Page # 5: THE EARLY BEGINNING YEARS OF MY 1966 CORVETTE "LOVE IS BLUE"

ADDITIONAL PAGE CONTENTS:
Page#1: Main Site Page
Page#2: Construction Of 'Love Is Blue'
Page#3: Interior & Sound
Page#4: Parts Fabrication & Installation - HARD PARTS
Page#5: The Early Years Of My 1966 Corvette
Page#6: Trips & Journey Taken In 'Love'
Page#7: Other Corvettes I've Built Over The Years
Page#8: Cheesecake Photos w/ 'Love Is Blue'
Page#9: Construction of 1/25th tribute scale model of 'Love Is Blue' by: Ron Drechsler

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The VERY first photo!!

1967 & I was just out of the US Navy and 22 years old, when I purchased my dream car; a NEW 1966 427/450HP big block, 4spd, blue vette convertible! Man, check how young I was back then!

Didn't take long for me to get stupid on the streets with 450hp under my foot. Hey! I was just a kid then...and look what happened:

I cut down 30' of trees at over 110mph after flying across three front yards...one belonging to the judge I later had to go in front of!

Ron Drechsler, who was rideing with me when we crashed, looks on at the damage the next day in the wrecker yard. We were OK, thanks to GOD & seat belts.

Repairs being made at Chevy dealership. Body being removed from damaged frame.

The judge wasn't impressed and sent me to Driver Improvement School,... Even on my birthday, Sept. 27, no less!! ..."But I got a perfect score, judge. What do you mean guilty of reckless driving?"

My 1st wife, Sharon, getting comfortable with 'our' toy after getting it back from repairs after the 1st wreck.

2nd time my vette got wrecked, but this one wasn't my fault.
This time, an old lady (driving that blue Dart), had a seizure and blacked out, crossed the 4 lane divided highway where I broadsider her at 60 mph!! as I was returning from college one night.

Repairs being made @ Georges' Corvette Shop after 2nd total wreck. Body being lifted off frame, again!

New body panels after being installed. 1967 front end update.

I began drag racing on the strip instead of the street, & got a little sponsorship from a dyno tune up shop called, 'Dynamotion'. Together we went on to win quite a few NHRA eliminations at tracks like Aquasco, Budd's Creek, Capitol & 75-80 Dragaway, in A&B/SP.

A couple of notable articles in the local rag about our exploits on the track, back in 1968.

I've owned it for 41 years now since purchased new, and it has always been street registered. It came with 4.11 rear, radio delete and "off road" under the chassis chambered exhaust. During the next 5 years of drag racing and autocrossing, I managed to destroy most of the original drive train. (What a bunch of stories are in that, too!) I 'updated' it with small fender flairs and a '67 front end after the second wreck. Thus began my obsession with changing the apperance of it over the years.

EARLY CUSTOMIZING

First came the BIG rear Firestone R-125 Racing tires & flairs to cover them (to be legal).

Next I changed the tail lights. Checking how it will look.

then taking a hand held electric drill & sanding disc to it as my son, GES II, (now 43), helped me sand too. 1970

1972- Bigger front fender flairs and hood change to 70's L-88 style and eliminated bludge in nose.

1972 Motor: 430CI, CSC Dyna-Rev crank, Carillo 'H' beam steel rods, .0125 longer then stock, 13.5-1 Diamond Engineering pistons, ZLX angle plug steel heads, Crane Aluminum Roller Rockers, ported, polished, flowed, port matched to an Edelbrock Torker manifold topped with a Holley Dominator 4500 carb reworked by Ralph Johnson at Smokey Yunick's 'Best Damn Garage In Town' flowing 1350cfm. The good ol' days of high octane gas and av gas! It thumped!!

These are two NASCAR speedway photos taken, circa 1972 or so, of Kenny Roberts Sr.
I drove him around the Daytona Speedway after he won the motorcycle world championship that year...and the crowd went wild!

Flat towed my vette to Sebring, Fl, for an NCCC high speed autocross. My buddy Larry Godbold, beat my time in my own car! Here I'm crossing the start/finish line at 140mph at Sebring. Now remember, this is a street driven car back in the early 70's!

...And EVEN MORE BAD LUCK!
Flat towed to a show in Jacksonville, Fl. On the way home, making a turn, the vette jack knifed into the rear of my '68 Barracuda and destroyed the nose of my vette.

Repairing the nose and changing the shape with help from my friend Larry G.

In primer and ready for a wild paint job, Jan, 1974.

It WAS the crazy 70's after all!! I painted the mural but the body paint was done by Bob McKean at Riverside Autobody, Daytona, Fl. (now retired)

Vette Quarterly Feature.

Wasn't too happy with that paint job, so I decided to widen the rear fenders. My daughter, Merry Chris Smith, (now 35), stands by to help here.

The paint job I did by myself, including this airbrush mural on the front spoiler.

Vette Magazine feature.

Vette towing Vette!
This is the 1978 Greenwood "Sportwagon" Vette I built to use as my tow vehicle. (Check page # 7).
Here are a couple of drag shots from the past.

This shot is from Capitol Raceway in Maryland.

This was taken at Orlando Speed World, Florida before I changed the body. My imitation of John Force heating up the slicks. A PRO class Maverick w/ 428cu.in. power.

10.84 at 135.9mph w/ the small 144cc B&M blower & 440cu in's. Next victim, a Dodge. Yep it's got a HEMI!

How unusual is this? (below) I raced my corvette on a local roundy round short track, New Smyrna Speedway, in what they called "Spectator Races". Just like it sounds, people in the stands paid to race their steet cars, two at a time, side by side, against each other for one lap. Round robin style till only one was left. I WAS UNDEFEATED FOR ONE AND A HALF YEARS with my corvette!! Week in and week out everyone took their shot at me, but it took a purpose built Camaro, built by one of the stock car racers there to beat me. Had a lot of fun and won $50.00 every other week to help pay my bills. Sure miss those days...and that extra money every other week.

I began these changes (below) and then decided to go full tube chassis pro street.
I changed my mind & this was as far as I got on these body modifications. Sold the stock frame and the rest is history...

ADDITIONAL PAGE CONTENTS:
Page#1: Main Site Page
Page#2: Construction Of 'Love Is Blue'
Page#3: Interior & Sound
Page#4: Parts Fabrication & Installation - HARD PARTS
Page#5: The Early Years Of My 1966 Corvette
Page#6: Trips & Journey Taken In 'Love'
Page#7: Other Corvettes I've Built Over The Years
Page#8: Cheesecake Photos w/ 'Love Is Blue'
Page#9: Construction of 1/25th tribute scale model of 'Love Is Blue' by: Ron Drechsler