As is well documented, one of my pet amusements is riding around town aimlessly with a camera in my bag, in case I see something cool to take a picture of.
Last Saturday, I did.
This here is a 1959 Chevrolet Corvette. I’d never seen one in person, so there were a lot of neat little stylistic details that caught me by surprise. Like this split rear bumper. Is that not an elegant looking bit of chrome-work?
I’m a little sad now that I didn’t get this picture squared up better than I did. Still…the paintwork, the chrome, the whitewalls…you get the idea.
I expect this speedometer is more about idealism than reality, but it’s an exciting array of potential anyway.
The iconic crossed-flags side-badge. I love old enamel badges, be they bicycle headbadges, or things like the Corvette flags above or my car’s Wolfsburg crest (pictured below).
One of the reasons that I was so taken with this ‘Vette is that it represents the other end of the spectrum from my old, crusty Volkswagen. Both in its early days, when it was an expensive sports car, and the Volkswagen was a cheap runabout, and today, when this Corvette is beautifully restored, and my VW is still a rickety project car:
We’re apparently going to haul the ol’ ’59 back here to Kansas City this fall, after an eight-year stint of moldering in the driveway at my parents’ place. I’m sure my mom will be happy to not have to look at its decaying carcass any more. I’ve got leads on two different body shops that sound like good candidates to take on the rust repair and paintwork, so I’ll be making further inquiries when the car is actually back in my possession.
For this is the sort of thing up with which we will not put!