Gary Lindsley's 1961 Chevrolet Corvette
In the world of hot rodding, it is quite typical to catch the custom “bug” from a family member. Most times it comes directly from your parents but can even hit from a relative like an uncle or cousin. For Gary Lindsley of Chino Hills, CA, he got it from his father and brother Larry, who were heavily involved in land speed racing. He first got his taste of racing at age seven when he tagged along to El Mirage and then a few years after, he went to the infamous Bonneville salt flats to witness all the high-speed action.
Being in the thick of it, Gary eventually graduated to be part of the support crew and even took his hands behind the wheel of a ’55 Ford pickup that got it up to 136mhp! Later, he and his family built a ’92 Firebird that went 333mph and took the speed record for the blown fuel altered category. So, we guess you could say that racing is in Gary’s blood.
During the Vietnam war, his brother Fred was drafted into the army to be stationed in Germany and bought this ’61 Corvette when he got back. At the time, it was just a cruiser that he would use to commute to his job at Sears Roebuck. With time, the car sprung some issues and it was sidelined while waiting for repairs. Well, days turned to months, which turned into years. The car sat for decades, and Gary wanted to build it for himself. After years of nagging, Fred told Gary “just take it.”
Previous to getting this Corvette, Gary had a ’48 Plymouth with a blown Hemi. When putting this car together, he asked around about finding a shop and his friend Bob Garner recommended Fast Eddie’s Race Cars in Orange, CA. Everything was working well at the shop, so Gary sent the Vette to Eddie’s with the intention of getting it to run again. While at the shop, Eddie noticed that the suspension was damaged, and it really wasn’t worth fixing as a new Art Morrison chassis would completely revitalize the car by adding a smoother ride quality and better handling.
Since the car was getting some upgrades, Gary decided that the tired old small block V8 engine would no longer suffice. Instead, he ordered a brand new supercharged 6.2L Chevy LT4 engine along with an 8L90-E transmission for modern drivability. As the car was on a good course to completion, Fast Eddie’s was in a position to move to Idaho. Up and coming hot rodder, Paul Bosserman was already helping on the car at the shop and was ready to start his own business. Thus, Eddie moved out and Paul took over under the name Old Anvil Speed Shop.
Though most of the hard parts were attached, there was still plenty of work to be done to this car when Paul took over. This would include many of Paul’s signature touches like cleaning up the engine compartment. While under the hood, Paul moved the coil packs to the firewall, shaved and powdercoated the Moroso billet valve covers and supercharger top plate, and made a trick intake tube that snakes through the core support to feed the engine cool air.
When it came time to finish the rest of the car, it was sent to Mahood’s Collision and Auto Body Center to get painted. The only challenge here was picking a modern color to change things up from plain white paint it had. Gary kept his eyes peeled and spotted a car with stripes done in a metallic gray and had Mark Mahood find a similar paint, which happened to be Hyundai’s Stormy Cloud. After it was sprayed, a set of 18 and 19-inch Budnik Tungsten billet wheels with Michelin tires were mounted up. Paul also smoothed, re-chromed and tucked the bumpers closer to the body for a sleek appearance.
Finishing this car off, it was sent to Elegance Auto Interiors where it was given a full upgrade. This included new seat padding and door panels that were reupholstered in gray leather along with the dash. After completion, Gary entered the car in the Grand National Roadster Show and it won best in class! Brining this build full circle, we took these photos of it in front of a Sears store similar to the former place of employment for Gary’s brother Fred. Altogether, this wicked cool Vette shows Gary’s the deep family roots within the hot rod scene.
