Our good friends over at ProTeam Corvette have pulled another Corvette rabbit out of their hats. This time they’ve come across an uber rare 1963 Z06 with the highly desirable N03 36 gallon gas tank option. Just 199 Corvettes had RPO Z06 on their options list in 1963. Far less than that are known today. The big tank option was only available for a short portion of the production run and they’re priced accordingly compared to the standard tank cars if/when they ever come up for sale.
All Z06’s were equipped with heavy duty brakes and suspension, the 360hp fuel injected 327CI engine, and a 4 speed transmission. No radio was available. The option package added a healthy $1,818.14 (~42%) to the base Corvette price of $4,252.
ProTeam’s Ermine white on red Z06 still sports its numbers matching 327-360 hp fuel injected engine that bolted to a 4 speed transmission. Other options include power brakes, the Z06 special heavy duty suspension and brakes, the T-10 transmission, a 3.70 posi rear gear seat belts, and hubcaps.
The car was born on February 21st, 1963 and delivered new by Z Frank Inc. in Chicago, IL (dealer code 223 in zone 11) according to the NCRS Shipping Data Report. They believe it to be a two or three owner car which currently shows 77,365 actual miles. The garage / barn find has been sitting for some time but still retains its original interior including the carpet, seats, door panels, dash pads, headliner, and gauges.
When it comes to these rare birds documentation and pedigree is very important. In this case stamp pad and trim tag guru Al Grenning’s CCAS has confirmed the legitimacy of the engine block and stamp pad. Documentation includes the dealer invoice from June 19, 1965 when the previous owner purchased this car, the CCAS/Grenning engine stamp affirmation, a four inch wide 3-ring binder with old photos, maintenance records, historic documents, and the NCRS Shipping Data Report.
We were able to check out this car at Bloomington Gold back in June at it’s a truly amazing car to see. The amount of rare and original bits still present on this car is pretty special.
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The car isn’t currently for sale, but they are seeking more information on it. If you know anything about this car feel free to contact [email protected].
Source:
ProTeam Corvette Sales
Related:
Unique 1965 Big Tank Corvette Coupe Fuelie Offered by ProTeam
Joie Chitwood’s Thrill Show 1958 Corvette Fuelie for Sale by ProTeam
ProTeam Corvette: 1968 L88 Corvette Has Documented Drag Racing History
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Don’t know who came up with the 199 Number. There were only 63 NO3 Tankers built for 1963 production. The Cost was $202.30….The Tanks actually had 36.5 gal Capacity. Here is a list of
NO3 Tankers for the 1963-67 C2 Run ..Mary Brey
1963 – N03 36.5-Gallon Fuel Tank (Coupe) $202.30 – 63
1964 – N03 36.5-Gallon Fuel Tank (Coupe) $202.30 – 38
1965 – N03 36.5-Gallon Fuel Tank (Coupe) $202.30 – 41
1966 – N03-36.5-Gallon Fuel Tank (Coupe) $198.05 – 66
1967 – N03 36,5-Gallon Fuel Tank (Coupe) $198.05 – 2
This figure of 63 from CMD – however, the statement “There were only 63 NO3 Tankers built for 1963 production” is a mis-interpretation of the data.
It’s also not correct since the N-03 option was not released until December 1962 as a separate stand-alone option at which time the Z06 option was also released for production on Dec 17, 1962.
However, with the 15 “specially assigned” competition Z06’s all built by end of October 1962 with the 36.5 tank included as integral to Z06 rather than when the 36.5 gallon tank was released as a separate stand-alone option, one must add 15 “comp” Z06’s all of which were built with the big tank which pushes the number of 36.5 gallon tank equipped 1963 Corvettes to 78.
10 of the 15 “specially assigned” competition Z06’s still exist today one of which has all of its factory paperwork including its plant delivery documents.
Now you have the rest of the story.
Respectfully submitted,
Eric Gill
Mary Bray — The article never suggested that there were 199 N03 Corvettes in 1963. It said there were 199 Z06 Corvettes in 1963, and as Eric has pointed out the Z06 and N03 options were separate options that did not need to be ordered together, so saying that there were 199 Z06 Corvettes does not imply that there were also 199 N03 Corvettes.
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