Airetime’s 1959 Corvette Restomod Steals the Show

Lots of people have cool cars. They saved up their money, went down to the dealership, picked out what they wanted, and signed on the dotted line. That’s great and all, but I think it’s better if someone can tell a story about their history with their vehicle. Forum member Airetime has a tale to share about his 1959 Corvette restomod.

Back in the first year of the Nixon administration, at the age of 18, he paid $1,200 for this American icon. He proceeded to drive it and race it. Unfortunately, this C1 then spent the bulk of its years – 33, to be exact – in storage. Airetime decided to restore his baby in 2006, but he suffered a setback: a drunk driver. That jerk ended up causing our hapless Corvette lover to have to purchase a new front end and hood.

He didn’t stop there, though. Airetime says, “Updates were made to the engine, drive-train, suspension, rack and pinion steering, disc brakes, exhaust, instruments were updated and re-calibrated, body and paint and new interior.” His modernized classic features a rebuilt 1970-1/2 Corvette 350 that was enlarged to 355 cubic inches, ceramic headers, an Edelbrock 650-cfm Thunder Series AVS carburetor, and an Elgin Pro Stock cam.

Of course, Airetime paid plenty of attention to his Corvette’s underpinnings, too. Among other parts, he gave it 1970-1981 Camaro spindles, QA1 coil-over shocks, and 11-inch vented rotors up front, and a nine-inch, 3:55 rear end and coil-overs out back.

In 2009, all of Airetime’s hard work added up to the beaut you see here. Great job, man! I commend you for your patience and determination. You resurrected a great-looking car and transformed it into one hell of an award-winning machine.

Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>

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via [Corvette Forum]

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