Auto enthusiast Mike Rusden has been infatuated with muscle cars and hot rods since the day he first planted his feet on this Earth. Over the past 40-plus- years, the longtime Ivyland, Pennsylvania resident has steadfastly chased his automotive filled dreams by hunting down long forgotten classic rides that were sadly put out to pasture years ago. His goal is simple, to get as many vintage rides back in the hands of enthusiasts and on the road as possible, so they can once again be enjoyed to their fullest potential.

Recently Mike got a call from a good friend about a long dormant Chevy panel truck sitting in an old garage just outside nearby Bethlehem. “My friend Fernando heard about this car through his neighbor, who worked with the owner’s neighbor. Well, that’s how word travels in this hobby. Fernando was interested in the truck, but he told me there was another car in the garage, a first-generation Corvette sitting right next to it. He asked if I was interested in taking a look at the pair. Well, yeah, I was definitely interested,” quips Mike.

Now this garage was situated in a neighborhood nearby the historic Bethlehem Steel works. The facility has been long dormant, but is intact, and its massive stacks and turn of the century industrial architecture attracts thousands of tourists from all over the country. The structure is an amazing reminder of America’s manufacturing Golden Age.

So, Mike headed out with his son Cole and met up with John, the owner of the two classic Chevys, at the specified location. “John lives in an all-brick three-story early 1900s home that originally belonged to one of the higher ups at Bethlehem Steel. Once there, he took us into an all-brick detached garage behind his house where the cars were stashed,” states Mike. The group then waded through the dark and dusty building to the cars’ resting place in the back of the garage. There in the dusky haze were two fine Chevys for the taking.

“John told us that he purchased the Corvette in 1970 and used it until the mid-‘70s when the gas prices went up and the insurance rates pushed through the roof. He also stated that he parked the car in 1977 and never used it again.” It certainly looked that way to the Rusden’s, as the Chevys were caked with decades of dust and dirt. However, even though it was long dormant, the sporty Corvette was in pretty good shape for a 65-year-old artifact, owing most of that to the fact that it had also been stored indoors for almost 50 of those years.

Mike and his son checked out the Vette to see what they were actually thinking about buying. “We looked the car over as best we could in the haze, but it was very tight in the garage and the ‘68 panel wagon was parked right next to it also for many years.” Overall, the Corvette had many battle scars and was obviously heavily used, and in need of some major TLC. Knowing that, it was still very intriguing to Mike as it was a numbers-matching car. “We made a deal with John and brought the Corvette home that same day, along with that panel truck for good measure,” states Mike.”

Backdraft

The 1961 Corvette was designed with quite a few changes from previous models. One of the first things you might notice about this model year is the boat tail styled rear deck, a feature that would continue on and be an integral part of the second generation ’63 Corvettes. Also, twin taillights also appeared for the first time for ‘61, which would become a Corvette staple. For power, the 283 cubi-inch small block continued to be the engine of choice. But buys could opt for fuel injection and get a power bump. Dual quad power output remained the same, with the small block pushing out 245 and 270 horsepower.

The ’61 model year would be the last go-around for the 283, as the Corvette would get the 327 for 1962. This was also the first year to use an aluminum radiator, though early production cars still used the left-over copper radiators from the 1960 models. The exhaust system was also rerouted to exit the car under the rear bumper instead of directly through it which resolved a lot of the soot issues with early Vettes. Also, the ’61 was the last year for contrasting coves and the two-tone paint schemes, as Corvettes moved towards a monochrome look starting in ’62.

Summer of ‘61

What Mike picked up was a pretty original Corvette, retaining most of its born with options. “Like I stated before, the car has its battle scars. It’s got some chips and scratches out on the exterior, but overall, it’s in pretty good shape and complete. We got it home and pressure washed it and cleaned up the engine bay. The motor turned by hand, so we primed it and spun it a few times manually. We checked out the fluids and electrical system, filled the carburetor with gas and it amazingly started up right away.”

From there Mike ordered up all the parts to get it back on the road again. He also pulled the ones in need of restoration which were important to the originality of the car. That work included replacing the fuel tank, fuel sender, fuel lines, fuel pump, wheel cylinders, brake lines, brake hoses, plugs, oil filter, wires, and also replacing the radiator. Mike also had the water pump, generator, master cylinder, and the starter rebuilt to spec. “Once we did all the work, and put the car back together, the Corvette ran smooth and drove well right out of the box. It was amazingly dependable for a 65-year-old ride.”

There were still surprises looming after the Vette’s quick resuscitation. “To our surprise after investigating the numbers on the block, we found out it was an original CT suffix Corvette, which meant it was born with dual quads and 245 horses.

So, Mike made some calls and found an original intake with its dual carburetors. “A few weeks later I was at a friend’s garage looking at his cars and he also had an original intake with dual carbs and factory air cleaner, so I purchased that one as well because it was in better shape. I then glass beaded the intake and cleaned up the carbs and topped off the 283 in style, its original style.” Mike also purchased new linkage for the dual carb set up and an original dual point distributor.

As far as the Ermine White paint goes, Mike did his best to clean it up and buff it out. Later on, he ended up repainting the coves Inca Silver as they were incorrectly painted red. The interior was really beat up when the car was found.

“We tried to save as much of the interior as possible. But the seat upholstery was unsalvageable. So just recently I found some black seats along with a set of fresh wide whites on a Marketplace site. So, for now I replaced the original seats with the black ones and added the fresh tires at the corners with the original hubcaps that we polished up. The original convertible top is also in pretty poor shape and will need to be replaced in the future.”

Mike just recently sold the car to an excited new owner. “There are a few things he’s going to do to it right away, like the carpets and upholstery. However, he has stated he wants to keep the patina and just enjoy driving it instead of doing a major restoration.” Enjoy the ride, lucky new owner.