Photos courtesy Mecum Auctions.
When Chevrolet released the newly styled 1963 Corvette Stingray coupe, it did so with the knowledge that a select group of customers would want to take these cars road racing. To make this as easy as possible, it created the Z06 package, which effectively created a race-ready Corvette for an additional $1,818.45, a price that included a massive 36.5-gallon fuel tank. These cars, and the ones separately equipped with RPO N03 (the code for the oversize fuel tank) became known as “tankers,” and on Saturday April 16, a 1963 Corvette Z06 tanker with Bloomington Gold and NCRS Top Flight certifications to its credit will cross the auction block in Texas, as part of Mecum’s Houston sale.
Early 1963 Z06 Corvettes came configured in one way: as coupes, equipped with the Rochester fuel-injected 327-cu.in. L84 V-8, rated at 360 horsepower and bolted to a four-speed Borg-Warner T-10 manual transmission. The standard equipment list also included the aforementioned 36.5-gallon tank, a Positraction rear end with 3.70:1 gearing, heavy-duty suspension (with firmer shocks, stiffer springs and a larger front anti-roll bar) and heavy-duty brakes with a dual-circuit master cylinder.
Still drums instead of discs, the brakes used 11.2-inch finned drums in front and rear, and the sintered metal pads provided a swept area of 144.9 square inches. To reduce fade induced by repeated high-speed stops, the brakes featured cooling vents on the drum faces as well as on the backing plates, along with stamped steel cooling fans mounted on the hubs.
Finned aluminum wheels were also supposed to be part of the Z06 package, but issues with air leakage from the porous metal prompted a switch to steel wheels by mid-year. According to the NCRS, there’s no evidence that the aluminum wheels were ever delivered to a retail customer, so it’s likely that “temporary” steel wheels came on early delivery Z06 Corvettes.
The change to steel wheels wasn’t the only modification to the Z06 package. Chevrolet relaxed its rules, allowing the Z06 package to be fitted to Stingray convertibles as well as coupes. Doing so meant dropping the 36.5-gallon tank for the standard 20-gallon tank (though the 36.5-gallon tank remained an option on coupes), and steel wheels officially replaced the previously standard aluminum wheels. The Z06 option package price dropped to $1,293.35, and by the end of the year Chevrolet had assembled a total of 199 Z06 coupes, including 63 tanker versions.
Chassis 30837S108672, the car to be sold in Houston, was built on February 12, 1963, roughly one month after Z06 production began. Reportedly “discovered” by Corvette collector Howard Baker in 1986, the tanker was the subject of a two-year restoration. Over the years it has been part of numerous Corvette collections, passing through owners such as a Joe Warunek, Bill Braun, Joe Kish, Joe Lukason and Terry Michaelis.
Its ownership history has been traced to 1967, but perhaps the best testament to its authenticity and condition are the accolades it’s won. Earning Bloomington Gold status means that a car has been restored or preserved to 95-percent or higher factory appearance, while the NCRS Top Flight award is given to cars that score 4,230 points or more (out of 4,500 possible) in judging.
Look for this 1963 Z06 tanker to cross the block on Saturday, April 16. For more information on the Houston sale, visit Mecum.com.
from Hemmings Daily – News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1pNfjgg
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