When you see a Corvette that's represented as "restored," do you ask yourself if that restoration was back to the way the car was built by GM, or if there were any "improvements" or equipment upgrades included in the project.
Here's one Corvette-Bob Salerno's '66 Sting Ray convertible-where the restoration brought it back to original. This midyear is optioned with an L36 427, an M-21 Muncie four-speed, Posi-traction, F41 special suspension equipment, side exhausts, and not a whole lot else. No auxiliary hardtop, no power steering or power brakes, no knock-off aluminum wheels, no L72 427 or "Rock Crusher" M-22 Muncie.
"That was one of the things I loved about it. You get a lot of people that add the bolt-on, nontraceable options to a car, and they brag about how it has 19 factory options," says Bob, of the way previous owner, Dick Simonetti, restored it. "How hard would it have been to get a hardtop and drill some holes in the cover in the back? I think the restoration that was done on the car brought it back to new."
Even being a well-traveled Vette, this car still has less than 50,000 original miles on it. Its original owner, Harold Neilson, bought it in December 1965 from a dealer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while stationed at nearby Kirtland Air Force Base. Fifteen months later, another Air Force man, Herman Priddy, bought it from Harold, and the car was his until Dick acquired it in June 1989 and took it home to Rochester,New York. That's where the frame-off resto was done, from August 1992 to May 1994.
The following October, Dick took it to the Northeast Regional NCRS where the judges gave it 4,309 out of 4,503 possible points (98.7 percent), earning it regional Top Flight honors. In September 1995, at an NCRS chapter meet, it scored 4,441 out of 4,503 possible points for a 98.6-percent grade and a chapter Top Flight Award.
Dick advertised the '66 for sale in 2002, drawing Bob's attention. "I had to go to Rochester to look at it, and I couldn't get up there for about two weeks because it involved a two-day trip," Bob recalls. "Dick said, 'I have people calling me. A guy from California wants to come and he's going to fly in, but I told him that Bob said he's coming in two weeks, and I'm not doing anything until he comes.' So I went there, and I pretty much came home with it." Bob has nothing but good words not only for the restoration job Dick Simonetti did, but also for Dick. "The quality of the person that I bought it from and who restored it is as good as the car. It's hard to meet nice people when you're buying a car."
Nowadays, this midyear wears New Jersey plates, as Bob's garage-where this '66 has called home since 2002-is in the north end of the Garden State. Its stablemates include a C6 Corvette, a '55 Chevy gasser, and a Pro-Street '67 Camaro, as well as a 383-powered '67 Barracuda Formula S, and an A/MP '55 T-bird.
Bob says it's nerve-wracking taking his Sting Ray out into traffic. That subsides, however, once he gets away from the flood of daily-drivers on the road and can open up the 427 and make the side pipes sing-something different from his current-model Corvette. "I love to get into the old one and listen to the side pipes and the crummy AM/FM radio. It's really cool!"
Data File '66 String Ray Convertible
Owned by Bob Salerno, Ridgewood, New Jersey
Restored, NCRS Top Flight certified; One of 27,270 '66 Corvette Sting Rays; One of 17,762 '66 CorvetteSting Ray Convertibles; One of 5,116 L36-powered '66 Corvette Sting Rays (all body styles)
Original Assembly Point: Chevrolet's St. Louis (Missouri) assembly plant
Date Of Final Assembly: November 24, 1965
Date Of Delivery To Original Owner: December 10, 1965
Original Selling Dealer: Ed Black's Chevrolet Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Odometer Reading (At Time Of Photo Shoot): 47,684 miles
Ownership History: Original, Harold Neilson (December 1965-March 1967) Second, Herman Priddy (March, 1967-June, 1989); Third, Dick Simonetti (June, 1989-May, 2002);Current, Bob Salerno (May, 2002-present)
Inside Story ::: When Bob...
Inside Story ::: When Bob Salerno's '66 was restored, it was returned to its built-like-GMdid- it condition, which included a teakwood steering wheel, AM/FM radio, and blue vinyl interior trim.
So Little Says A Lot ::: ...
