Finding
a ‘59 Corvette with a carburetor and then documenting it as an original 290-horse
fuelie is excitement enough, but also finding out your restoration project
is a former SCCA race warrior amounts to Straight Axle heaven. That’s what
happened to Michigan’s Jerry Noble, an National Corvette Restorer’s Society
member who knew the nitty-gritty details that added up to Corvette gold.
In
august of 1989, Jerry found this ‘59 with the original drivetrain missing.
There were no obvious signs of a fuel-injected history, other than the badges,
which are easy enough to add. The faded face of a high-rpm tach was the first
hard clue of a fuelie. Further snooping revealed windshield wipers on the
right-hand side, whereas this system is on the left on carbureted Corvettes.
And
if it was a fuelie, was it RPO 579 (250-horse) or 579D (290-horse)?
