I find myself totally engrossed in the early 1960s Lightweight cars, specifically the Chevrolets and the Pontiacs. While at Thompson, I had the chance to converse with both Rusty Symmes and Hank Gabbert for some time. They were very gracious to spend their valuable time advising me and answering my questions. Hank's restored Z-11 is truly special, and I learned why their inner wheel wells were not aluminum from the factory. Seeing Rusty's fine example of an early and very rare 1962 Belair with the aluminum front clip and Z-11 top end really opened my eyes.
On the way home from Thompson, Ohio, James and I stopped by in Marion, Ohio to meet with Vance Heck (HeckinOhio on our Board) and see a pair of 1962s he was offering for sale. He had a very rust free 1962 Impala, originally a 283 car but to be included with a hiperf 409, and a 1962 Belair Sport Coupe made into a racer with a tube frame, also with a 409. Both were interesting to look at, and something to consider.
But the reason Vance was selling these projects was to concentrate on his cadre of 1962 Pontiac race cars, two of which were Lightweights. I snapped a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. The Blue one was quite the prize, with aluminum fenders and inners, fiberglass hood and bumpers, fitted with a Super Duty 421 that only a few racers could get their hands on. Very fast car! Note the super rare dual quad intake, not many of those made! Exhaust manifolds were cast from aluminum -- he had maybe 3-4 extra sets of those rare castings laying around. I thought I had a pretty cool basement...
The Burgundy one was also a lightweight sporting some of the same aluminum fiberglass parts. He and his brother crafted the molds for the fiberglass back in the day, and produced sets for various racers on demand. He had several sets of backup fiberglass hoods, fenders, doors, etc. just hanging on the walls.
Enjoy the pics! I took the one of me sitting in one of his lightweights shaking his hand so l could show my wife I had purchased another vehicle (yeah, right! These babies are not for sale!).
Enjoy!
TomK
On the way home from Thompson, Ohio, James and I stopped by in Marion, Ohio to meet with Vance Heck (HeckinOhio on our Board) and see a pair of 1962s he was offering for sale. He had a very rust free 1962 Impala, originally a 283 car but to be included with a hiperf 409, and a 1962 Belair Sport Coupe made into a racer with a tube frame, also with a 409. Both were interesting to look at, and something to consider.
But the reason Vance was selling these projects was to concentrate on his cadre of 1962 Pontiac race cars, two of which were Lightweights. I snapped a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. The Blue one was quite the prize, with aluminum fenders and inners, fiberglass hood and bumpers, fitted with a Super Duty 421 that only a few racers could get their hands on. Very fast car! Note the super rare dual quad intake, not many of those made! Exhaust manifolds were cast from aluminum -- he had maybe 3-4 extra sets of those rare castings laying around. I thought I had a pretty cool basement...
The Burgundy one was also a lightweight sporting some of the same aluminum fiberglass parts. He and his brother crafted the molds for the fiberglass back in the day, and produced sets for various racers on demand. He had several sets of backup fiberglass hoods, fenders, doors, etc. just hanging on the walls.
Enjoy the pics! I took the one of me sitting in one of his lightweights shaking his hand so l could show my wife I had purchased another vehicle (yeah, right! These babies are not for sale!).
Enjoy!
TomK
