{"id":4779,"date":"2021-01-08T23:21:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-09T04:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/?page_id=4779"},"modified":"2021-01-08T23:23:11","modified_gmt":"2021-01-09T04:23:11","slug":"these-three-see-through-corvettes-hold-significant-parts-of-chevy-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/these-three-see-through-corvettes-hold-significant-parts-of-chevy-history\/","title":{"rendered":"These three see-through Corvettes hold significant parts of Chevy history"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jim Koscs<\/a> on Jan 6th, 2021 at 9:00 am<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo
Photo copyright Bill Erdman.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The unmistakable sound of a Chevy big-block through Corvette exhausts would not stand out as unusual at a New York Chevy dealer\u2019s Corvette show. But when a few showgoers turned their heads to glance at the \u201ccar\u201d they heard approaching the event back in 1990, eyes popped and jaws dropped.\u201cIt\u2019s not a car! It\u2019s just a chassis \u2013 with a guy driving it!\u201dThe \u201ccar,\u201d which was wearing the chrome bumpers of a C2 Corvette, made several passes by the dealership, and before long the show crowd had moved to the street to get a closer look. After about 10 minutes of teasing the ‘Vette fans, the driver pulled into the lot and then into the showroom. The crowd rushed to follow.The driver, Kevin Mackay, had trailered the bodyless 1965 Corvette to a spot about a block away from the show and then drove it there to make a grand entrance. \u201cThey could not believe it was driveable,\u201d Mackay recalls for Hemmings<\/em>. \u201cPeople went crazy over it.\u201dThe driveable \u201965 chassis was part fun surprise for Corvette buffs and part promotional tool for Mackay\u2019s business, Corvette Repair in Valley Stream, New York, opened in 1985. The shop has restored many of the world\u2019s rarest and most valuable Corvette production models, historic race cars, and factory development cars and prototypes. Mackay\u2019s restorations have earned more than 1,500 awards for clients, including legendary New York Yankee slugger, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, and noted car collector Reggie \u201cMr. October\u201d Jackson. The baseball great referred to Mackay as \u201cThe Mr. October of Corvettes\u201d in the foreword he wrote for Mackay\u2019s book, \u201cThe Corvette Hunter<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Post
Photo copyright Bill Erdman.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mackay and his team of craftsmen would go on to build numerous other special display Corvettes, each more surprising and intricate than the last. The culmination of that work so far stands as three \u201cSee-Thru\u201d Corvettes, representing each of the car\u2019s first three generations. Beneath the mind-blowing bodywork, each See-Thru car holds a special, historic surprise: The \u201969 is one of 116 factory L88 models made that year, the\u201965 is powered by a top-secret big-block engine from the Mk. IV development program and was used in one of the five Corvette Grand Sport racers. And the \u201953 sits on the oldest Corvette chassis known to exist, #003.Rest assured, Mackay and his team did not simply tear up three historic Corvettes to build these See-Thru models. Each was constructed differently, and all required extraordinary creativity, ingenuity and craftsmanship to be made driveable. (Mackay\u2019s \u201969 L88 will be returned to stock with its original body.)The featured photos, taken in 2018, are from the first and last time the three cars have been together. They were joined in the photo shoot by the driveable chassis of the 1964 Corvette XP-819 rear-engine development car<\/a>, also restored by Corvette Repair. Mackay had debuted the chassis at the 2013 Amelia Island Concours, and then the completed XP-819 at the 2020 Amelia Island Concours. The car is currently on loan by its owner to the National Corvette Museum for the mid-engine model display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou Have to Stand Out\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mackay had established a reputation for quality Corvette restorations starting with his own \u201965 and \u201967 coupes, but he wanted to do even more to demonstrate his team\u2019s capabilities while also engaging the Corvette hobby. He recalled advice from his father, who initially did not approve of his career but became a supporter. \u201cHe told me I had to figure out a way to make myself stand out,\u201d Mackay recalls. That spurred the idea to showcase restoration work that normally goes unseen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Post
Photo copyright Bill Erdman.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEighty-percent of a restoration gets hidden by the body, so we would bring the restored rolling chassis to local shows,\u201d Mackay says. \u201cThese would draw bigger crowds than the cars. People would surround them, take pictures and ask questions. They could see the inner workings of a Corvette and how it was built, which was a great way to learn, and they could also see the quality of our work.\u201dEnergized by the reception the first rolling chassis received, Mackay stretched the idea. \u201cLooking at the rolling chassis, I thought it wouldn\u2019t take much work to make it driveable,\u201d he says. \u201cWe could install the bumpers, pedals, brake master cylinder and a driver\u2019s seat. So we did that with the Bounty Hunter<\/em> car we were restoring.\u201dThe Bounty Hunter<\/em> was a \u201967 427\/435 coupe steeped in local New York notoriety. It was also one of just a handful of Tuxedo Black Corvettes that had a red interior. The car was originally used as a demo and drag-raced by Vernon Turner, a salesman at Krieger Chevrolet-Oldsmobile in Woodbridge, New York. Turner named the car Bounty Hunter<\/em> after Top Fuel dragster racer Connie Kalitta and his cars. Turner, who was reputedly connected to organized crime, was ultimately found murdered.Mackay\u2019s restoration earned the car National Corvette Restorers Society Top Flight and Bloomington Gold honors, among other awards. It was judged Top Flight status with its Bounty Hunter<\/em> lettering and Cragar GT mag wheels, which is how the dealer sold the car in 1967. (Mackay was able to hunt down a set of the correct wheels in Hemmings<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Post
