1958-1961 Hands-On Corvette History
When the newly-bodied '58...
When the newly-bodied '58 was introduced it took a while for all to grasp the quad headlights, washboard hood and chrome spears on the trunk lid. In all, the '58 out-sold the '57 by 2,829. Many today are still 1956-57 purists
Within a 30-mile radius of my rural northeastern Illinois town were a dozen or more '56-'61 fast Corvettes-plus a few dozen potent 283 and 348 Chevys. Late in 1960, my Dad decided to shop around for a Corvette. His employer in Chicago had a fleet discount program with General Motors. We visited almost every large dealership in Chicago but nothing struck his fancy. While he checked out the new Corvettes, I scanned the used car lot. I'll always remember a white '59 270 hp, four-speed. It was without a radiator fan. A salesman told me it had a "special" radiator. Right. We then visited Doane Motors-a small dealership about 25 miles from home. Its owner, Dick Doane also owned Meadowdale International Raceway-an SCCA road race track. I had gone there many times in 1959 and 1960 to watch the Corvettes race but never knew Doane owned it. When Mr. Doane heard that my Dad was a WWII B-29 veteran, a bond was created. Sitting in the center of his showroom floor was a new Sateen silver '61 Corvette with red interior, 270 hp engine, 4-speed, 4.11 Positraction, with serial number 100438. Doane's used car lot had a few fuel-injected Corvettes. When I mentioned them to my Dad, he sternly replied, "What do you want to do, kill yourself"? He obviously thought that fuel injection was far superior to the 2x4 WCFB Carter carb induction. It would prove to be just the opposite. A short time later we were heading home in the new '61-with me at the wheel. I've never forgotten the thrill of that day!
Losing Then Winning
When you saw this script on...
When you saw this script on a 1958-61 Corvette, three things happened: You were overwhelmed with envy, you pulled over and then you listened for the "hissing" induction sound from the Rochester fuel-injection.
The Doane Chevrolet mechanics were whiz's with Rochester fuel injection. For a 1961 test bed, they took a new Honduras maroon fuelie and dropped in a bored and stroked 352 cubic-inch small-block. With slicks and some fuel injection tuning, it ran 12.50s at 112 mph and was a terror. I also learned that factory injection was generally tuned on the lean-side-evidently for better fuel economy and overall drivability. Over two summers at Union Grove, U.S. 30, Cordova, Illinois and Kahoka, Missouri drag strips, we never lost to a fuelie. Most understandably were factory tuned. From 1961-on, I too got interested in Rochester fuel injection and rebuilt and tuned them from then 'til now.
We raced some during the summer of 1962 but I was now a freshman in college. Our racing continued over the summer of 1963 in CM/SP. Modified Eliminator was unbelievable. Stay tuned.