Purple has never looked this intimidating before. This 1959 Corvette, in its purple and white paint job and black interior, was a mainstay in the SCCA-B Production racing class during the late Fifties and early Sixties. With mechanical fuel injection and a 283 sitting under the hood, this racer won all but one of the events it was entered in 1959. Nickey Chevrolet, a performance mainstay of the time, fitted the Corvette with heavy-duty racing parts such as a larger fuel tank, safety chains, and a roll bar, along with a smaller windshield. However, the rest of the car is as it was out of the factory, with factory stock heavy-duty suspension and the (by the end of that very season) race-proven Rochester fuel injection. It shined brightly amongst its ‘Vette companions at Amelia Island, with the purple paint job being about as subtle as a smashed grape on a white kitchen floor. Enjoy the photos.

-Albert S. Davis