'69 Baldwin-Motion SS427 Phase III "GT" search

[Pantera]

'69 Baldwin-Motion SS427 Phase III "GT" search request

I am re-posting this request, as there are a lot of new people that have joined the forum since I started my search two years ago. You old timers on here, please forgive me, but I just need that one little break to unlock the mystery of who the prior owners of this car were. So here goes...

I own what I believe to be the 1st, 1969, Baldwin Motion SS427 Phase III "GT" Corvette. It was Monaco orange (better known as Hugger orange) with a black stripe. It was on the cover of Car's magazine, back in 1969 when it was still new. Inside the article shows it at the NY auto show back in April of '69. Joel Rosen is standing talking about the car with Zora Duntov.

If you have any original owner info on this car I sure would appreciate it. When I bought it back in 1972 it was re-painted black w/twin candy gold stripes down the center and around the tail of the car. I have owned it for all these years and would love to be able to contact any prior owners and/or locate any old pic of this historic car other than those already published.

In early 1972, I bought it from a local Tulsa Ok, used car dealer that had just purchased it from Diamond Motor co. in Dallas the week before. By then it was Black with twin candy gold stripes down the center of the car and around the tail. Diamond motor co, is not able to help any at all, as they have no old records of the cars they sold that long ago. I would love to find the original owner and /or any old photos of this car. I am certain that it is the 1st one that Joel Rosen, the owner of Motion Performance of L.I. Ny. made and the same car as on the cover of the magazine.


I was lucky the gas tank sticker was still on the car and shows it came from Baldwin Chev as the new car dealer. It shows it to be a 435 hp car with Th400 trans the same as shown in the article in and on the cover of the Aug. '69, issue of High perf Car's magazine. Every other option on the car is consistent with the magazine article. Power windows, Black Leather seats, factory sidepipes. The most important one is that it was a TH-400 equipped car and you can see the auto shifter through the back window shot in the magazine article. Of the "10" GT's of this series he built, I have not heard of another one that was delivered with a auto tranny.

Please understand that I have already talked to Joel Rosen himself in person all about my car. I want to try to locate the original owner to see if I can find any old photos or other info about it. You can be sure that I intend to have Joel document it just as soon as I can afford to, but still I would like to try to find how the dam thing wound up in Dallas in 1972. Nobody seems to know who bought the car from Joel at the NY auto show. I am sure that someone must have purchaced it then. It just seems to have dropped off the face of the earth till it showed up in Dallas.

What ever you do Please don't tell me to contact or send this to Joel. He has heard enough about it already I am sure. I am ready to part with the $1500 to Joel but I am not a rich guy like most of these in the car hobby. It was very hard to hold on to these cars all these years and especially through a nasty divorce, but it is still mine and in bad need of restoration. I love my car and black is my favorite color. I am not crazy about th prospect of painting it hugger orange but I will paint it that color, if it turns out to be the actual car that was on the cover back then. Marty Schorr, who was the editor of the magazine back then has told me that it was actually Hugger orange not red like it looks on the cover. he just played with the color some so that it looked more red because it sold more copies on the newsstand.

Again I want to try to find any photos of this car that were not already published in the car magazines of that era. I would love to find the original pic of the car at the auto show or from a different source than those in the magazine. I did write the NY auto show people and here is what I received from them.

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DEAR LARRY: The article scans you sent from the August 1969 issue of CARS were most intriguing, and I'm personally certain the photos taken of Joel Rosen with Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov on pages 23-4 were taken at the New York Coliseum during Friday's press previews prior to the public opening on Saturday. Note the ladder and bundles of wiring in the p. 23 center photo, indicating the exhibit setup was still underway. The Bentley-like vintage replicar that can be glimpsed between the Rosen and Duntov in the page 24 right side photo was built by the Connecticut-based gun maker Sturm Ruger, and was shown in stand 410 on the Fourth Floor at the 1969 New York show. The dune buggy over Joel Rosen's shoulder also suggests the Baldwin Motion Corvette might have been exhibited in Petersen Publications' (Motor Trend, Hot Rod, Car Craft) "Wonderful World of Wheels Exhibit". In following up on your inquiry, NY Show Director Candida Romanelli also suggested your car might have been displayed in the main Chevrolet exhibit, and this is certainly possible as it was also on the fourth floor of the Coliseum in stand 420. With regards to this possibility is is possible to buy vintage photos directly for General Motors; I've attached a clipping that explains how to do it. - Hope this helps you too, GREGG D. MERKSAMER, Historian, New York International Auto Show

(Note they had no shots that shows my car) (DAMM....!!!)

