Today’s East Coaster is brought to you by author, Garry Sowerby, about his brother-in-law’s 1965 Corvette
This 1965 second generation Corvette no longer roams the bi-ways of Atlantic Canada, but for its first 24 years on the road, it did.
The Sting Ray Roadster started life with a ‘big block’ 396 CID V8 engine that pumped out 425 horsepower. With a four-speed stick and minimal options to keep the weight down, it was a ¼-mile drag car, sponsored by local Halifax dealer, Bob MacDonald Chevrolet.
We don’t know what happened to the car after its racing career, but Bruce Tuck, a young engineer in Moncton, bought it in 1982. By that time, the hot 396 engine had been replaced by what Bruce calls a ‘junkyard 350’. That engine could have been out of anything from a Chevy pickup truck to a Buick LeSabre.
The Corvette was Bruce’s daily driver for eight years. During that time, he met a young figure skater and eventually made her his wife. We can’t confirm that the Corvette had anything to do with Bruce’s success in wooing the Skate Queen, Susan Sowerby. But he became, and still is, my brother-in-law. And who doesn’t want a brother-in-law with a Corvette ragtop?
The author’s sister, Susan, and the owner of the ‘junkyard 350’ Corvette, Bruce Tuck behind the wheel. Susan said yes!
Bruce sold the car in 1990 and lost touch with it. A few years later, he got a call from someone in the U.S. who claimed he had bought the car for $60,000. The new owner had found an old registration in the car’s documents with Bruce’s name and address on it and had tracked him down.
He told Bruce Tuck how happy he was with his 1965 Sting Ray Roadster. Apparently whoever sold it to him had told him it was a completely original car, 396 and all.
Bruce thought about that for a second, and offered. “Well not quite. When I owned it, there was a junkyard 350 under the hood.”
The 1965 Corvette started life with a hot 396 ci V8. When Bruce Tuck bought it 17 years later, the 396 had been swapped out for a 350.
