Guns, Impossibly Beautiful Women, Nice Rides and Politics

I STAND WITH ISRAEL




Saturday, November 16, 2013

Nice Rides


1959 Corvette with significant upgrades
Interior alterations were just as minor and just as effective. There were repositioned armrests and door handles, a shelf added beneath the passenger grab bar for extra small-item stowage space, and reshaped seats that at least now offered token lateral support. Sunvisors were a newly added option, and concave instead of flat instrument lenses (to cut down on reflections) were added to the instrument panel; a T-handle lockout for the manual transmission was included to prevent a driver from accidentally engaging reverse gear.

Powertrain choices were again unchanged, but the 1959 featured a minor mechanical alteration of major benefit: the addition of rear-trailing radius rods that helped contribute to a slightly softer ride and noticeably less rear-end steering on irregular surfaces. The rods also helped counteract rear-axle windup, which was an unfortunate byproduct of a problem with the explosive torque produced by the most powerful engines, and the RPO 684 heavy-duty brakes/suspension option was given even stiffer springs -- all of which made for better handling.

Most Corvettes could shoot through the quarter-mile in under 15 seconds, and 0-60 mph times of less than eight seconds were typical. Road & Track clocked a 290-bhp fuelie engine from 0 to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds and on to the quarter-mile mark in 14.5 seconds at 96 mph. Top speed was listed at 128 mph with the short 4.11:1 final drive

3 comments:

  1. There was nothing more beautiful than my 1956 Ford Thunderbird. Bought it for $1200.00, drove it for about 13 years, sold it for $16,000.00, and bought my first house. Good investment and great ride.

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    1. I agree Adrienne. The 56 Tbird is a beauty. Please send details on your ride. Send a pic if you have one. I'll use it for the next Nice Rides

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  2. Hey there Adrienne. My first ride was a 62 Ford Falcon. I was in the Navy at the time and bought her from an old Master Chief, He brought the car over from Hawaii. It was a beater but got us to the beach and back to base every day for night check duty at Miramar. I sold her for 600 bucks.

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