1970 LS6 TRIPLE BLACK RAGTOP

[MultiMopars]

Just curious about the whereabouts of this car.

Back in 1976 I bought a 1958 fuel injected Corvette from Richard Buxbaum. (name familiar to anyone here?)
He had a classic car lot near Joliet, Illinois that was backed by a local Chevy dealer an delt in super low mileage and high h.p. mid year Corvettes and others. He had a real Ford GT40 on the showroom floor when I bought my car. A few years later he showed up at Bloomington with a real red Corvette Grand Sport convertible that they sold at the auction that weekend. I heard that he later got involved in European antique furniture.

Anyway, when I bought the car among others in his inventory he had a triple black LS6 ragtop on the lot. I have no idea if it was real or not, but being only 6 years old at that time I doubt that it was a made up car.

Anyone know?

[SBR]

I don't know of the whereabouts of the LS6 but I have heard of Richard Buxbaum. He and Jerome Shinkay owned many low mile mid year Corvettes and musclecars before they became mainstream collectables. In fact I believe that Jerome bought the grand sport from Richard.

[olredalert]

-----I worked for Richard and Jack Douglass from app. 1976 thru 1984 with a year off in the middle one time around 82/3. Not buying that GT40 for $30,000 as offered to me was one of the biggest monetary mistakes I ever made. That car was one of the 40s that ran at LeMans the first year and dropped out with a broken trans. I was running the shop when we restored Grand Sport #1 which we later sold to a great guy named Jerome Shinkay, one of the all time coolest car collectors. The car I absolutely dont remember either seeing or hearing about is this Black LS6 vert you mention. I had a black on black LS5 vert with AC that I restored at Classic in Joliet. I actually painted that LS5 a 72 pewter silver and it has been pictured at one time or another here on the board, but you may have seen it before the color change. Maybe thats the one??? As well, I think maybe you have your dates a bit scrambled as we wernt down in Joliet until the 80s. If you visited us in Joliet, did your 58 have a power top??? I remember an extremely nice loaded Signet red fuelie that we restored in that shop.......Bill S


-----Beat me to the punch, Steve. Have a good Christmas!!!

[SBR]

Bill, Merry Christmas to you as well!

[RPOLS3]

Just talked to my dad - he spent a bunch of time at Richard's shop back then (with Bill of course!). He remembers a black car with white stripes (maybe Bill's car??)- but no idea of current status.

I remember right around 1990 when we bought my brothers 68 Camaro from Volo they had one - (without stripes?) - but do not remember if it was a real or not.

Jake

[olredalert]

------They did have that blue one, Jake, but that was after I left, and I was never sure if that one was real or not. I have read a couple of comments on that car on this sight not that long ago........Bill S

[RPOLS3]

Wasn't the blue one the real low mile car that sat outside the Westmont AMG shop for some time next to a Yenko Duece ? This would have been around 1989-1990?

Jake

[MultiMopars]

I didn't say they were located IN Joliet but rather near there and I believe the backing dealer was in Joliet. If I remember correctly the name of the town was Hindsdale (?)

Jerome Shinkay was the atual owner of the car I bought. It was a Silver Blue w/Inca Silver insert, Silver Blue interior & top. It was a 290 h.p. 4 speed with P.W. & P.T. and had around 40K miles on it. I sold it to a guy in New Zealand around 1984 and wish I still had it.

I did not look closely at the Chevelle reagtop. There were 3 other guys that went with me when I bought my car and they pointed it out to me on the lot and had been looking at it an told me it was an LS6. Maybe they were mistaken and it was an LS5, but they were pretty savvy car guys so I doubt it. I only saw the car from across the lot, but I don't recall any stripes on the car.

[RPOLS3]

Hopefully this is not too much of a thread hi-jack/history lesson but here goes: (Bill S. can verify)

Richard had a shop (Classic Motors) in Joliet that was the old Bill Jacobs Chevy building.

Richard's shop in Hinsdale was the former Jack Douglass Chevy building. I believe Hinsdale was prior to Joliet.

After Joliet, his shop was on Ogden Avenue in Westmont (just a few miles west of the Hinsdale location)

I have not personally seen or spoken to Richard in many years but from what I hear he is still active in the collector car market. The Classic Motors name is still in use by Bob Zimmerman "Stretch" in Naperville.

