Henry Younger's 1974 Corvette

I've owned others since then, but have been a regular owner since Jan '94 when I bought my first new Corvette - a white LT1 coupe - which I traded in March 98 for a 96 Grand Sport. I'd always wanted a Big Block Corvette - I think the Big Block Corvette is the ultimate in Corvettes. I began looking for a big block in the summer of '98 - I found my '74 in the Oct '98 issue of Corvette Trader and it was located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I contacted the owner and after exchange of info and some pictures, I flew to Ft. Lauderdale in Dec of '98, fell in love with her, bought her and my son and I drove her home - to be honest, I only bought one-way tickets so I guess my mind was pretty well made up to buy her if she was as pretty as the pictures. She was and the rest is history.

I found out that big blocks drink gas big time on the way home - but hey these cars were designed and built before the gas crunch. Some facts about my '74 - she originally was a Dark Brown but had been repainted Medium Metallic Red at some point in her life - I'm the fourth owner, she currently has 66K original miles on her - she has the close ratio 4-speed and fully optioned with everything including rear window defroster - the only performance option not on the car is the Gymkhana suspension - she is one of 310 '74 roadsters built with the 454 Big Block. This makes her a unique car since this was the last year of production for Big Blocks - also this was the only year for the "split tail" bumper so in that respect all '74's are unique. I've always loved the sound of Big Blocks with side pipes so I've added side pipes to my '74. I found a set of excellent used 69 chrome covers I plan to use in place of the fiberglass covers shown here. I'm in the process of doing a body-on restoration as the paint is beginning to crack, and had to replace the rear bumper as it was cracked when I bought it. I've also refreshed the engine, changed the suspension to the 84-96 design and have begun to strip the paint for repainting. I plan to put new medium saddle upholstery in her and have her ready for the Motorama if I'm lucky enough to go from the alternate to the primary for the '74 model year. I've really enjoyed owning my '74 and plan on driving her for many years to come.

Hope to see Ya'll down the Road - and remember to Wave.

Henry Younger
Gurley, AL
NCM Member #4936