[VIDEO] Man Buys Back His Dad’s 1965 Corvette 45 Years Later

By
Mitch Talley
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[VIDEO] Man Buys Back His Dad's 1965 Corvette 45 Years Later


If you’re reading this website, you get it.

Corvettes may just be a collection of steel and rubber and leather and fiberglass to some folks, but they’re much more than that to the enthusiasts who love them.

Take Rusty Brock, for example.

When he was just 10 years old, back in 1983, Rusty came across a color slide of his father, George, with a 1965 Corvette. “Oh, I used to own that car back in the day,” father told son.

That began a long campaign to buy back that special Corvette, which George had purchased new but had sold in 1971.

[VIDEO] Man Buys Back His Dad's 1965 Corvette 45 Years Later


The campaign began in 1983 when George gave the VIN to a policeman friend of his, who was happy to report that the Corvette was still registered – just 20 miles away in Claremore, Oklahoma.

George and Rusty arranged to meet the current owner named Kenny (not the man that George had sold to in 1971), and while he turned them down on their generous offer of $14,500 (for the day) for an unrestored 327/300 4-speed convertible, Rusty did at least get a consolation prize of sitting in the driver’s seat that day.

That just whetted their appetite for the car as they never got it out of their system. In fact, “my dad almost had the car bought one day back in ’87 or ’88,” Rusty recalls. “He was counting out the money and his wife came out and said we’re not selling the car, so that was the end of that.”

But still not the end of the pursuit. Finally, in 2016, Kenny told them that while he still didn’t want to sell his Corvette, he would be willing to trade even – if they could find another red/red ’65 convertible just like his.

“So the hunt was on,” Rusty says.

[VIDEO] Man Buys Back His Dad's 1965 Corvette 45 Years Later


He looked and looked and looked, and finally one day, a red/red ’65 convertible popped up on eBay – “an identical twin except it had a black top,” Rusty says.

He told the seller about his dad’s ’65 and “I guess it really touched him,” Rusty says. They agreed to end the auction at the Buy It Now price of $35,900, and Rusty then talked to Kenny, who agreed to make the swap and end a 33-year pursuit of the car.

One of the photos Rusty found was of his dad sitting in his beloved ’65 back in the day. Fast forward to 2016, and we get to see a photo of George in the same location and the same car 51 years later!


Source:
Jerry Heasley / YouTube

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4 COMMENTS

  2. This is a great story. Let me tell you another one which I feel rivals this one.

    I’m not sure if you know NASCAR Cup driver Erik Jones or not but his dad had a blue 1965 Corvette convertible. Erik grew up around that car. As it became obvious that Erik would be a good race car driver, his dad sold the Corvette to finance Erik’s budding career.

    Erik moved up in the different NASCAR series but his dad was diagnosed with cancer. In 2016, sadly he passed from the disease.

    By then, Erik had moved up to the Cup Series. So out of respect for his dad and the sacrifice his dad had made for Erik’s racing career, Erik began looking for that Corvette. And sure enough, he found it and bought it back.

    So the story came full circle. Erik became successful in racing and the Corvette is back where it belongs. The only missing link is his dad. But at least Erik has the Corvette to remember him by.

  4. Interesting that in the old picture of this ’65 Corvette as well as in the new picture the wheel covers are the ’66 version, not the ’65 version. Was it common back then for owners of ’65 Corvettes to swap their ’65 wheel covers for ’66 wheel covers? If so, was it in an attempt to make their Corvette appear 1 year newer, or just because many felt the ’66 wheel covers looked better? If the former, was it also common to swap other pieces, such as the front grill and the rear deck emblem?

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