Jake

[Bill Pritchard]

I can help with a few things here (my comments in red)...

[ QUOTE ]
Hopefully this is not too much of a thread hi-jack/history lesson but here goes: (Bill S. can verify)

Richard had a shop (Classic Motors) in Joliet that was the old Bill Jacobs Chevy building. <font color="red">Correct. </font>

Richard's shop in Hinsdale was the former Jack Douglass Chevy building. I believe Hinsdale was prior to Joliet. <font color="red">Also correct. </font>

After Joliet, his shop was on Ogden Avenue in Westmont (just a few miles west of the Hinsdale location) <font color="red"> I remember seeing a HO Yenko Deuce sitting outside a shop in this general vicinity, but was not aware that Richard Buxbaum had anything to do with the shop. </font>

I have not personally seen or spoken to Richard in many years but from what I hear he is still active in the collector car market. The Classic Motors name is still in use by Bob Zimmerman "Stretch" in Naperville.

Jake

[/ QUOTE ]

[Astock]

Around 1994, I was selling a 1970 L78 11k mile Black Nova. Richard called and offered a trade for a 200 mile 69 z28. I didn't take him seriously and about a week later 2 posters showed up in the mail,one of the Z,2nd of a Blue ls6 conv Chevelle. If I remember correctly it was Blue/Wht/Wht.
Bill S. maybe you knew of the Nova,it was from the Wadsworth/Medina area.

[RPOLS3]

I have that LS6 poster hanging here in my office, my brother has the Z-28 poster in his office - (He's the Camaro guy, I'm the Chevelle guy).

The LS6 was an 850 mile car, Z28 was a 200 mile car, but both had complete body off restorations. Chevelle sat outside next to the Yenko Deuce mentioned in previous post. If I recall the Duece was real rough - body only maybe, sat there for several years??

I worked for Richard washing cars and running errands the summer of 86 when I was 16 years old. At that time he was not too heavy into the Corvettes and musclcars but was mainly doing Mercedes - AMG conversions. It was through Richard that my Dad (and I) met most of the "car" people like Bill S. that we still hang out with today.

Jake

[Ls6 Ragtop]

That Blue and White LS6 convert that Richard had was the Tinker Toy drag car that I found in Montana after Richard had sold it. I had this car @ the MCACN show this past November so it's alive and well.
Chris

[Steve Shauger]

Alive and well is an understatement...It is absolutely stunning! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

[olredalert]

-----Well Chris,,,If its the same car, my thoughts about it not being real way, way back must have been wrong. I do remember the car being pretty damn nice.
-----I dont remember any 1970 375 Nova from my Medina days but thats not all that surprizing as I had moved south to Ft.Lauderdale by that time........Bill S

[olredalert]

-----Jake,,,You have forgotten the Goodyear tire store Classic Motors. Ill never forget Richard calling me from out of town and telling me we had to move out of the Hinsdale store to the Goodyear store over the weekend and not to let Jack D know that we were moving. The two of them were not getting along at that time and I went where the paycheck took me. I was never very happy about the deception, but had house payments to make......Bill S

[RPOLS3]

I did forget about the Goodyear store location - I think I was only there once - when Grand Sport #1 was in progress? Don't think he was at that location very long? That was 30+ years ago?!

Jake

[RPOLS3]

I wondered if that was the same car. Could not have been too many no radio, blue, white bench, LS6 convertibles.

So you must have owned it for a while now? I think Richard was trying to sell it at one of the Vettefest shows when it was completed around 1990-1991?

Anyone know what happened to the Z-28 or the Deuce?

Jake

[StealthBird]

This pic is from a 1983 car show in Naperville, about 25 miles from Joliet. Could this be the car?

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/435080-1970ChevelleLS6-9000originalmiles-circa1983%28small%29.jpg

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
This pic is from a 1983 car show in Naperville, about 25 miles from Joliet. Could this be the car?

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/435080-1970ChevelleLS6-9000originalmiles-circa1983%28small%29.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, you might think so as it looks like a twin to what I remember, BUT Bob Fuller was the original owner of that car and still owned it after the time i saw the other one.

Oddly I know that owner.

I lived 18 miles from Clinton Iowa and sold a car to Jerry Lampe, a restoration body man that worked for the Fuller brothers in Clinton. The car I sold to Jerry was a LS6 hardtop that I believe he later sold to the Fuller brothers.

