Slideshow: Carr’s Corvettes Updated '62 Corvette Respects the Original

The 10th Year Itch

Only a few minutes into the new documentary about guitar legend Jeff Beck, the rocker mentions lusting after a Corvette, a split-window coupe, even though so many of his many home-built hot rods are pre-war. Split-windows get all the love but the '63's barely-older sibling has a lot going for it—not only is it a true sports car, its wild looks make it seem like a George Barris custom job, and its 360 hp 327 ci small-block makes it a bona fide muscle car. It takes an individual with strong convictions and the gift of independent thought to pick the '62 out of a line-up of great Corvettes, especially when it's standing next to a '63 Sting Ray. Count Chris Kearney of Charlotte, North Carolina among those individuals. In his words, the '62 is "always intriguing."

The Donor

When the time came for Kearney to scratch the Corvette Itch, his first choice was a car built by Carr Campbell of Carr’s Corvettes & Customs in Plano, Texas, a car that Kearney saw on the Barrett-Jackson auction block a few years ago. Auctions being auctions, the price went up, up, and up, and Kearney decided a better plan was to call Campbell and commission a car. A deal was struck and a '62 was found that had been sitting in the California high desert for a few years too many.

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Underpinnings

Despite the car's paint—which was original, with the exception of a flame job—having "turned to chalk," the Corvette was complete minus the engine and trans. It turns out the car had been raced since day one, which would explain the missing drivetrain, though possibly not the flames. Carr’s started by stripping the C1 even further down, putting the frame and suspension aside and replacing them with a GT Sport chassis from Art Morrison, a C6 suspension up front, and a four-link set-up with a Strange 9-inch rear housing and Detroit Truetrac LSD and 3.70:1 gears out back. The '62 rides on JRi coilovers at all four corners and stops with Wilwoods (14-inch rotors with six-piston calipers front, 13-inch discs with four-piston calipers rear).

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Body

Carr’s dusted the chalky paint off the bodywork and dug in. Once they had repaired the rockers' steel reinforcements, they got to work widening the rear fenders, using GTS Customs' inch-and-a-half wider rear quarter panels. When the time came for paint, they decided not to go with the Day 2 flames again, instead opting for PPG Deltron Jazz Blue—a late-model Dodge truck hue—under PPG's Global Glamour Clear.

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The Shiny Bits

Kearney's Corvette now wears a repro 1962 grille, and the stock bumpers were modified, tucked, and triple-plated. The C1 rolls on 2009 Corvette ZR1 repro wheels (18×8.5 front and 18×9.5 rear), also in bright chrome, wearing BFGoodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 tires ( 255/35R18 front and 275/40R18 rear). The wheel/tire combo blends in remarkably well with the much older-style Corvette, possibly because the body has a nice rake to it and wasn't overly slammed.

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LS Time

Kearny and Carr's weren't messing around when the engine-picking time rolled around. The '62 now boasts a 2015 Chevrolet Performance LS3/480 crate engine, using a Street & Performance brand accessory drive system—even an old convertible needs A/C sometimes. Cooling the engine, on the other hand, is the job of an aluminum radiator from DeWitts with a SPAL electric fan. Eschewing engine-obscuring cover panels, Carr's hid the coil packs and installed old school-style valve covers that really make the engine look like an engine. The covers, combined with the underhood Dreamsicle-esque color scheme, are inspired choices and add another dimension of sophistication to the build.

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Still LS Time

Not to be outdone by the paint job, the Corvette's engine also sports ceramic-coated 1 7/8-inch Art Morrison long-tube headers, a custom 2 1/2-inch aluminized steel exhaust system, MagnaFlow mufflers, and custom tailpipe exits. The combo churns out 461 hp and 473 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Backing up the LS is a Silver Sport Transmissions TKO 600 five-speed, manually-shifted of course, using an 11-inch clutch.

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Like a Glove

Inside the 'Vette, Kearney's design brief called for a stock-ish appearance, but with enhanced luxury. The Corvette received a liberal coating of Dynamat, on top of which Auto Custom Carpets' best cut pile product was laid down. Most of the rest of the interior was paved in supple doeskin leather, including the Al Knoch seats and door panels. Carr's recognized the original gauges were hard to improve on, so they were expertly restored and modified to work with the LS wiring harness. Again, not the easiest or most common solution, but one that puts this C1 a cut above.

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Drive Home Happy

Kearney told Hot Rod that what he loved most about the car was basically everything. "It has the classic styling of a ’62 Corvette with the build quality, performance, comfort, conveniences, and driveability of a modern, high-end luxury sports car, and is extremely elegant with its color combination and endless details that make you look at the car for hours," he beamed. This brings two things to mind. One: that is as it should be when you spend your pocket change on a tailor-made build, and Two: he's right.

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