One fine looking '59...
It's said that good things come in small packages. But when Laurie Hekking's '59 Corvette first arrived at Jim Barr's shop, Barr's Performance in Naples, Florida, more than five years ago, it came in small packages, big packages, really big packages-the very definition of a basket case.
"There was nothing there," recalls Jim. "Most of the parts had been lost over the years."
Laurie had purchased the '59 from a friend after that friend lost interest in the project. His efforts stalled when he realized how much time (and funds) would be needed to bring this '59 to NCRS standards from, basically, nothing.
But this basket case had one big advantage over other Vettes that have been similarly blown apart. Its frame had been modified to accept C4 steering and suspension, and the chassis hardware from a '91 Corvette had already replaced the long-gone OE pieces. Jim has plenty of good words for the guy in Connecticut who did the conversion work. "He did an absolutely beautiful job grafting the C4 stuff to the original '59 frame," he says. "It was rolling. All the coilovers were in place, and all the geometry was welded in place."
Corvette Fever
4LT GS Roadster
