This 1964 Corvette Coupe was specially built for the Chevrolet’s General Manager, Semon E. “Bunkie” Knudson as his personal car in September 1963. The second owner, Mr. Gailey from the Chevrolet Engineering Center, purchased the car in the summer of 1964 at a special GM party where names were drawn from a hat for the right to purchase surplus engineering cars.
The car still retains the original drive train 327cid/365hp engine and all of the custom parts that were added in the Styling and Engineering departments. It sports custom Cadillac Fire/frost Blue paint over a specially prepared body surface. The hood is a special design with custom large hood depressions, unique front bumper treatment, custom high back bucket seats with an all white leather trim, custom Cadillac cut-pile carpeting, special toe board stainless polished grates, one-off door panels with power windows and power vent wings. Bill Mitchell’s styling influence appears with the stunning custom side pipes that share the design characteristics of 1965 and 1969 production components. The Corvette retains its original Engineering Department tag located next to the VIN tag just under the glove box. Today this one-of-a-kind styling car has been restored to original GM-Engineering Center condition offering a glimpse into Corvette history and the corporate vision for the future. This car was featured in the 1993 Bloomington Gold Special Collection “Motorama Gold.”
Note: This is only one of several special cars that Bunkie had built for himself. He also had a Flamingo Pink coupe specially built for his wife to match their home in Miami. He also had the very first air conditioned 1963 Coupe built.