So Little Says A Lot ::: What else do these two tags tell you (aside from year, engine, body style, and color scheme)? That it's an early-production '66, one of thefirst thousand down the line at St. Louis.
No Hammer required ::: No...
No Hammer required ::: No knock-off aluminum wheels here. Bob's '66 was an original whitewalls/ wheelcovers car, so it was restored that way.
Body
Original fiberglass '66 Corvette Sting Ray convertible body
Repainted in original color (code No. 976-Nassau Blue) in 1994 during restoration by previous owner Dick Simonetti. No replacement parts/modifications and was not repainted prior to 1994.
| CHASSIS |
| FRAME | Original '66 Corvette Sting Ray frame |
| WHEELBASE | 98 inches |
| BRAKES | Standard four-wheel disc brakes, no power assist |
| FRONT SUSPENSION | RPO F41 Special Suspension Équipment coil springs |
| REAR SUSPENSION | RPO F41 Special Suspension Equipment transverse leaf/independent rear |
| SHOCKS | Delco RPO F41 Special Suspension Equipment shock absorbers, front and |
| STEERING | Original GM Saginaw Gear "Armstrong" steering |
| DIFFERENTIAL | Original (RPO G81) Posi-traction, 3.36:1 gears |
| AXLES | Original GM axle shafts |
| WHEELS | Stock, stamped-steel, 15x6 inches, with OEM chrome wheel covers |
| TIRES | 7.75x15 four-ply, bias-belted, white sidewall (replaced OEM two-plys) |
| CAR WEIGHT | 3,160 pounds (per factory) |
| ENGINE |
| Original matching-numbers engine; Internal engine components manufactured by Chevrolet Division, General Motors Corporation |
| TYPE | Overhead-valve V-8, Chevrolet Mark IV series, RPO L36 |
| BORE/STROKE | 4.25/3.76 (inches) |
| DISPLACEMENT | 427ci (6.99 liters) |
| HORSEPOWER | 390 (advertised) |
| COMPRESSION | 10.25:1 |
| BLOCK | Original cast-iron, No. 3858174 |
| CYLINDER HEADS | Original cast-iron, No. 3872702 |
| INTAKE MANIFOLD | Original cast-iron |
| CARBURETOR | Holley No. R3370A four-barrel |
| ORIGINAL ENGINE ASSEMBLY SITE: | Chevrolet's Flint, Michigan, engine plant |
| DISTRIBUTOR | Delco No. 1111141 |
| ALTERNATOR | Delco No. 1100693 |
| EXHAUSTS | Original factory option (RPO N14) side exhausts, one of 2,823 '66 Sting with them (and one of an estimated 30,000 left!) |
Details And Date Codes :::...
Details And Date Codes ::: Earning Top Flight certification required attention to the fine details, such as date-coded hoses, correct parts, and the L36 427 the car was built with.
Every Piece Tells A Story...
Every Piece Tells A Story ::: Original warranty book, plus the previous owner's pinks are just part of the original documentation that this Top Flight midyear has.
| TRANSMISSION |
| Original transmission; Manufactured by GM's Muncie Gear Division, Muncie, Indiana |
| TYPE | Four-speed manual, Muncie M-21 (RPO M21) |
| SHIFTER | Stock, console-mounted shifter with reverse lockout |
| INTERIOR |
| Original '66 Corvette Sting Ray interior with partial restoration by previous owner Dick Simonetti, Rochester, New York |
| COLOR/UPHOLSTERY | Bright Blue vinyl (code No. 414) |
| CARPET | Nylon loop-pile |
| STEERING WHEEL | Optional (RPO N32) teakwood steering wheel |
| SOUND SYSTEM | Interior - Optional (RPO U69) Delco AM-FM radio with single speaker |
| | Exterior - See RPO N14. |
| WINDOWS | A02 tinted windshield |
Factory options that this car was NOT built with and were not added on during restoration, include: C07 auxiliary hardtop;P48 cast-aluminum knock-off wheels; L72 450 HP 427 (very early production); L72 425 HP 427 (after air cleanersticker change early in model run); M22 close-ratio, heavy-duty, four-speed manual transmission; C48 heater/defrosterdelete; C60 air conditioning; K66 transistorized ignition