That sale was a strange deal as I took a 1965 Griffith on trade that my partner had sold to Jerry about a year earlier.

It is still a small world. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[olredalert]

------Knew Bob F well. Was it this year or last that several of us saw his old LS6 vert in Scottsdale??? I bought a 66 red Hemi Satellite 4spd from Jerome Shinkay that he had bought from Bob. It supposedly had won best of show at some Hemi convention. Loved the car but decided to sell it at an auction that Richard sponsored. Bob showed up with a blue 454 T-top 1970 coupe and when I didnt get enough for the Hemi in the auction we ended up trading cars so Bob got his Hemi back that he said he never wanted to sell in the first place. Somehow, all this rubbed Bob the wrong way and he was mad at me for years. I was the one who should of been mad as he slipped the Corvette past me with a very well done one piece nose that I never saw until after we had traded. Oh well. Sold the Vette rather quickly as it was a pretty nice old car even with the Eckler nose.......Bill S

[MultiMopars]

Well, all of this goes back 30+ years for me.
BTW, Jerry Lampe's cousin Joe lived up the river from Clinton and I had bought a 69 Big block Corvette from him durning the same era. During the dealings Joe told me that he had once owned a 63 Chevy with the "mystery motor" ZL11 I believe was the code??

[Smokey]

Did the cars have a stench in them from being down the road from ADM or is that something from within the last 10 years?

I can't get the smell out of a car that I bought from there 7 years ago. Heavy doses of ozone didn't help either.

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
Did the cars have a stench in them from being down the road from ADM or is that something from within the last 10 years?

I can't get the smell out of a car that I bought from there 7 years ago. Heavy doses of ozone didn't help either.

[/ QUOTE ]

ADM was called Clinton Corn back in those days, and the smell was all over town when the wind was right. I don't ever remember a car being impregnated with it though.

[Xplantdad]

Here's the convertible in Scottsdale a few years back...Bill was indeed there http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b156/lotsayenkopics/Private%20Collection/tn_DSCF3328.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b156/lotsayenkopics/Private%20Collection/tn_DSCF3329.jpg

[COPO]

I'm fairly certain the car you saw was my old triple black LS-6 convertible that I owned for several years as I seem to recall that dealership listed on some of the paperwork that I had on the car. It was one of the very first LS-6 cars built with a 12C build. The car had the original drive train and was also previously owned by Dana Mecum. It was originally sold at Van Chev. I took it to one of the SCR's and ran it down the track. I ended up selling the car to purchase one of my BM Cars and Stephano owned the car a number of years back as well and I think it is probably still in the greater Chicago area, but I have long lost track of the car.

[BlackL78M22Nova]

Astock,

I am new to this site and noticed your post and a couple things caught my attention. "11k Black Nova from Medina/Wadsworth".

I am grew up in Wadsworth and have owned an L78 Black Nova with 17k in miles. Car was bought new in Medina and was in that area entire life. While the coincidences are there, this is a 1969 that i own. Same car? Black/Black bench. 4speed.

Mark

[Astock]

Same car,and I would like to have it back. Would you take $5,000 over what you paid?

[Astock]

Just kidding Mark. How about posting a picture of your Nova.

[BlackL78M22Nova]

Jim, Good to see you are still out there pulling them out of barns.

Mark

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm fairly certain the car you saw was my old triple black LS-6 convertible that I owned for several years as I seem to recall that dealership listed on some of the paperwork that I had on the car. It was one of the very first LS-6 cars built with a 12C build. The car had the original drive train and was also previously owned by Dana Mecum. It was originally sold at Van Chev. I took it to one of the SCR's and ran it down the track. I ended up selling the car to purchase one of my BM Cars and Stephano owned the car a number of years back as well and I think it is probably still in the greater Chicago area, but I have long lost track of the car.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you refering to the subject car of this post? If so please give us some details of the car. As I mentioned, I did not see the ar close up, only across the parking lot. I don't even recall if my friends said if it was a 4 speed or auto.

[COPO]

Yes, I am refering to the subject car in the original post. See my response for details about the car. It was an M-22 car with 3.31 rear and born with drivetrain (engine, trans, rear) Had original POP and complete owner history.

