This is a story that I had written shortly after my purchase of the 1967 Bart Starr Corvette detailing how it came into mypossession.
It was abeautiful summer day in August of 1994 and I was drag racing at Brainerd International Raceway, in Minnesota, one of my favoritepastimes. I had entered my Bloomington Gold 1965, 396 Corvette convertible in the Muscle Car show, while at the same time I was racing my 1967 Nova SS, 327-275 HP in Pure Stock.
The morning had been long due to being out too late the night before and talking with many other racers and spectators for most of the morning. None the less, I was at the BIR facility, a beautiful place on about 500 acres, with a drag strip, a road race track, and lots ofpeople walking around observing different cars. Soon, two women came walking up looking at my 1963 Corvette, which is my daily driver. I could faintly overhear one of the girls talking to the other about the car, which caught my attention because they were pointing to and discussing things like the hood grills, hubcaps, and side louvers used on the '63. Soon, I introduced myself and started talking about the nice day and the '63 Corvette. She introduced herself as Christine and explained to me that her ex-husband and her each had Corvettes, and when theydivorced, he took one and she took the 1967 convertible. She explained to me that the car she owned was given to Bart Starr for being the MVP of the 1967 Super Bowl.
Christine came across as a very honest person and went on to explain the Corvette she owned. It was a 1967goodwood green (Packers green), convertible, with black interior, 48,000 miles, 4-speed, 300HP, and with a Green Bay Packers sticker on the windshield celebrating their 50 year anniversary. She continued explaining who she had bought the car from, who owned it previous to that person, and so on. She had a very interesting story.
We talked for quite a while that day, I showed her my '65 Corvette and explained that I bought it 95% disassembled. It was a perfect, rust free, Arizona car with a no hit body, and it had all of the (hard to find) original parts for a big block. I went on to tell her about my business, Thunder Valley Classic Cars, and that we do Corvette repair and restoration. We discussed that my 1965 convertible had cost me $20,000 in parts and paint to restore, and my brother Pete, who works for me, and I did all of the labor. After explaining the work that goes into restoring a classic car, I think I shocked her on how much it really costs.
Shetold me that restoring her '67 convertible was way out of her budget. I told her that she probably did not want to do that detailed of a restoration, and I offered to take a look and advise her on the car.
We talkeda fewtimes again the next day and exchanged phonenumbers. I then told her that I would be interested in buying the car if she wanted to sell it. She told me she had a lot of dealers after her to buy it, but she would not sell it to them. Christine informed me that she would let me know one way or another what she wanted to do with the car.
The weekend then came to an end and it was back to work. Throughout the entire next week, I had that Corvette on my mind. I believe it was about two weeks later when Christine called me saying she wanted to sell the Bart Starr 1967 Corvette. She named a price and I thought, for that price, it would have to be a pretty nice car. I loaded up my suburban with the open trailer and headed for Wausau, WI.
We met at her residence and I followed her to where she had the car stored. She had stored the car at her mechanic's house, who was who was also a good friend of hers. We got out and greeted one another and walked to the garage where it had been stored for the past eight years. When we opened the door, I think she felt bad because she really thought the car was much nicer than it appeared. It was very dirty and still had original lacquer paint on it, though it was cracked up. The original convertible top was missing the rear window, the 10-year-old bias ply tires still held air, but it just looked tired. Christine hadn't seen the car in several years, it's surprising how memories are always better than reality.
Luckily, I had brought cash with and we agreed upon a price and made a deal. It was several thousand dollars less than she wanted for it, but her mechanic friend told her it was a fair price for the car. I knew it was very had for Christine to sell it, but she wanted to help her daughter get through college. Christine was a very committed parent. We loaded the car, said goodbye, and I returned home.
After returning home, I lifted the car on the hoist and looked it over. It was a very nice original car, but needed restoration. I then removed the fuel tank and, to my surprise, it still had the tank sticker on it. I wiped the dust off and I saw the name B. STARR on the bottom of the tank sticker. The sticker legibly read, "Courtesy Delivery - B. Starr".
When I think about it, I feel so lucky because after many times of returning home with an empty trailer, I finally scored a touchdown.
CAR DESCRIPTION: The car has original paint with a couple areas of touch up. The original paint is cracked. ABSOLUTELY factory installed engine, transmission and differential. ALL MATCHING # 's. The frame and suspension was removed from car to be reconditioned and cleaned. The body mounts, suspension rubbers, u-joints, seals, bearings were replaced, with a lot of hand scrubbing on the chassis parts and under body. I have done over 45 frame off restorations on Corvettes and have received Top Flight and Bloomington Gold awards at my business, Thunder Valley Classic Cars for 32 years. I wanted the car to be safe, dependable, and driveable. There was absolutely no painting on anything, it looks great with original patina, original paint on engine. Brake calipers were sent off to be stainless steel sleeved. The original engine has never been taken apart, it has the original gaskets. The car runs and drives great. The engine runs excellent and transmission shifts perfectly. Radiator had to be replaced with a brand new dated "Dewitts" reproduction radiator, the original will go with the car. I do also have correct trim rings and center caps. The car has original convertible top, but is missing the rear window. I am currently putting together previous owner history. I have spoken to second owner that confirms the car belonged to Bart Starr. If you have any question on this car, please email me your phone number and I will return your call after 6 p.m. CDT
Engine Numbers:Cast. Date- E-18-7Stamp #'s: 7120233 V0525HE (Absolutely original factory installed engine)
Transmission Numbers:7S120233 P7H02 (Absolutely original factoryinstalled transmission)
Differential Numbers:AM 5-23-67 (Absolutely original factory installed differential)
Alternator Numbers:1100693 7-E-15 ( original factory installed alternator)