Corvette History

1962 Corvette Le Mans
#1 - Chassis 20867S101261

Le Mans and Bowling Green - Overall Pictures
Bowling Green - Exterior Details
Bowling Green - Interior Details
Reference - Engine Details

Above - 2005-04-21 - Restored car at the National Corvette Museum. A superb restoration, unfortunately displayed to discourage detailed photography.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. It was like shooting in a cave.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. The car was against a wall and the front was mostly obscured.

Above - 2006-01-07 - "Vette Vues" magazine - Incredibly, and certainly fortuitously, the February issue of "Vette Vues" showed up, within a few days of my initial release of this web page, with a front end shot of 1261 on the cover and in an article inside.

Above - 2006-01-07 - "Vette Vues" magazine - Close-up from the above picture. Note the horizontally mounted driving lights. Front bumpers are gone (weight?) and probably for aerodynamic reasons, the license plate mounting surface has been removed but (more arcane Le Mans rules?) the "bumper guards" remain.

Above - 2006-01-07 - A stock 1962 front for comparison.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. Bug deflector!? Since it is in the middle of the hood it is more likely an aerodynamic device as developed for the 1960 Le Mans cars.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. Strange stripes!

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. When racing at Le Mans, a yellow disc on the bodywork was said to indicate to the rescue crews that the body was aluminum. Do you suppose orange meant fiberglass?

Above and Below - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. Comparing this picture to the one below, we can assume this is a fuel injected car.

Above - 2006-01-01 - Production Fuel Injection car.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. Jack point stripes continue down over the rocker trim.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. Exhaust pipe goes through the rocker panel fiberglass and the rocker trim.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. Expenses on wheels were apparently kept to a minimum! Or maybe the Halibrands from 1960 were no longer homologated. We will assume that the "R" on the tire is for "Rear" and not "Right".

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. I'm guessin' these rear "mud flaps" were the result of some arcane Le Mans regulation.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. The fuel filler neck goes right through the rear window. The reflections identify the point of entry.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. Another view of the fuel filler neck. 

Above - 2006-01-07 - A shot of the fuel tank and fuel filler neck during restoration. Note that this also shows that the strange blue stripes will NOT show around the back corners of the hardtop when it is installed.

Above - 2005-04-21 - National Corvette Museum. It has a stock rear deck emblem. 

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