Photo copyright Bill Erdman.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kevin Mackay in front of one of his creations. Photo via the <a href=”https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/corvetterepair\/”>Corvette Repair Facebook pag<\/a>e.Among the car\u2019s enthusiastic fans at Bloomington Gold was the Corvette\u2019s godfather, Zora Arkus-Duntov, who happily autographed one of the car\u2019s valve covers. \u201cThat car got a ton of media coverage when we finished the restoration,\u201d says Mackay. \u201cThere were a lot of articles written about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jim Koscs on Jan 6th, 2021 at 9:00 am The unmistakable sound of a Chevy big-block through Corvette exhausts would not stand out as unusual at a New York Chevy dealer\u2019s Corvette show. But when a few showgoers turned their heads to glance at the \u201ccar\u201d they heard approaching the event back in 1990, eyes popped and jaws dropped.\u201cIt\u2019s not a car! It\u2019s just a chassis \u2013 with a guy driving it!\u201dThe \u201ccar,\u201d which was wearing the chrome bumpers of a C2 Corvette, made several passes by the dealership, and before long the show crowd had moved to the street to get a closer look. After about 10 minutes of teasing the ‘Vette fans, the driver pulled into the lot and then into the showroom. The crowd rushed to follow.The driver, Kevin Mackay, had trailered the bodyless 1965 Corvette to a spot about a block away from the show and then drove it there to make a grand entrance. \u201cThey could not believe it was driveable,\u201d Mackay recalls for Hemmings. \u201cPeople went crazy over it.\u201dThe driveable \u201965 chassis was part fun surprise for Corvette buffs and part promotional tool for Mackay\u2019s business, Corvette Repair in Valley Stream, New York, opened in 1985. The shop has restored many of the world\u2019s rarest and most valuable Corvette production models, historic race cars, and factory development cars and prototypes. Mackay\u2019s restorations have earned more than 1,500 awards for clients, including legendary New York Yankee slugger, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, and noted car collector Reggie \u201cMr. October\u201d Jackson. The baseball great referred to Mackay as \u201cThe Mr. October of Corvettes\u201d in the foreword he wrote for Mackay\u2019s book, \u201cThe Corvette Hunter.\u201d Mackay and his team of craftsmen would go on to build numerous other special display Corvettes, each more surprising and intricate than the last. The culmination of that work so far stands as three \u201cSee-Thru\u201d Corvettes, representing each of the car\u2019s first three generations. Beneath the mind-blowing bodywork, each See-Thru car holds a special, historic surprise: The \u201969 is one of 116 factory L88 models made that year, the\u201965 is powered by a top-secret big-block engine from the Mk. IV development program and was used in one of the five Corvette Grand Sport racers. And the \u201953 sits on the oldest Corvette chassis known to exist, #003.Rest assured, Mackay and his team did not simply tear up three historic Corvettes to build these See-Thru models. Each was constructed differently, and all required extraordinary creativity, ingenuity and craftsmanship to be made driveable. (Mackay\u2019s \u201969 L88 will be returned to stock with its original body.)The featured photos, taken in 2018, are from the first and last time the three cars have been together. They were joined in the photo shoot by the driveable chassis of the 1964 Corvette XP-819 rear-engine development car, also restored by Corvette Repair. Mackay had debuted the chassis at the 2013 Amelia Island Concours, and then the completed XP-819 at the 2020 Amelia Island Concours. The car is currently on loan by its owner to the National Corvette Museum for the mid-engine model display. \u201cYou Have to Stand Out\u201d Mackay had established a reputation for quality Corvette restorations starting with his own \u201965 and \u201967 coupes, but he wanted to do even more to demonstrate his team\u2019s capabilities while also engaging the Corvette hobby. He recalled advice from his father, who initially did not approve of his career but became a supporter. \u201cHe told me I had to figure out a way to make myself stand out,\u201d Mackay recalls. That spurred the idea to showcase restoration work that normally goes unseen. \u201cEighty-percent of a restoration gets hidden by the body, so we would bring the restored rolling chassis to local shows,\u201d Mackay says. \u201cThese would draw bigger crowds than the cars. People would surround them, take pictures and ask questions. They could see the inner workings of a Corvette and how it was built, which was a great way to learn, and they could also see the quality of our work.\u201dEnergized by the reception the first rolling chassis received, Mackay stretched the idea. \u201cLooking at the rolling chassis, I thought it wouldn\u2019t take much work to make it driveable,\u201d he says. \u201cWe could install the bumpers, pedals, brake master cylinder and a driver\u2019s seat. So we did that with the Bounty Hunter car we were restoring.\u201dThe Bounty Hunter was a \u201967 427\/435 coupe steeped in local New York notoriety. It was also one of just a handful of Tuxedo Black Corvettes that had a red interior. The car was originally used as a demo and drag-raced by Vernon Turner, a salesman at Krieger Chevrolet-Oldsmobile in Woodbridge, New York. Turner named the car Bounty Hunter after Top Fuel dragster racer Connie Kalitta and his cars. Turner, who was reputedly connected to organized crime, was ultimately found murdered.Mackay\u2019s restoration earned the car National Corvette Restorers Society Top Flight and Bloomington Gold honors, among other awards. It was judged Top Flight status with its Bounty Hunter lettering and Cragar GT mag wheels, which is how the dealer sold the car in 1967. (Mackay was able to hunt down a set of the correct wheels in Hemmings.) Kevin Mackay in front of one of his creations. Photo via the <a href=”https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/corvetterepair\/”>Corvette Repair Facebook pag<\/a>e.Among the car\u2019s enthusiastic fans at Bloomington Gold was the Corvette\u2019s godfather, Zora Arkus-Duntov, who happily autographed one of the car\u2019s valve covers. \u201cThat car got a ton of media coverage when we finished the restoration,\u201d says Mackay. \u201cThere were a lot of articles written about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4779","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4779"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4781,"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4779\/revisions\/4781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecorvettesociety.com\/CS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}