The latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, one of the most objective auto show you get nowadays, features the host’s 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. Jay starts the show talking with Mike McCloskey, the restorer specialized in Corvettes that took care of the Sting Ray.
After reminding about Peter Brock’s book “Corvette Sting Ray, Genesis of an American Icon” Leno shows why this second generation 1963 Corvette Sting Ray is a unique work of art.
Leno starts with introducing the guy who restored his silver grey beauty and of course the car: "when I was 13-year old it was a car that knocked by socks off as it did to most kids my age.”
The car has a revolutionary body style and was the fastest Corvette at the time. His beauty is about as original as this classic can get, retaining all the original details plus its fuel-injection system and unique exhaust setup, the four-speed transmission and its simple, iconic interior.
We are looking at a 360 horsepower car that was one of the best you could get in those years, considering most cars were packing 160 hp motors. This one year model, that came with a innovative split window, has more than just the engine to show off. One of the things you see first are the hubcaps, each made out of 17 pieces.
The restorer explains how much he cared for making the Corvette become exactly as it was when it came out. However, McCloskey explains how this particular model had unique features that were considered useless by the manufacturer, thus changed the year after. Even though it was a sort of a prototype type car, they’ve still built 21,000 of them.
The rumor among car enthusiasts is that the Corvette Sting Ray ’63 would get its front wheels flying after it reaches 100 mph (163 km/h), but we won't spoil that for you.
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