Car Nut Bought 25 Corvettes in 2024, 1965 Oddball Not Driven Since 1999 Packs Rare Treat (2024)

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Photo: YouTube/Dennis Collins

In 1963, General Motors made the most foot-in-mouth decision in the history of (successful) American carmaking. The biggest automobile company on the planet banned its divisions from officially entering any sanctioned of a certain kind. You know, events that involved a start and finish line, a checkered flag, and overall ‘I’m faster than you!’ philosophical debates. With racing out of the way, GM made sure to axe any performance aspirations from its less-than-full-size automobiles, imposing a never-exceed limit on engine displacement.

In short, anything not in the same line as the Impala was forbidden from having a motor with more than 400 cubic inches (6.6 liters). Come 1965, Chevrolet found a workaround: the 396 big-block V8 that followed all the rules. It was under the corporation’s upper limit (by one percent). So it made its way into the Corvette – all 425 horsepower of it.

Note that 1965 is a year before Chrysler’s Street Hemi hit the… well, street, and the sporty Chevrolet was already setting up a welcoming party. Introduced as a mid-year option, the big-block option was immediately recognized as the only thing missing from the Corvette arsenal to stand up to Ferraris and Aston Martins truly.

With 2,125 units built, the big motor pushed the model’s sales upward – and GM brass hats took note of it and introduced the bigger-inch 427 a year later, for even more horsepower outrage. However, the 396 V8 was an expensive option, and the bulk of sales stood on the shoulders of the tried and tested 327 V8. The 5.4 liters offered five different outputs, from the base 250 hp all the way to a fuel-injected 375 horses (with 300, 350, and 365 as intermediary steps).

As fate would have it, some of the ‘65s got on to live a purposeful life filled with adventurous high-revving events that mandated as many mods as mechanically – and financially – possible. In one word – racing. They may be regarded as icons nowadays – at least, those that made it through the past 60 years – but back then, a Corvette was just another car.

An expensive sportscar, but still a piece of engineering designed to go fast. And whoever had the means to buy one for beating the other guy took that opportunity – even years later. In 1971, a man from Tiffin, Ohio, bought his fiber-glass-bodied example. One year later, in July of ’72, he went to the Army and passed the car to his brother.

Two years later, the new owner had a minor disagreement with one of the V8’s valves. Basically, he planted his right foot, and the engine apparently objected and dropped a valve. The piston immediately felt obliged to defend the cause of internal combustion limits and cracked the block. The shop where the engine ended up said it was fixable but more expensive than sourcing another V8 from the boneyard.

The lead-footed driver found the cheaper proposal acceptable and found a solid-lifter small-block (he believes it’s vintage 1967) that served its purpose well and is in the car today. About those 'mechanical lifters' thing: in 1967, two 327s were offered, and both came with hydraulic tappets, which leads us to one of two conclusions: either the V8 has been rebuilt, or it is from an earlier year.

It wouldn’t matter much today after the car sat for over 25 years in a garage – under a tarp – where it was parked after the paint began to peel. The owner refreshed the livery (by appointment to a specialty shop) in 1979, and it lasted for 25 years. The Corvette was well taken care of and never saw a shade of cloud, let alone a drop of rain. That’s reason enough for an avid classic car rescuer (Dennis Collins) to buy it – making this the 25th Corvette purchased this year.

This particular coupe is one of the 8,186 units built for the model year but sports several rare options, chief of which is the side dual exhaust. Only 758 other Corvettes had the big pipes running along the rocker panels in 1965 – the first year for the calve-roasting setup.

The power antenna also came as a new feature on the ‘65 Corvette. The telescoping steering column was a new option offered in the Corvette beginning in 1965, and this example has one. It doesn’t work, but that’s not the point – less than 4,000 units were ordered with the adjustable steering wheel.

This Nassau Blue coupe was originally ordered with air conditioning – another rare option, given its $412 sticker price (2,423 ‘Vettes came with the cool creature comfort feature). One quirky spec was the three-speed power-exhaust cabin ventilation.

A blower fan located behind the driver would push stale air out of the greenhouse through the functional slats in the B-pillar. It worked in conjunction with the cowl inlets that sucked air in the cabin (the passenger side vent openings were purely decorative).

It was a two-year option (available on 1964 and 1965 Corvettes) that could not be ordered on Big Tank examples. As such, 41 Corvettes assembled for 1965 did not come with the ventilation equipment. Whoever spec’ed this Corvette enjoyed comfort and didn’t spare expenses – the $236 power windows weren’t that rare, though, with just under 7,800 customers adding it to their cars.

The most out-of-place part about this particular 1965 Corvette is that 427 badge on the hood—together with the hood itself. Both belong to the 1966-1967 iteration of the sportscar. The 427 cubic-inch (seven liters) motor debuted in ’66, replacing the 396 and also phasing out the fuel-injected powerplants for the following 18 years.