So, Please! Help me if you can? If you have no info then PLEASE accept my thanks for your time to read this and I would like to thank you in advance for your time.

Larry Clain
Tulsa OK
918-698-3777

http://home.swbell.net/vette-65/69_motion.html

https://www.yenko.net/attachments/609...9motion_GT.jpg

[COPO]

Larry,

Have you spoken with Marty Schorr? He very likely took 5 times as many pictures for the CARS article as were published and very likely has many pictures of the NY Auto Show. Certainly he remembers the car. I have found Marty to be very helpful in the past. Let me know if you need his contact info.

[Pantera]

Marty is a gem of a guy and I of course asked him that very same question and he said he had too much to go through from all the past years so that is a dead end for me. He said it was all in long term storage and very hard to get to. Thanks for the try.

My only hope is that someone new has some knowledge about the car.


Pantera

[dreemz]

Pantera-
You might as well pay the 1500.00 and get it over with. Your car is well worth the investment. Keep in mind it is very possible the name of the client JR built the car for could be on his original circa '69 working Motion Performance invoice-

[Pantera]

I am ready but I thought I would take one more chance to see if I can find any more info about the car. Joel might not know who had the car painted black with the twin gold stripes.

I feel strongly that Gary the Local brush did that years ago. When I was chatting with him at SCR6 he described the color of gold and the style perfectly. He is just not able to remember who it was though.

No mater what, it somehow made it all the way to Tulsa OK in early 1972 when it pulled into my service station and I bought it the next day. I have only been able to trace it back to the same dealer (Ronnie Diamond Mtr co.) that I bought my other 70 Phase III vette from in Dallas two years later. He was a big hotrod/corvette used car dealer in downtown Dallas. I wish I had taken some pic of his place back then, with it full of vettes and camaro's and such.

Here is a pic of it about a year ago, but he has been gone from there years ago. It was just a vacant building and lot when I was down there a year ago. I had a hard time finding it again. Must be getting old. (Shut up Ed 55chev)

If anyone has pic of it back years ago I would love to see it.

Pantera

[Pantera]

One more

[jfkheat]

Is this the car that belonged to a Pittsburg Steeler football player? I remember reading somewhere that the player had a Motion Vette painted black and gold.
James

[55chevy]

[ QUOTE ]


If anyone has pic of it back years ago I would love to see it.

Pantera

[/ QUOTE ]

I have quite a few pics of it in it's current condition I'll let you have at a reasonable price

[Pantera]

No it turned out that Ray May the football player and his buddy only took their vettes to Joel to have some work done on them. It took me most of a year to track him down. Nice guy but the vette he owned turned out to be a 68 and did not have any custom body work done on it. It was later painted Pittsburg Steelers black/gold colors. They both took their cars to NY for Joel to do his magic on. I know one thing and that is he sure was impressed with Joel and the work he did on this and his buddys vettes. He couldn't remember for sure what year it was but Joel sure made a huge impression on him.

He bought it new in Pittsburg and then a couple of seasons later when he retired, he had a hell of a race all the way to Calif, with another Pittsburg teammate that had a similar vette. He sold his vette a couple of years later in Calif for $4200.

He was quite interesting to chat with about his car. Like most that you talk to, he wishes he had never sold it.


Pantera

[Supercar_Kid]

Have any pictures ever turned up of Ray May's '68 Vette in Steelers trim? When you spoke to Ray did he mention where in Pittsburgh he originally purchased his 'Vette?

Would be pretty wild if it happened to be at "Washington County's Largest Volume Corvette Dealer" Yenko Chevrolet...then there'd be a Yenko/Motion out there somewhere.

Could have been any number of Pittsburgh areas dealers, but Grabiak Chevrolet in New Alexandria comes to mind as well, as they've been a high volume Corvette dealer for years.

Good luck in your search Larry, your persistence will pay off eventually.