Last '63 SWC Produced (and expensive)

[scuncio]

Beautiful car, no doubt, but I'm not sure there's much/any value in having the LAST '63 coupe built. The seller obviously believes there is....

Fortunately it's well equipped with the 340hp engine, leather, etc.

Link to 1963 SWC - the last one built







30837S121481

[Keith Seymore]

So - is the fact that this is the last '63 SWC speculative? or Conclusive? Confirmed by the Heritage Center? Or Corvette Museum?

It looks to me like they are extrapolating that fact based on VINs, production volumes and doing some math (ie "...carry the one; divide by two..." and) "Poof" - last one.

That's much different than standing next to the assembly line and watching it come off the end as the last one.

K

[MJV1953]

All of my 1964 -66 Corvettes with the back up lights had inner white lenses for the back up lights. This "rare" split window has red back up lights and am wondering how that worked. Also has the wrong PB 1963 Corvette master cylinder.

[SupremeDeluxe]

Amateur resto. What is up with the location of the tail lights? They are inboard inches of where they are on an original car. Two throttle return springs?

Seems like every 63 has or had the 64-style service replacement MC at some point. I have an original 63 MC in need of resto, and had the latest repro MC on my last 63. Very hard to differentiate, and a quick/easy changeout.

[markjohnson]

Originally Posted by SupremeDeluxe

Amateur resto. What is up with the location of the tail lights? They are inboard inches of where they are on an original car. Two throttle return springs?

Seems like every 63 has or had the 64-style service replacement MC at some point. I have an original 63 MC in need of resto, and had the latest repro MC on my last 63. Very hard to differentiate, and a quick/easy changeout.

It’s almost like it had six tail lights (thanks J&D!) like so many of these cars had done but when it was restored the body shop was told to eliminate the two extra lights . . . . so they removed the outermost lights!

[60sStuff]

Originally Posted by SupremeDeluxe

Amateur resto. What is up with the location of the tail lights? They are inboard inches of where they are on an original car.

When I first scrolled through these eBay photos, something looked odd about that rear end.

Sharp eye SupremeDeluxe.

This is embarrassing for such a beautiful car.

[the427king]

If hes right, the last 32 1963 corvettes were convertibles.

[olredalert]

----I'm sitting about two feet away from the rear end of our 66. Actually didn't see the offset until the subject came up. Then I turned my head about 25 degree's and I think I said "holey s---! I can't imagine a scenario where this is possible......Bill S

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by the427king

If hes right, the last 32 1963 corvettes were convertibles.

That does not seem likely to me.

There are rules about how many "high content" vehicles can be built in a row, due to workload on the line. In other words, you can't build too many tripowers in a row, you can't build too many manual trans in a row, you can't build too many A/C cars in a row, and - I suspect - you can't build too many convertibles in a row.

It could be different during model change over, and I could imagine a plant building a short run of all convertibles but at a reduced line rate or with empty carriers between builds.

But -I am speculating, and that perhaps makes me no better than the ebay seller.

K

[Keith Seymore]

For my own education: can anyone here tell me - with authority - if Corvettes were built in VIN order in St Louis in this timeframe?

Most of the plants I've been in (granted - "most", not "all") had an accumulator/buffer between the body shop and another between body and paint.

This allowed cars to be shuffled around in case a specific vehicle needed extended lineside repair, to level the workload downstream on the final line, or to provide a buffer to draw from to allow the final line to keep running in the event of a parts shortage or maintenance breakdown in body/paint (which was kind of often).

Therefore: most GM assembly plants did not build in VIN order. Fremont and Baltimore would be a couple notable exceptions off the top of my head.

K