Don Marty - Verona, Wisconsin
I purchased my Crown Corv-8 kit in the summer of 1970 between my junior and senior years of high school. Some have said that the kits were numbered, but I don’t remember that and don’t find it in the partial documentation that I still have. I got the full adapter kit, headers, handling kit and 4-spider gear differential. Over the next nine months I installed the kit in a 1965 Corsa that I bought from a friend who had removed the damaged engine and started a mid-engine conversion. I used a 327 340 hp Corvette engine with a ’66 4-speed transaxle and axle flanges. I made my own engine cover with molded in fiberglass seat shells using dune buggy shells, plywood, chicken wire, glass matting and resign. In hindsight, I should have purchased the Crown engine cover, but at age 17 I thought I could make anything. I painted it ‘70-‘72 Corvette Ontario Orange. By the time I turned 18 I was driving it on the street as my daily driver, even in the Wisconsin winters. There was no need for a heater with those headers!
My dad’s insurance agent reluctantly agreed to insure it as a V-8 powered Corvair, but firmly told me that if I was in an accident or received a ticket, my insurance would be cancelled. I drove it in a few gymkhana events put on by the local Corvette club (see photos) but had no accidents nor tickets (not that I didn’t deserve a few). After enjoying it for two years, rust had taken its toll and my dad wanted his garage back, so I removed all of the drivetrain and Crown components to save for later use and sold the body. In 1976 I purchased a 1967 Nantucket Blue 500 coupe from an insurance auction (theft recovery with minor damage) that was from Washington State and therefore had a fairly decent body but a trashed interior. I started installing the Crown kit and then life intervened and it has sat in my garage untouched ever since. Now that I’m retired, I finally have the time to bring my Corv-8 back to life.
My dad’s insurance agent reluctantly agreed to insure it as a V-8 powered Corvair, but firmly told me that if I was in an accident or received a ticket, my insurance would be cancelled. I drove it in a few gymkhana events put on by the local Corvette club (see photos) but had no accidents nor tickets (not that I didn’t deserve a few). After enjoying it for two years, rust had taken its toll and my dad wanted his garage back, so I removed all of the drivetrain and Crown components to save for later use and sold the body. In 1976 I purchased a 1967 Nantucket Blue 500 coupe from an insurance auction (theft recovery with minor damage) that was from Washington State and therefore had a fairly decent body but a trashed interior. I started installing the Crown kit and then life intervened and it has sat in my garage untouched ever since. Now that I’m retired, I finally have the time to bring my Corv-8 back to life.
March, 2021 Updates
|
|
|
|
