Mr. Vette's 1957 C1 Built on a C5 Chassis

The Name

What do you call a man who’s owned 134 Corvettes? Lucky yes, but also Mr. Corvette, at least that’s the name people have bestowed upon Lakewood, Wisconsin’s Harry Liebergen. But it wasn’t just triple-digit Corvette ownership that earned him the nickname, his 53 years dedicated to providing paint and bodywork to happy customers helped clinch the title. Like many a ‘Vette fanatic, Harry likes speed, and though he’s owned several desirable C2s and C3s, recent years have seen him driving more recently-manufactured Corvettes. Newer cars are great, but they do nothing to fill the urge to pilot a vintage ‘Vette, and when Harry felt the tug of a 1957 Corvette he decided to see what he could do to bring the best of both worlds together in one vehicle. 

The Plan

And Harry had a fairly specific vehicle in mind. “I just can’t leave things alone, I have to make them different,” he told Reincarnation. “Years ago, there was a kit on the market for the C1, but there was a lot I didn’t like about it. A ’57 is what I really wanted to build, so I bought a front end, rear end, doors, a hood, and a trunk lid and away I went.” With a C5 donor car secured, Harry put his years of experience as a body man to good use, as he altered the C1 panels, stretching some and re-sculpting others. Fenders and wheel arches were adapted to fit C5 parameters, and the nose and tail sections received a significant modification to match the wide and low C5 chassis and interior.

>>Join the conversation about this C1 on a C5 chassis right here in LS1Tech.

Production

Paint and body people may breathe in a lot of dust but they are no idiots, so after investing 1,500 hours of effort into reworking the C1 panels to perfection, Harry and his team made molds off of the finished product to enable easy replication. He says they can complete a customer conversion in roughly 350 hours and have done four C5 to C1 conversions so far, all to a ‘57-style pattern. 

>>Join the conversation about this C1 on a C5 chassis right here in LS1Tech.

Modification

Not all four of the cars are identical though, after car number three Harry changed the molds, widening the rear to allow for fatter wheels and tires. New conversions can now accept even wider tires than C5s came with from the factory, in turn elevating cornering and braking capabilities above stock levels. The car you see here is the most recent of Harry’s creations and is currently running 17-inch REV Classic 100 wheels shod with BFGoodrich g-Force Sport tires, 245/45 front, and 275/40 rear.

>>Join the conversation about this C1 on a C5 chassis right here in LS1Tech.

Paint

Of course, bodywork is only part of the body and paint process, and Harry puts his other talents to work when he sprays his creations, always going for maximum pop. Adding in a little C7 flair for his C1/5, Harry started with Admiral Blue metallic from the 2017 Corvette palette but mixed purple pearl in place of the metallic. Like all darker blues and purples, it really shines in the sun.

>>Join the conversation about this C1 on a C5 chassis right here in LS1Tech.

Mechanicals

The Admiral Blue/Purple car featured here started life as a 2003 Corvette and so benefits from the later C5-spec 350 hp LS1, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. Reincarnation loved the 21st-century driving experience Harry’s car offered almost as much as the rich LS tones delivered from the four tips of the Corsa exhaust. They said that from inside the very 2000s interior it became easy to forget the C1 aspect of the car completely until a quick glance at the rounded fenders or signature hood brought it all back again. 

>>Join the conversation about this C1 on a C5 chassis right here in LS1Tech.

Driven

Say what you will about modern ‘Vettes in early ‘Vette clothing, the simple fact is that they get driven. This car is no exception as Harry had put 17,000 miles on it in the space of just three short summers, before selling it to move on to his next project (remember, this is the man whose garage has housed over a hundred Corvettes). What’s his latest project? Harry’s shifting gears… you would too if you scored a barn find ‘63 split window coupe. 

>>Join the conversation about this C1 on a C5 chassis right here in LS1Tech.

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