Meet the Fleet – Sportscars: Corvette Stingray hardtop roadster

• BODY: Aurora Model Motoring
• WHEELS & TIRES: Road Race Replicas

This is the last of 3 copies of this body that have been added to my various racing fleets. One has bounced back and forth multiple times between the Muscle Car and Sports/Racing Car fleets, but this orange one was “purpose built”, as it were, for the numbered racing fleet. I selected it partially for its color-at the time I felt I had too few orange cars in the fleet-but also because it’s a great looking body which, in spite of its small size, is wonderfully detailed and accepts the enlarged AW Ultra G chassis without complaint once a simple shim is added to the rear screw post. This was one that was “planned out” in advance, with me seeking out this body in this color knowing from the start that I wanted it to appear just as you see it: black finish American Racing wheels, low profile silicones, and black roundels with an appropriate racing number of ’67.

Of course its probably obvious why that number is appropriate: one look at the hood scoop shows this is a big block Stingray, and not only that but the biggest of the big blocks, the wicked 427, which marks it as a 1966 or 67 model, and that number makes it clear which it is: the final year of production for the Corvette today called the “C2.”

Of course big block ‘vettes were seldom seen on racing tracks: the car’s poor handling due to its front-heavy nature made it a blast on the boulevard but a dangerous prospect on a road course. Even so, Roddy “Rodeo” Randall showed no fear in tackling the curves with his L68 (400HP)-optioned C2 roadster dubbed with the intimidating handle “Road Wrecker,” a nickname that seems appropriate when he lets out the cluch and unleashes a seemingly unlimited amount of torque onto the asphalt below. A stripped down all-business car with no side exhausts and no frills, this radio and heater-delete rat-motored ‘Vette was ordered new by a buyer who must have intended to use it in competition, for it already had numerous suspension upgrades made to the chassis before Randall acquired it in 1977. The Texas native then did even more upgrades, including the installation of bigger better disc brakes at all 4 corners and a competition clutch to wring the most out of the M21 4-speed. The car’s insane acceleration balances out its oversteering tendencies, and Randall kept the hardtop in place for added body rigidity. The picture is completed with aluminum racing mags and a set of very un-American Dunlop tires, letting the car show international flare while rubbing fenders with foreign competition in the sports car road race series at Drag City. It may be hard to keep it on the track, but on the straightaways, the competition better move over!