PC December Issue

Practical Classics Restorer of the Year
in association with
AS FOUND
Chris’s Corvette looked great, but drove like the proverbial bag of spanners.
New bushes and shims transformed the sloppy handling and steering.
Chris Powell was less than impressed when
he first drove his newly-purchased 1965
Chevrolet Corvette coupé. ‘It drove like
a pig,’ he says. ‘It was all over the road
because the suspension rubbers were
worn out. It was horrible.’
That was back in 1998 and Chris was certainly no
stranger to classic Corvettes. ‘I worked for a drag racing
team in the Seventies and one of the sponsors had a
1967 big block Corvette,’ he remembers. ‘Once I’d had
a drive of it I wanted one of my own. I liked the styling so
I bought a 1972 car with the big 454 cubic inch engine.
After that I got a 1976 Corvette, then a 1979 car
with the 5.7-litre L48 350ci engine.’
Those later C3 Corvettes helped scratch the itch, but
Chris still yearned for a C2 Corvette from 1963-1967.
‘I bought a copy of Exchange and Mart in October 1998,’
Chris remembers. ‘I went through it looking
➽
To subscribe to PC go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/practicalclassics
PRACTICAL CLASSICS // DECEMBER 2015 39