[olredalert]

------Darryl,,,Please tell me more about the Griffith you mentioned a ways back in this thread (color, drivetrain, etc.) I owned a very special one way back in the early 70s in Florida that resurfaced in Chicago belonging to a friend in the late 70s. He sold it at one of the auctions Richard sponsored in Bolingbrook Il. If its the same car I have a whole bunch of funny info on it, and would kill to get it back!!!.......Bill S

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
------Darryl,,,Please tell me more about the Griffith you mentioned a ways back in this thread (color, drivetrain, etc.) I owned a very special one way back in the early 70s in Florida that resurfaced in Chicago belonging to a friend in the late 70s. He sold it at one of the auctions Richard sponsored in Bolingbrook Il. If its the same car I have a whole bunch of funny info on it, and would kill to get it back!!!.......Bill S [/quote

29 years ago I lived in Savanna Illinois before moving to AZ.
A friend of mine there was a gearhead like me and we would occassionally buy a car togather to play with and then flip.
He was from Rockford originally and as a teenager used to walk by the local Ford dealer looking at a Griffith on the showroom floor. In about 1974-75 He spotted one for sale in the Rockford paper and bought it.
It was Green with black interior 4 speed and was the hipo model with the 289 hipo engine. He had it painted Black. He kept it for about a year and then sold it to Jerry Lampe in Clinton Iowa. About 6 months later we bought a Blue LS6 which I sold to Jerry Lampe and took the Griffith back on trade. I then sold the Griffith to a guy from Rockford that also remembered these cars from his teen years. He was a dump truck driver from Rockford. He and a buddy showed up on their new Harley dressers stoned out of their heads the day he bought it. I have no idea what the guys name was and never saw the car again or another one for that matter.

Very rare car. I used to look in Hemmings on occassion to see if there were any advertised. I only ever saw "Griffith wanted" ads.

[olredalert]

-----Thanks Darryl,,,Obviously not the same car, although mine was also green new. The one I had was sold new in Boston and was 350hp dual quad Cobra powered. Supposedly one of 5 Griffiths built to that standard......Bill S

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
-----Thanks Darryl,,,Obviously not the same car, although mine was also green new. The one I had was sold new in Boston and was 350hp dual quad Cobra powered. Supposedly one of 5 Griffiths built to that standard......Bill S

[/ QUOTE ]

They built two different series that I am aware of. The 220? and the 400? I believe the 200 was a standard 289 4 barrel and the 400 was the 289 hipo. Ours was the hipo rated at 315 h.p. single 4 barrel as I believe the 289 Cobras were as well.

I have never heard of the dual quad model but it was basically a garage built car like the Cobra and I am sure there was a lot of experimenting and you could probably get most anything you asked for.
As I am sure you are aware, Jack Griffith was building these cars on the east coast when Shelby was building the Cobra on the west coast. The Griffith was supposedly guarenteed to do 160 "out of the box" and were faster and lighter than the Cobras, but the Cobras eat them up in the corners.

[olredalert]

-----Yup,,,Mine weighed 1900lbs dripping wet, and was one of the fastest stock automobiles I ever drove. I found out many years later why they were so light when an owner at the Meadowbrook Concours let me in on a secret. The frames were exhaust tubing. Made sense to me although I have never checked that fact out. I never (even back then) would have gone 160 in one. It scared me silly at 100/110. The thing wouldnt begin to hook up so I thought drag racing at the strip would be fruitless. On the street from a role it was a way different situation. Mine was a 200........Bill S

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
-----Yup,,,Mine weighed 1900lbs dripping wet, and was one of the fastest stock automobiles I ever drove. I found out many years later why they were so light when an owner at the Meadowbrook Concours let me in on a secret. The frames were exhaust tubing. Made sense to me although I have never checked that fact out. I never (even back then) would have gone 160 in one. It scared me silly at 100/110. The thing wouldnt begin to hook up so I thought drag racing at the strip would be fruitless. On the street from a role it was a way different situation. Mine was a 200........Bill S

[/ QUOTE ]

I took a gearhead friend for a ride in it on 7 Hills Road, a blacktop straight road with hills. The car needed shocks (4 Konis in the rear) and at 130 in 3rd gear it was floating all over the road with my buddy screaming SLOW DOWN!! The car had a lot more in it but I never saw it. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif