CLASSIC CORVETTE STINGRAY AUCTION AND MODELS

The Chevrolet Corvette has a passionate following, which makes the Mecum Corvette auction today and tomorrow a magnet for any 'Vette fan with money. And the real star of the sale is Harley Earl's personal runabout, a blue Stingray convertible (top picture).

Earl was a powerhouse of mid-20th century US car design and to thank him for his efforts, General Motors presented him with this unique 'Vette in 1963. It had special metallic blue and white-stripe paint, with matching blue leather inside. The engine was a 300-horsepower unit, with massive four-into-two exhausts running down either side.

Earl sold the car after a couple of years, and it has changed hands several times since. But the car is now fully restored, and the quality of the restoration is likely to be reflected in the price achieved at auction, even in these recessional times.

In the model world Corvettes abound, especially diecasts, though SMN hasn’t tracked down a model of this particular car - let us know if you know of one. There are plenty of others though, including several nicely produced 'Vette varieties from Autoart in big 1:18 scale. Three are shown here, representing (top to bottom) Corvettes from 1959, 1969 and 2005.

The Mecum auction Corvette Stingray is here.

Autoart's Corvettes are here.

MAT'S US DIARY: THE SPOILS OF KANE COUNTY

Mr J thought you’d like to know what I’d bought at the Kane County Toy Fair, so here’s what’s going to be filling my travel bag. In the picture, from top left to bottom right:

The 1971 AMT Corvette that was issued as the ‘yearly’ or ‘annual’ kit, for that year. At Kane County, this benefited from ‘do a deal’, as it came down from $65 to $45.

The kit in bags marked ‘The 20 Mule Team Rolls’ comes from the TV series Death Valley Days, sponsored by the Borax Corporation. This ‘generic western’ was introduced by the ‘Old Ranger’ - picture on the plans - one of whom was Ronald Reagan, and featured different stories each time. This kit is 1:48 scale and includes 20 mules and three wagons.

The Mako Shark was one of General Motors’ major show cars, elements of which were utilised in later Corvettes, such as the one on the left. This kit is built, but may be restorable - and anyway, the box is nice!

The box for the Jo-Han 1961 Rambler is just that - a box - but there is a growing market in mint boxes. Anyway, I have an old kit of this in a tatty box...

The Johnny Lightning ‘Classic Plastics’ are 1:64 scale cars, versions of which were made as AMT kits, and you get a miniature version of the kit box. These aren’t exactly old, but there weren’t exactly expensive either - two for just $5.

I’m not really an aircraft collector, but these 1:28 scale Revell WW1 aircraft have interesting boxes. I already have the Fokker Triplane, so with this one, there’s only one still to get. There was a fourth kit made in later years, but the box is far less interesting.

Mat Irvine