Donald Todd sent in an email telling the story of his 43 years—and still counting—with a 1967 427/390 Corvette. Here’s his tale:
At the age of 21, I ordered my Marlboro Maroon 427/390 Corvette in February 1967 from a local Chevrolet dealer. After waiting for three months and no Corvette, the dealer informed me the order was held up for the Redline tires I ordered. I was told there was a strike at the tire plant, and they weren’t available. I asked the dealer to change the order to whitewall tires, and I finally took delivery on July 14, 1967.
What I loved about the car was the sheer power of the 427-ci engine and the sound of the side exhausts while running the Muncie 4-speed through the gears. The acceleration was awesome when you pushed the pedal down and the secondaries of the Holley 4-barrel opened up. It was kind of like the afterburners kicking in. I also liked the way the Corvette held the curves in the road. Even with those narrow tires, it seemed to be glued to the pavement with its low center of gravity. Of course it’s nothing like today’s Corvettes!
The thing that I was disappointed in was shoddy workmanship. There was a water leak around the passenger side door, paint overspray in the engine compartment, cement oozing out from the weather stripping and front of the hood sat up higher on one side than the other.
Oh by the way, I still have my one and only Corvette parked in my garage with a little over 30,000 miles on it. I’ve won quite a few trophies from local car shows over the years. In 2010, I entered it in the Bloomington Gold Corvette show and it was certified as a “Survivor.” Not bad for an old Chevy!
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