1959 Chevrolet Corvette 283 Fuel Injection Muscle Car Of The Week Episode

1959 Chevrolet Corvette 283 Fuel Injection Muscle Car Of The Week Episode #192 Video

The Brothers Collection is home to an armada of Muscle Corvettes, and this one… well it’s over the top. Sure, 1959 was far before the official Muscle Car era began, and it is America's Sportscar, but this Crown Sapphire roadster is sporting the hottest performance goodies underneath it’s mesmerizing exterior.

The Corvette was in it’s 6th year of production by ‘59, and the this Fuelie V8 version is a world apart from the original Blue Flame 6 found in the ‘53 model. The Rochester fuel injection first appeared in the 1957 car, and was still intriguing in 1959.

This 283 V8 is stuffed with Regular Production Option code 579D, which added a high-lift camshaft delivering 290 HP and 290 ft. lbs. Of torque from the 9.5:1 compression pushrod fuel injected V8. By 1959, the Corvette was just starting to make some progress mixing it up with European cars on the global sportscar racing scene, but even hand-built exotics didn’t offer the technology and performance of the assembly line built Corvette. Just 745 ‘59s were fuel injected.

The performance upgrades don’t end when you close the hood, as this car also features option package 684, which beefed up the suspension with aggressive rate springs and shock absorbers, an upgraded front sway bar, and a quicker-ratio steering system. This car also has a wild set of fins inside the brake drums that pull air through the backing plates to keep the brakes cool to reduce fading. Only 142 or so 1959 Corvettes had this option, making this a very worthy member of a spot among the other rare Corvettes in The Brothers Collection.

The 4-speed manual gearbox kept the driver occupied, and the output spun a 3.70 rear gear and 15x5” wheels. This one is wearing attractive wide whitewall tires and full hubcaps, but a ½” wider wheel and small cap were optional.

Inside, Chevrolet designers made a few subtle improvements to make this car a little more comfortable to drive for ‘59. The speedometer featured a concave lense to reduce glare, and the interior door handles were relocated away from the elbows, but the 1959 Corvette was still a car you didn’t just drive, you wore it like a suit. And what a great looking suit this one is!

Corvettes have always looked futuristic, and the ‘59 no doubt stood out in the sea of giant tall-tail finned sleds of the day. It’s a small car, only weighing around 3000 lbs, and it featured the signature fiberglass body. The wrap around windshield looked spacy, and the long nose / short deck design had classic sportscar proportions. The toothy grille is very 1950s GM in style, but the small chrome bumpers and thin bright trim are very light in appearance and are quite contrary to the giant push bar bumpers of other 1959 models.

The stylish side coves flow perfectly with the front wheel opening and profile of the car, and the white insert provides an appealing contrast to the body color. And that color! Crown Sapphire was the second-least produced Corvette color for 1959, but the acquiescent hue and metallic glimmer had the whole Muscle Car Of The Week production team spellbound like gnats to a neon on old route ‘66 while shooting this episode. Too cool.

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