October 2010 Hometown Hot Rodding

'74 Corvette
Original Owner
The '74 model Corvette was a special one. It was the last year catalytic converters weren't factory, and that a big-block motor was available. An insider like Larry Calloway, employee of General Motors, could order a big-block through the rest of the '70s but that order would be canceled if shipping was to anywhere in the U.S. Larry ordered the '74 Dark Metallic Brown, available for this year only. He drove it every day there wasn't snow on the ground to and from work in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area. "The car is pampered but driven. This is definitely not a trailer queen," Larry says. He ran it through some tough gymkhana courses, referred to as a "car rodeo," where the course guided by cones is often laced with obstacles to avoid. What separates a gymkhana course from an autocross course are mandatory spins, slides, parking boxes, and figure eights. Larry wasn't afraid to really drive this car. "My greatest memory behind the wheel was taking a racetrack banked turn flat out. There's nothing like a big-block," Larry says.

After moving to Atlanta, Larry drove the car sporadically on nice days until the late '80s when he bought a '66 Caprice, but that's another story. The Vette stayed in the garage with only 66,000 miles on the odometer after that. In 2005, Larry had to choose between buying a new Z06 Corvette and restoring the '74. Working for GM since the '70s, he had access to test vehicles, and after driving the Z06, he realized he missed the personality of the '74 and decided to restore it.

Car showgoers gawk at the original big-block car. To preserve the factory motor and add pep to the car, Larry put a 450hp Gen VI GM Performance 454 in its place. All of the factory goods are nicely wrapped and ready to go back in if Larry wants it back the way he bought it over 30 years ago.