Photo: pugmonster56 via rottingclassics/instagram
Imagine somebody bought a C6 Corvette Z06 brand new and took the vehicle to various track events, only for the car to end up crashing and burning, say, last year. If such a sad story was true, involving heavy or even critical damage, the 'Vette would have serious chances of ending up on Copart and then its buyer would do whatever he or she pleased with the wrecked Chevy. But what if the tale involved a 1963 Corvette Z06, which is the case with the real car sitting before us? Things would obviously be a bit different, for quite a few reasons.
To start with, 1963 is probably the most desirable model year for the icon that is the C2 Corvette, since this was the only one that had the split-window rear design. As for the Z06, this is set apart not just by the fact that only 199 such cars were acquired, but also thanks to the race-ready hardware found on the machine.
The original Z06 was born as a way to go around the sanctioned racing ban imposed during the era, so, despite being sold as a street car, this thing could be taken straight to the track.
Then again, the Chevrolet halo car was considerably more expensive than the Jaguar E-Type, while sitting behind the Shelby Cobra in terms of the power-to-weight ratio, despite packing an overly muscular 327ci V8 with 360 hp and 352 lb-ft on tap. These aspects, mixed with the fact that, given the undercover nature of the beast, the Z06 wasn't even mentioned in the sales brochures, led to the limited production number mentioned above.
As such, you can imagine my surprise when, over the past weekend, I came across the photos of this reportedly original '63 Z06, which is claimed to have met its end back in 1971, following a fiery accident (this explains the lack of a front clip) - the Corvette has reportedly sat for 46 years before being picked up by an aficionado three years ago, with the gearhead currently working to bring the car back to the road.
The images, along with certain details of the vehicle, surfaced on the rottingclassics Instagram page, which, as its name implies, is here to bring tales of such machines to our attention.
The post sees 62-year-old Mark Pugmire, the purported owner of the vehicle, being tagged and so I naturally tried to reach out to him. We're talking about a private account that has yet to accept my follower request. So, here we are, five days later, discussing the machine based on the post from the said public page, which does include multiple comments from the enthusiast who supposedly saved this piece of American history.
As portrayed in one of the photos revealing the state of the vehicle when this was picked up three years ago, the odometer only shows 59,000 miles. Come to think of it, not working to fix the vehicle might not be all that strange, since it was reportedly labeled as a total loss back in the day. Besides, as another Instagram user aptly commented on the post, this stunt took place just before such machines saw their status threatened by the oil crisis.
"The man [who got a hold of the vehicle after the accident] saw what it really was, gathered up all of the original parts it needed and saved it, he was inspired. He put it in his garage where it sat next to a cameo pickup for 46 years until I found it in 2017," Pugmire explains in a comment.
Of course, the missing parts needed to bring such a car back to the asphalt could easily see such a project stalling, but the savior of the vehicle added that most of the rara avis C2 Z06 parts are still present: "All of the rare Z06 parts including brake systems, suspension components [...], as well as finned brake drums, segmented brake shoes and heavy duty suspension, were still on the car. It’s only missing some of the generic stuff that needed to be found,"
Now, the plan is to complete the restoration of the vehicle by next fall (perhaps in time for early November’s 2021 SEMA show). So far, the front clip has been replaced with an original one in silver (this was the factory hue of the vehicle), while the rear fenders and those odd taillights (yes, they’re supposed to be round) have also been changed.
Sure, reviving a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is one thing and bringing this up to its full financial potential for an auction is another. Then again, big numbers and a place in a locked garage aren't exactly the kind of details most classic car enthusiasts are interested in, so, at least from where I'm standing, the main goal is to see this small-block wonder being driven once again.
The original Z06 was born as a way to go around the sanctioned racing ban imposed during the era, so, despite being sold as a street car, this thing could be taken straight to the track.
Then again, the Chevrolet halo car was considerably more expensive than the Jaguar E-Type, while sitting behind the Shelby Cobra in terms of the power-to-weight ratio, despite packing an overly muscular 327ci V8 with 360 hp and 352 lb-ft on tap. These aspects, mixed with the fact that, given the undercover nature of the beast, the Z06 wasn't even mentioned in the sales brochures, led to the limited production number mentioned above.
As such, you can imagine my surprise when, over the past weekend, I came across the photos of this reportedly original '63 Z06, which is claimed to have met its end back in 1971, following a fiery accident (this explains the lack of a front clip) - the Corvette has reportedly sat for 46 years before being picked up by an aficionado three years ago, with the gearhead currently working to bring the car back to the road.
The images, along with certain details of the vehicle, surfaced on the rottingclassics Instagram page, which, as its name implies, is here to bring tales of such machines to our attention.
The post sees 62-year-old Mark Pugmire, the purported owner of the vehicle, being tagged and so I naturally tried to reach out to him. We're talking about a private account that has yet to accept my follower request. So, here we are, five days later, discussing the machine based on the post from the said public page, which does include multiple comments from the enthusiast who supposedly saved this piece of American history.
As portrayed in one of the photos revealing the state of the vehicle when this was picked up three years ago, the odometer only shows 59,000 miles. Come to think of it, not working to fix the vehicle might not be all that strange, since it was reportedly labeled as a total loss back in the day. Besides, as another Instagram user aptly commented on the post, this stunt took place just before such machines saw their status threatened by the oil crisis.
"The man [who got a hold of the vehicle after the accident] saw what it really was, gathered up all of the original parts it needed and saved it, he was inspired. He put it in his garage where it sat next to a cameo pickup for 46 years until I found it in 2017," Pugmire explains in a comment.
Of course, the missing parts needed to bring such a car back to the asphalt could easily see such a project stalling, but the savior of the vehicle added that most of the rara avis C2 Z06 parts are still present: "All of the rare Z06 parts including brake systems, suspension components [...], as well as finned brake drums, segmented brake shoes and heavy duty suspension, were still on the car. It’s only missing some of the generic stuff that needed to be found,"
Now, the plan is to complete the restoration of the vehicle by next fall (perhaps in time for early November’s 2021 SEMA show). So far, the front clip has been replaced with an original one in silver (this was the factory hue of the vehicle), while the rear fenders and those odd taillights (yes, they’re supposed to be round) have also been changed.
Sure, reviving a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is one thing and bringing this up to its full financial potential for an auction is another. Then again, big numbers and a place in a locked garage aren't exactly the kind of details most classic car enthusiasts are interested in, so, at least from where I'm standing, the main goal is to see this small-block wonder being driven once again.
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