The Chevy Corvette was all new for the 1963 model year. The body and suspension was based largely on the 1959 Sting Ray racer dreamed up by Styling and Design head Bill Mitchell with input from Peter Brock and Larry Shinoda. The coupe featured a center “spine” which bisected the rear window and ran rearward to the rear of the car, giving it the look of a stingray’s backbone, and the convertible had the spine on the rear deck. Fenders were arched and widened, headlights were hidden until flipped up, and the rear end strongly resembled that of the 1961 and 1962 Corvettes. The frame was of a perimeter design, leaving behind the previous generation’s Safety Girder X-Frame. The rear suspension was fully independent with a transverse leaf spring keeping the rear tires planted. Hoods on 1963 Corvettes had faux vents near the leading edge. The outside rear view mirror was taller with a smaller base allowing better rearward vision over the rear fender. Exterior door handles were mounted atop a raised pad, and coupes had stainless trim forward of the side wing windows. 21,513 1963 Corvettes were built, 10,594 coupes and 10,919 convertibles.
The new Chevy Corvette interior was also completely revamped, with twin dash binnacles. The driver’s side of the dash had a large, round, black-face speedometer and odometer, with recessed, bright finished centers. Smaller gauges included gas, battery, temperature, and oil pressure, all with similar finishes. Early in the production, radios were of the AM signal-seeking variety, but AM-FM radios would become available later in the year. The passenger side of the dash featured a lockable glove box. Early in 1963 production, the area around the glove box, radio speaker, and radio was painted, but switched to black vinyl covered during the year.
1963 Chevy Corvette engine and transmission choices were largely held over from the previous year, save for the fuel injection units that were modified with larger redesigned intake plenums. During the production year, the four-speed manual transmission supplier was changed from Borg-Warner to Muncie.
Chevy Corvette RPO P48 Kelsey-Hayes knock-off aluminum wheels were supposed to be an available option, but there is some debate as to if any were delivered. Reasons cited for the delay in availability are wheels coming loose or losing air. Thirteen sets of the KH knock-offs with two-bar spinners are documented to have been delivered to race teams, but no sets have been documented as delivered to customers.
1963 was the first year for coding interior colors on trim tags. Codes were three numbers followed by one or two letters except for standard black vinyl.
Our feature 1963 Chevy Corvette has been the subject of a recent body-off restoration in its original Riverside Red over red vinyl interior color scheme. It is powered by a 340-horsepower 327 cubic-inch Small Block backed by a four-speed manual gearbox. It is equipped with power steering, heater/defroster, AM-FM radio, cast aluminum knock-off wheels, and whitewall tires. Included in the sale is an NCRS Shipping Data Report.
Comments
That is about the nicest restoration you could ask for on a split window 63. There is only one doubt in my mind about the car, and I apologize if i am wrong, I think that car took a hit in an accident. It’s just something about its stance in a static position. It sits too high in the rear. I had exposure to one for sale back in the 70s that belong to a local doctor. It just doesn’t look right. Maybe the change happened from the body off restoration. They are never the same after that much disassembly. They just become a put together trailer queen.
Sometimes new or re-arched springs make a restoration sit high.
Just an observation.
On the re-arch:
I was thinking the same thing. But, and I do agree with P. Fitter on the stance, -although I personally like this better.
billyboy….I thought about that transverse leaf spring. A fair handed bunch of mechanics can do a frame off, but few can get it correctly back together. All in all I think it is a really nice restoration and would be a good buy at about $145,000.
Rear ride height is a simple adjustment by lengthening the bolt on each end of the spring. Sometimes a longer bolt is needed to achieve the proper height. My best guess is that the front springs are wrong so the rear was adjusted to level the car.
A friend and neighbor had both, a white 54 and a dark red 63 coupe. There is something odd in the stance of this car shone and I don’t think the tilted pavement is the reason.
Mine sat like that, I put the correct front springs on and now the front sits at 26 1/4 . I put on an original rear spring and now the back sits at 27 1/2. Was hoping it would settle but after a few months it’s still the same. It looks like I will have change the bolts.
Wow, brings back memories. When I was 17 I purchased a split window ‘63.
The car definitely had mechanical issues but being young and stupid worked against me. Fortunately I had a good neighborhood mechanic (who later stole parts off the car when I was drafted) and the Cleveland Police. Cleveland Police you may ask? Because when I blew up the powerglide transmission, they sold me unclaimed Corvette parts from their stolen cars lot. I bought a turbo hydramatic transmission, disc brake assemblies both front and rear, and a few other parts. Supposedly as I was told by the police “from a Corvette that never was parked”. Police talk meaning that a new Corvette was stolen from a Chevrolet dealers lot and parted out for sale. The police collected all the parts from a chop shop and the Chevy dealer already received insurance money and didn’t want to deal with the parts.
The engine that I used to replace my original 327 was a 396. I was the 3rd owner of this particular engine as the previous two cars that the 396 were installed in were both totaled due their drivers wrecking their cars. The 396 didn’t even have 3,000 miles on it when I installed it into the ‘63.
It took about 3 months of work, particularly as the ‘63 requiring frame modifications for the rear disc brakes, and frame modifications for both the engine and transmission. Finally I had to install side exhaust’s as I could not physically fit mufflers underneath the floor. Somehow we balanced the drivetrain harmonics and it all worked together. For some reason I remember having to buy a brand of gas named Sunoco 260, because any other high-test premium fuel would just cause the engine to knock like a can with rocks. I believe that I averaged around 5-6 miles per gallon. What a beast, what memories. To be young and stupid again.
When I returned from the service I found that my mechanic had stolen the carburetor and a few other parts. He promised to watch the ‘63 while I was deployed. Luckily for me a fellow that was the head of a Chevrolet body shop made me an offer on the car. I broke even on the ‘63 but I never talked to the mechanic again. The mechanic even charged $500 bucks to the new ‘63 owner for storing the car.