Rich's Classic Corvettes

"Pro-Classic" Corvettes

Welcome everyone!

 
 
- 1963 Corvette at photo shoot by Jerry Heasley - 2008 -

- 1962 & 1967 at Corvettes @ Carlisle - 2001 -

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Table of Contents
                     *(Updated 9-21-2010)  Page 1 - Home Page & 67 Corvette
                                                       Page 2 - Our Garage Workshop
                     *(Updated 5-27-2010) Page 3 - C5 & C6 Z06 Corvettes - Working in the Garage
                                                      Page 4 - Others Vettes That Have Come and Gone
                          *(Updated 9-20-2009) Page 5 - Corvettes @ Carlisle
                                                      Page 6 - 62 Corvette Project Progess-Body
                                                      Page 7 - 62 Corvette Project Progress-Chassis

 
                 *(Updated 2-08-2010)  Page 8 - Car Show Pictures
                     *(Updated 5-27-2010)  Page 9 - Magazine Photo Shoot, Track Events & Car Trailer Articles
                 *(Updated 2-24-2009)  Page 10 - 63 Corvette Coupe Project - Lots of pictures and may take a minute to download
 
For e-mail please contact us at: richsclassiccorvettes@cox.net

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Our first "Pro-Classic" Corvette -

After restoring several Vettes we began to look for a way to broaden our interest in the hobby and decided that we would build one the way we wanted. Our approach was to retain the integrity of the original design while improving the appearance, handling, braking and performance. We call it a "Pro-Classic" since it captures what we were trying to achieve with the car.We have enjoyed driving it to our local cruise nights as well as taking it to various shows such as ISCA, Corvettes @ Carlisle and Super Chevy shows over the past few years.

This was our first Pro-Classic and will always be one of our favorites. We recently decided to part with it to make room for the new 63 project and the new owner is a great guy who appreciates the car for how it was designed and will take great care of it. He provides us with regular updates of his experiences with it and he is really enjoying showing and driving it. It was great to find someone who would care for it as we have and, being in a new area of the country, will give the 67 a new lease on it's life. Our best wishes to the new owners.
Since the engine is the heart of any vehicle we thought it would be nice to show you what powers this 67 Corvette. It is a highly modified 502 "crate engine" which has been ported, polished, balanced and blueprinted and features JE forged pistons, roller camshaft, Holley 850 carb, Sanderson headers, aluminum heads, MSD ignition and many custom billet aluminum accessories.

This is the car that this engine powers, at home in our garage. As you can probably tell it looks fairly stock but you will notice that it has a different stance since it is lowered and has 17" American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels. Also, the color is a special mix red base/clear coat. The interior features leather seats, custom steering wheel and Pioneer Stereo system. A special thanks goes to the Corvette Center in Newington, Ct. who did the paintwork. The real story begins under the skin as you will see in the next picture.

The chassis has been extensively modified and includes a complete Vette Brakes "Performance Plus" suspension with tubular "A" arms, monoleaf fiberglass springs, Carrera shocks, heavy duty front & rear sway bars, offset trailing arms, and special drive and half shafts. The drivetrain includes a Centerforce clutch/pressure plate and flywheel, McLeod hydraulic throwout bearing, a Richmond 5 Speed transmission with Hurst Shifter and 3:36 ratio positraction rear end. The brakes are stainless steel with cross drilled rotors. Virtually every nut and bolt has been changed to 12 point stainless and all components have been painted to match the exterior color or in a contrasting black. A special thanks goes to Arthur Bonneau of Bunjie's Hot Rod Garage in Brimfield, Mass. for his work on the chassis and engine.

The car was completed on May 27, 1999. Since then it has appeared in a number of shows and has been fortunate enough to receive several awards including: class wins at Super Chevy shows, the ESPN II Award of Excellence, Vette Magazines "Best Corvette" award, the "Outstanding Achievement Award" at Super Chevy, awards for "Outstanding Paint", "Outstanding Sports Car" in the Boston ISCA show, Meguiars "Best Corvette" award, "Best Custom" and Best of Show" in Hartford, Ct., a "Celebrity Pick" and the NCCC Concours at Corvettes at Carlisle and the "Best of the Winners" at Marks King of Cruises in East Granby, Ct.

The car was first featured and on the cover of the November, 1999 issue of Super Chevy magazine and also appeared in the October, 2000 issue on page 80. It was also featured and on the cover of the January, 2001 issue of Vette magazine on pages 66-68. It also appeared in the March, 2002 issue of Vette Magazine as part of the feature on our 62 Corvette on page 43. There is also one foreign article on the cars. If you happen to be fluent in German, and would like to see an article from Austria, please click on the button below. It also appeared on the Cars At Carlisle program on the Speed Channel in March, 2005. Most recently it was featured and on the cover of the July, 2010 issue of Corvette Fever magazine. Click here for on-line version of the feature article.

If you are looking for the the broadest internet forum on Corvettes check out the Corvette Forum. With well over 80,000 members, who are helpful and knowledgeable about virtually everything concerning Corvettes, it is a great source of information. Just click on the link below and it will take you there. Membership is free and well worth the price of admission.

Area Cruise Night: Mark's Cruise Night: If you are looking for one of the best cruise nights in the Northeast check out Mark's Cruise Night in East Granby, Ct. on Monday nights. There are typically 500-700 great classic cars and Mark and his staff go all out to make each event a great deal of fun. Information and directions are available at the link below. Every year there is also a "Corvette Night" and there have been as many as 200 Corvettes attending.

We've had a great deal of fun during the construction of the car as well as showing and driving it and appreciate the calls and e-mails we have received with kind comments and questions about the car. It was our first project of this type. Since then we've built two more in the same style and get the most enjoyment out of the design and building of the cars. Each person has their own image of their ideal Corvette and building them to achieve your vision can be a lot of fun. Page 10 has links to the latest project series of articles which we hope is of help to folks considering similar projects.

Austrian Magazine Article
CorvetteForum.com
Mark's Classic Cruise
 


Page Contents
Pages 2&3 have pictures of our garage workshop; Page 4 has pictures of previously owned Vettes; Page 5 is of 2000-2008 Corvettes@Carlisle; Pages 6&7 show the 62 project car; Page 8 has pictures from several car shows; Page 9 is from the Vette Magazine photo shoot and our track outings and Page 10 shows the progression of work and links to the 63 project articles.

Thanks for viewing our site, Rich & Barbara Lagasse.