Silver Stingray restoration more than 20 years in the making.
By Claudio D'Andrea
What started as a get-the-lead-out job turned into a two decades full-scale restoration of a Corvette Stingray for Albie Carr.
The 76-year-old classic car enthusiast, featured in the UK's Daily Express in early May, purchased his 1963 silver Stingray at Corvette Kingdom in 1983. Its asking price was £3,800 (about $6,500 Cdn.) and Carr, who had fallen in love with the car after watching the US crime drama Judge Hardcastle, had to gather extra money to complete the restoration.
Just about every part of the car, according to adrianflux.co.uk, "has either been refurbished or replaced, with most of the work undertaken by Albie in his garage at home."
The car had been taken off the road because lead-based gasoline was banned at the turn of the millennium. Carr had to convert the heads to unleaded.
That work soon grew to include upgrades to the engine and suspension. With money from a bank loan, he also had the car stripped down to the body and resprayed. A new roll bar was added to the rear and its brakes, cylinders and stainless steel brake pipes reworked.
According to the Daily Express article, the Stingray has a new gas tank, bearings and cam bearing head. New electrical components were added, a four-speed gearbox re-installed and a brand new hood installed. "I only took it round the corner, about half a mile, and I'd forgotten how many people look at it," the Great Yarmouth, England resident said.
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