(Photo credit: Kevin Livering Collection) – In order to wash the taste of that fugly 1971 Mustang out of your eyes, we present to you this amazing 1969 Corvette that is owned by Pennsylvania’s Kevin Livering. The car was modified in 1972 and Kevin still cruises it (with an updated engine and drivetrain combo that we’ll tell you about) as it looked in ’72. The paint on this car is incredible and it was in fact laid on the car 43 years ago! The story of how Kevin came to own it and how he has cared for it over the years is awesome and we honestly enjoy the fact that he treats it like any old car should be treated. It gets driven, it has been hot rodded, and he is not afraid to get it out on the street and run it through the gears like the boys on the GM production line intended it to be done when the car was built in 1969.
It is amazing to think about the amount of effort that went into this paint job which Kevin reports cost $12,000 in 1972 which is over $68,000 in today’s money. That is an incredible sum for a person to throw down but it was done in pursuit of having one of the coolest show cars in the country. When you look at the photos below you will see the car as it was in 1972, displayed at a show. What is even more incredible is that Kevin found the car in a muddy field in 1980 when he was in junior high school and through a miracle, an act of kindness from mom and dad, or years of saving up his paper route money, Livering bought the thing. He had this car before he had his driver’s license and the man has not given it up yet and by the sounds of it he never will.
Cars like this Corvette are polarizing and Livering knows it. You’ll hear him say it himself in his own words below. We feel like they are important though. Imagine how many kids saw this thing back then and have never let it out of their memory banks. How many people were inspired by this thing to go out and get into cars, apply themselves at a trade, or even just pin photos of Corvettes up on their bedroom walls. My sons are six and eight years old and they love cars. They love stuff that I would not even give a second glance to for various reasons but I never try to dissuade them or their tastes. Those things that they love looking at and talking about may not be my cup of tea but it gets them thinking and obsessing over the stuff that the rest of us love.
You can hate this car but you cannot hate its story and Kevin Livering tells it better than we ever could, right here –
I have owned the Corvette since 1980. (I was a Junior in High School). When I picked it up, it was sitting in a field covered in mud. The car was originally an Army green color.
It was customized in 1972 in Manheim PA by “Stoney” Galbach. (R.I.P.) “Stoney” (I had an opportunity to meet him), told me the cost of the the total customization in 1972 was $12,000! The car was painted with a silver under base with multiple coats of a heavy metal flake green paint. The “ribbons” and designs are all candy colors. No decals. I was told the car has 25+ coats of clear lacquer. The interior is green crushed velvet and button tucked. The carpet is shag! Yes……shag.
Ironically, the front of the car was damaged over the years and repaired! Since I had the car, a fender flare was damaged and also repaired. (You would never know it! I have a talented friend (Gary McGarvey) that is great at matching custom paint).
The car has been a “survivor”of the wild 70’s custom era. I have done my best to preserve the car without making any changes to the work that was done in 1972. Although the paint is cracking and showing signs of age, it still looks relatively good!
The car does not have the original motor. After having the car for 20 years, I had the motor rebuilt. It is a 350 that is bored .30 over, 10:1 pistons, 2.02 aluminum heads, and Edelbrock intake with a 650 double pumper, a Muncie 4 speed tranny and Hooker headers to show tubes. Stainless steel brakes all around.
Oh yeah…..my wife bought me a gear drive timing chain for that cool super charger sound. (She also bought me NEW Crager rims and new tires….cool wife!) The drive train was recently rebuilt and upgraded to 4:11 gears. All the motor work and suspension work was thanks to my friends Mike Wolfe, Joe Wise and Mike Bleyer). In summary, the bottom line is…….
Either you like it or you hate it. No matter where I go, there is someone that has a story about the car and knows the car from years gone by. I love hearing the stories and all the nostalgia. It makes me happy when I can bring a smile to peoples faces……….
Like we said, Kevin tells it way better than we ever could and now without further adieu, feast your eyes on every possible angle of this amazingly well preserved and street driven 1969 Corvette in its full 1970s custom regalia!
At first I thought that it was a Chutes and Ladders gameboard pattern, but the up-close images show the detail and shading of it. Whoever did the painting does have some serious talent.
As an ISCA judge, I admire the talent of this workmanship. It has the proper combination attributes of craftsmanship and execution. It is clean, complete and “balanced”, Even the stance is appropriate. It is “Period or era” look that may not be agree with today’s taste, but no less a well done car. I would take this over a glue-on body kit, covered with vinyl graphics skin and a trunk mounted wing and red brake calipers peeking through 20′” wheels on rubber band thin tires with the owner screaming he spent $50K buying all the bolt-on he could find in a catalog.
Thanks for the kind comments. They are greatly appreciated. I love the car for what it is…..the reason I never changed anything ansd still own it
since I purchased it in 1980.
Well preserved old custom paint very nice survivor of the 70″s
Should have gone with black leather for the interior. It would have held up better as the years went on. Now it looks so out of date. Does it have shag carpeting? LOL
Lee, the story says that the car does have shag carpeting.
Yes…..it still has the shag carpet. Since the car survived the 70’s era after a fairly significant amount of abuse over the years, I haven’t changed a thing.
I love it, but I just can’t help wonder what it would look like with more modern wheels and lowered just a hair… I get the whole idea behind keeping it as it was and nothing but respect for anyone who does that, my mind just automatically goes to “what if” 🙂
Love it. I don’t think velvet has come back, but modern wheels and most would mistake the paint as something done recently.
I love seeing these old 70’s customs. Brings back my childhood going to the
ISCA sanctioned car shows and bringing home my Hot Rod Show World books.
I have them back to 1965.
I’d like it in a LSD state of mind.
The paint is not to my tastes, and I would never want it. That said, there is nothing quite like the thick old metal flake and candy paints and colors. I am taking a minute to reply to say “Good for you!” for not caving to what is surely unrelenting pressure to change the car or make it ‘original’. I restored a 69 big block myself, and I understand what you go through in just keeping this car operable and clean. As demonstrated by many of the commenters here that there are so many keyboard warriors and fence sitters who have all kinds of free advice about what you should do with those wheels and your interior. To them, I say, “Buy your own!” Learn what its like to bust your knuckles on rusty old nuts and bolts and work your way through parts that don’t quite fit right or work right. Its not to my taste, but nevertheless its a cool ass car from a bygone era of customizing. Best of luck to you.
I truly appreciate the kind comments! Thank you! I do encounter may positive and many negative comments about the car. I am 52 and have had the car since I was in high school. It is a survivor of a really cool era and I had the opportunity to meet the man that customized the car. So many people have shared so many memories of the car with me over the years, it makes me smile. In fact, the last photo was given to me by a gentleman that has a 63 vette that competed against my car in the world of wheels show in Harrisburg Pa at the Farm Show building in 1972. He wanted to give me a pic of the car from the early years. The only one I have from the days of the originally customization took place. A lot of memories and truly a work of art from the 70’s! Like me, it is showing its age, but it is still a fun driver! Again, thank you.