Rare and desirable 1969 Corvette Stingray Convertible with the high power L46 engine plus 4 speed manual transmission.
This car is a particularly rare model being one of the very early production cars of this body style know as the C3 Stingray first launched in 1968. As you can see this car it fitted with chrome bumpers front and rear which was an attractive design feature only between the years of 1968 and 1972 when thereafter the new federal safety laws required the larger flexible urethane bumpers to be fitted (at first to the front only in 1973 and then to both front and rear from 1974 onwards). The late 60s and very early early 1970s cars are generally seen to be the last of the true Corvette muscle cars as the emissions laws that were introduced from 1971 onwards greatly restricted HP and performance. This together with the desire for luxuries and mod cons (A/ C, power windows etc.) led to future Corvettes being seen more luxury cruisers rather than out and out performance or muscle cars.
This is the high power 350 5. 7L engine with the 4 speed manual transmission. A beautiful restored car with a host of recent engine performance upgrades. Lots of history and paperwork showing bills of over £25, 000 on restoration i. e. respray, new hood, door cards, retrim interior, carpets, wheels, tires etc… everything you can imagine to bring it up to show standard. The L46 is a very powerful car as standard however I have recently upgraded to a high performance Comp cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM Aluminium Heads (£1600 for these alone), Edelbrock performance intake manifold.. Holly carb etc.. total of £6k investment on the engine performance alone. Additionally the car has also had a recent custom hand made SS exhaust with x-flow, headers and dual powerflow mufflers. Needless to say the car sounds amazing and pulls like a train, it is a very powerful car and not for the faint of heart. All original parts have been kept and are boxed up (numbers matching). Engine is a work of art, see pics.. all work documented. The car is finished in period Riverside Gold with black interior. Optioned extras inc. Soft Ray Tinted Glass, Headrests, Positraction Rear Axle, Tilt and Telescopic Steering Column, Front Fender Louver Trim. Interesting to note that this car was speced down from new as a lightweight racer for the road, i. e. no unnecessary things such as A/ C, No power windows, No power brakes or steering. I have have a few Corvettes over the years and this is hands down the coolest and badest of them all.
Interesting to note that the distinctive colour of this car is known as Riverside Gold which was a one year only colour particular for 1969 and is the same as the cars that were given to the astronauts of the Apollo 12 moon mission of the same year, those cars became known as the Astrovettes because of this NASA connection. The NASA connection aside with the recent performance upgrades the car is understood to now have in the region of 450hp making it a real rocket-ship of the road! Not to be confused or compared to 99. 9% of the Corvette’s on the market today, this car is right up there in every way. You are very unlikely to find a better car available anywhere and especially so with this kind of desirable spec.