The Corvette Hunter. Tyler Greenblatt
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Название: The Corvette Hunter
Автор: Tyler Greenblatt
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Техническая литература
isbn: 9781613254547
isbn:
And so the judges went through the car and gave it near perfect points for the interior, chassis, and engine. When it came to the paint, they awarded no points. Kevin argued that every other panel on the car, the hood, roof, rear deck, quarter panels, everything else was perfect and that the decals were only on the fenders. The judges stood their ground and the car received zero points for paint, as well as a loss of points on the wheels, which Kevin had assumed.
That night at the awards banquet, Kevin was still fuming about the judging fiasco earlier. Many of his customers were in attendance, and it would hurt his reputation to enter a car and not win Top Flight. The judge who had given Kevin grief earlier that day went to the podium to announce the event’s Top Flight winners. Sure enough, Kevin’s name was called! Even with earning zero points on the paint, the rest of the car carried it over the 94-point threshold for Top Flight awards.
“They can only take off so many points for paint, and since everything else was perfect, the car still qualified!” Kevin says. “I threatened to paint flames on the car and bring it back the next year!”
“The car made such an impact in the hobby at the time that it was invited to go to the National Corvette Museum Annex,” Kevin says. “We brought that car down with the ’67 L88 Le Mans racer that Ed Mueller owned to show in the Annex, before the museum was built, to promote the future museum. They just wanted that thing down there, which was really cool. I was getting some really great PR with that car.”
The only thing missing from the way Vernon Turner had the car set up is the CB radio. The 435 hp Bounty Hunter looks ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. The “1967” license plate is a must for the non-Corvette people in the crowd, as any Corvette fan can tell a real ’67 from the center-mount reverse lights and the five-slot side vents behind the front wheel. (Photo Courtesy Bill Erdman)
Into the Future
Bounty Hunter is one of the small handful of Corvettes that Kevin had originally hoped never to sell, but he had to put his business first. The $100,000 sale to Ed Mueller didn’t go toward buying new equipment or another special car, it went toward the actual purchase of Corvette Repair in the form of buying out his partner, whom Kevin was eager to remove.
“We sat down like gentlemen and negotiated a deal where I would buy him out of the business,” he remembers. “To do that, I had to come up with some quick cash and, although it broke my heart to sell the car, I had no choice to get him out of the business. Bounty Hunter will always hold a place in my heart.”
After Ed Mueller’s ownership, Bounty Hunter went to another client of Kevin’s, Frank Perulli, and then another, James Korn, and another, Brian Skelton. The waiting list for the car continued to grow even after other black/red 435-hp coupes turned up. Everyone still wanted Bounty Hunter.
Recently, the car came up for sale at Mecum, appearing in its factory trim with “Bounty Hunter” decal and mag wheels removed. The car failed to sell after reaching the $350,000 mark; the owner was looking for more than $400,000.
“They took the history away,” Kevin feels. “That, to me, made the car really neat. God knows where the wheels are; it took me a while to find the correct wheels.”
Don’t give up hope just yet of ever seeing Bounty Hunter take center stage at a Corvette meet again. Kevin still dreams of showing it again, either for himself or a client, in its historic Bounty Hunter trim. In fact, his real goal is slightly loftier: “My goal is to show three black cars together with different color interiors. Have a red interior with a red hood stripe and redline tires; then have a black car with blue interior, blue hood stripe, and bluelines on it; and finally have a black car with white interior, white hood stripe, and whitewalls on it. So you have the three cars: red, white, and blue. Tuxedo Black and white are the only two colors that can have any color interior. The other two are out there, but there aren’t many. There’s a black/blue convertible that just went for $825,000.
“One day I’ll put that collection together. It can be done.”
The #57 Rebel Corvette is one of the most recognizable race cars of all time thanks to its unique Stars & Bars paint scheme. Oh, and the fact that it was the only C3 to score back-to-back wins at Sebring and Daytona in the same year while achieving the highest finish for Corvette, fourth overall, at Sebring.
The 1969 Rebel #57 beautifully brought back to its Sebring livery by Corvette Repair. The high-mount mirror, auxiliary driving lights, aluminum diffuser, and covered headlights meant that this car was destined for greatness on the racetrack.
The Rebel was originally ordered from Ferman Chevrolet in Tampa, Florida, as a 1969 Daytona Yellow convertible. Corvette racer Or Costanzo ordered the car with a complete L88 racing package, one of four lightweights built under the supervision of Zora Arkus-Duntov. Unlike the other three, this one was equipped with a dual disc clutch, making it the only known example. These particular L88s were also built with aluminum open-chamber heads six months before that option became available to L88 buyers and racers. Other special racing equipment included an M22 heavy-duty 4-speed, J56 heavy-duty disc brakes (with J50 power brake option), and F41 heavy-duty suspension. A black vinyl interior came with the car, although it didn’t remain in it for very long, and a bolt-on auxiliary hardtop was tacked on.
Like most racers, much of the car’s factory options included equipment that was purposefully left off as part of the lightweight package. The heater, convertible top, sound-deadening material, and carpeting were all removed before shipping from St. Louis, Missouri, to Florida. The car that became the famous Rebel was stripped even further upon delivery, fitted with fender flares to cover wider wheels and tires, and received a header and sidepipe system to achieve maximum horsepower. This special race equipment was placed into the car at GM Engineering to be installed by the buyer. Engineers called it the “trunk option.” They also put an oil cooler in a box inside the car. Other special racing cars besides the lightweight Corvettes were given the “trunk option” as well.
Racing History
The car was driven by Costanzo and Dave Heinz in the 1969 Sebring 12-hour against the best American and European teams of the day. In its first Sebring appearance, Costanzo and Heinz achieved a surprising second-place qualifying run and a third-place finish in the GT class, major accomplishments for a team with no major sponsorship or professional drivers. The team saw continued success throughout that year’s Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) season, where it competed against purebred race cars instead of factory-built tourers. In 1970, a mechanical failure forced a dropout at Sebring after a fifth-place GT class finish at its first Daytona 24-hour.