The Corvette is an automotive institution. Within that institution, the practice of engine swapping has long been practiced. Ed Graye would know.
The schoolteacher and blacktop drag racing enthusiast bought the 1960 Corvette you see here when it came out. Shortly after that, he took the 250-horsepower 283 fuelie back to his original dealer. At Graye’s request, it then sent the C1 to Chevrolet so the automaker could replace the engine with a dual-quad 283 with 270 horsepower. That came with a new tach, a larger radiator, and other high-performance parts.
Graye drove his factory-enhanced ‘Vette until 1968. It’s assumed by the car’s current owner, Gary Skinner, that after Graye almost flipped the C1, he decided to never drive it again. Graye did keep it, though – stubbornly. Skinner wanted to buy the juiced-up Chevy for 18 years. In 1981 or 1982, he even helped Graye remove it from the shed in which it had sat for so long. For the next couple of years, the Corvette remained outside, exposed to the elements.
Eventually, the classic returned to being stored under a roof. Skinner finally got his chance to buy what he’d been lusting after for years in 1986. On the advice of fellow Corvette enthusiasts, he decided not to restore it.
Nearly 30 years have passed since Skinner purchased his 11,110-mile dream car for $7,500, but he’s only put fewer than 800 miles on it by driving it to local car shows, in parades, and onto a trailer for transportation to Corvette events.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
