Chevrolet Corvette
By Steve Colquhoun | theage.com.au | 21 February
Don Hailes never suspected he would need to pass a personality test to prove his worthiness to buy his 1958 Chevrolet Corvette.
But that's exactly what transpired after he spotted an advertisement on the internet almost two years ago and flew to Sydney to meet the car's owner.
The car had been owned by a Malaysian ambassador who had taken it around the world on various postings, ending in Australia, where he passed it on to his fastidious Sydney-based nephew.
"The nephew didn't want to part with it, but he said it was wasting space and not getting driven, and it was too beautiful a car to just leave locked away," says Mr Hailes, who had been searching for some time for an example of the rare and distinctive 1958 model.
"I sent him a text message saying, 'Email me some pictures', and then heard nothing. The next week, I got a text message back from him saying, 'You know what a '58 looks like.
I'm not sending pictures. Don't waste my time.' ''
Not taking no for an answer, Mr Hailes picked up the phone and said he wasn't about to buy a car sight unseen.
"So he took a photo and sent it, and we started talking. That was just the start of it. I had to fly to Sydney to have a look at it, and he said, 'If I don't like the way you look or there's something in your personality I don't like, you can't have the car, it's that simple'."
The seller even wanted to see photos of where the car was going to be kept.
"This guy was just a fanatic. We were standing in his garage for maybe an hour, an hour-and-a-half, with the car under a cover before he even let me look at it. I wasn't allowed to sit in it, I wasn't allowed to take it for a test drive. In the end I was almost begging him, 'OK, I want the car', and he wouldn't make a decision. He said, 'I'll let you know'."
Over the next two weeks the deal was on again, off again.
"Finally," Mr Hailes says, "I was sitting in his kitchen signing the documents and he asked me how I was getting the car back to Melbourne and I said I was using a covered truck. He said, 'Good answer. If you told me you were driving it, you can't have the car.' ''
Mr Hailes says there were tears in the seller's eyes as they exchanged the paperwork.
"In the end, I even thought, 'Do I actually want this car, this much?' ''
The answer was an emphatic yes.
A long-time fan of American muscle-car design, Mr Hailes also owns a gaudy yellow 1980 Corvette Stingray and a modern-day Chrysler 300C, but says the '58 is clearly his favourite ride.
"The '80 and the '58 are totally different animals, even though they have the same running gear and a similar motor," he says.
"The '80 is a lot more aerodynamic and a lot lower - you feel like you're more laying down in a cockpit, whereas the '58 is more your traditional type of sports car. Of the two, I still prefer to drive the '58."
Since taking ownership of the '58, Mr Hailes' only alteration has been to add personalised plates (DONS 58) and says most of the car is still in original condition.
The major alteration made by previous owners was the addition of a 350-cubic-inch Chevrolet V8 block that is "a lot more driver-friendly" than the original 283 ci V8, while a right-hand-drive conversion has also been performed.
"All of the door trims, all the dash - apart from the conversion - are totally original. It even has the original hubcaps.
"It's not totally original, but it's 90% there."
The two-tone paintwork is a striking combination, set off by a fire-engine red interior that includes a classic rainbow-shaped speedometer, flashy chrome trimmings and a clock that doesn't work. "They're renowned for it," Mr Hailes says with a grin.
He is attracted to cars from the '50s because they demand of the driver a degree of skill.
"You get into a modern car these days and you've got cruise control, you've got this and that. A monkey could drive it. But you have to drive these cars."
And drive it he does, at least once every weekend, even if it's only as far as the car wash. Sometimes, the car wash is as far as he gets.
"Wherever you go, people look at it and smile, it's just one of those cars. It's got character, it's got personality."
Autobiography Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet manufactured its first Corvette in 1953 and still makes them. The 2009 ZR1 model will be the fastest and most powerful yet. The C1, or solid-axle, generation ran from 1953 until 1962, when independent rear suspension was introduced. Optional fuel injection introduced in 1957 on the standard 4.6-litre V8 engine increased the output to 290 hp (216 kW), and a 5.4-litre engine introduced in 1962 upped the ante to 360 hp (268 kW).
Initially offered in 1953 with a six-cylinder engine, the Corvette was almost cut from the Chevrolet line-up in 1955, but the introduction of a standard V8 engine proved a sales success.
First published by TheAge.com.au on February 21 2008
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