the car.
“Of particular interest on this car is a rather casually applied radiator sticker that, when first viewed by American judges, caused a deduction for non-originality,” Brent notes. “Upon review, it became apparent that this was a Canadian-only sticker to state additional antifreeze was installed to protect against freezing down to minus-35 Fahrenheit.”
Like we said, maybe the lack of an air conditioner was no big deal.
Source:
driving.ca
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OMG, I would kill for that Vette! It puts my original, unrestored, Top Flight “Plain Jane” 1966 Sunfire Yellow L79 to shame! Interesting story as per Peter Werner. We all have stories, here’s mine. In the summer of 1965 as a high school graduate, my dad challenged me to work and earn money(instead of listening to the Beach Boys) by declaring he would match my earnings. I promptly went out selling 10 year magazine subscriptions door to door, and brought him a check for $2,500. He almost fell off his chair. I said there was a yellow Corvette coupe@ Robert Chevrolet on Long Island that I wanted. A 327/350, 4:11 rear, wood-rim steering wheel, and Kelsy-Hayes knock offs was all it had. But who wanted a big block then? They were heavy and thirsty(even with gas @.38 cents). We paid cash, $4,250 out the door. Owned it for four years in college, dusting off Camaros and ‘Cudas. Sold the car for $2,500 to go to grad school, thinking I could always get another( it was just a used car then). Fast forward 50 years. You all know, marriage, career, kids, divorce. Picked up a new C7, but had to find my car. Found it last year with only 89k on the clock, minor paint chips, refreshed original engine, as new! Overjoyed. But a 35k all original tanker big block? Boy oh boy! Brent is a very lucky man.
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