When Ed Garstka was 9, he was walking with his mother to the grocery store and while waiting for the traffic light to change, a 1963 split-window Corvette pulled up to the light.

Ed thought the Vette was the coolest car he’d ever seen. He asked his mother what it was, and she replied, “a sports car.” She also weighed in that he shouldn’t even think about getting one. The car insurance would be too expensive, and it would cost too much to maintain.

His response to Mom’s advice was the declaration that he would own one by the time he was 20 years old. Two years ahead of schedule, Ed purchased his ’63 Vette from an elderly gentleman in West Dundee, Illinois. Ed remembers his father went with him to pick it up on a snowy day in December 1976, when there were six inches of snow on the ground. Since Ed wasn’t too familiar with manual transmissions, his dad drove it home.

Once it was home and in the garage, Ed went to work making some repairs. The previous owners had done a bit of modification to the car. A one-piece front end was installed, the flip-up headlights were moved to the lower part of the nose, along with mild front and rear wheel flare kits.

Ed worked on the car for about a year, until it was ready to take a bow in public. The first appearance was at the 17th Custom Auto Show at The Chicago Amphitheater, where he took 1st Place in the Corvette category. The next year, he entered the car in The World of Wheels Show at McCormick Place, where he took 1st place, again!

Over the years, Ed has made some modifications to his car. First, he installed a plastic grille from a newer-style Chevy, temporarily. Now it has an earlier Corvette “tooth type” unit cut to fit. Ed said he likes the earlier grilles. The headlights are now square units, with the turn signal lamps integrated into them, by Redline Lumitronix.

Originally, the drive train was the L76, 327-cubic-inch engine, delivering 340 horsepower with a Muncie manual 4-speed transmission. That has been upgraded to a 383 “Stroker Motor,” by Smeding Performance, pushing 462 horsepower. To top off his engine, there is an aluminum high-rise intake manifold with a Holley Sniper fuel injection setup.

A black anodized serpentine belt kit from Billet Specialties was added, and an electric fan helps to keep the engine cool. To help it breathe, the 4-inch stainless headers flow into the factory side pipes, with the least restricted mufflers inside. Backed up with a Tremec TKX 5-speed manual transmission by Bowler Performance. The rear end is the factory 3:72 to 1 Posi unit.

Rd’s ’63 Vette features 17-inch front and 18-inch rear Toyo Redline tires by Diamondback Classics that are mounted on Schott wheels out of California. The highly polished aluminum wheels with center spokes and the 3-bar knock-off center caps have been hand brushed to match the side pipes. The center caps are engraved with the Corvette emblem. The tire sidewalls have been shaved of all the wording to make the Redlines stand out.

Other than the mid-range drivetrain, the car was pretty much ‘Plain Jane,’ if you can call a ‘63 Split Window Corvette, “plain” in any way. The only option that it got was a Wonderbar radio, there is no power steering, no power brakes, and no air conditioning. The drum brakes have been replaced with a Wilwood disc brake system. The fronts are 6-piston calipers, and the rears are 4-piston calipers. The master cylinder is custom-built for this car by Rad Rides in Manteno, Ill.

According to Ed, there were 3,475 units painted the original dark blue factory color. In 2022, Ed took the Vette to Rad Rides for a frame-off restoration. The body was removed to do some frame repairs, and blasting and powder coating were completed. A black powder coat finish was applied to the frame. The engine compartment was powder-coated in a flat black.

The current paint scheme is a black base with candy silver ghost stripes and a candy black cherry topcoat, then clear-coated. The combination is stunning! Even the Corvette script on the rear of the car is a three-layered, airbrushed version of the original chrome piece.

The whole interior was done in black naugahyde. In 1978, it cost just $600! The steering wheel is another unique accessory that Ed has added. It is billet aluminum, wrapped in leather, from Sparc Industries.

Ed and his wife, Marge, like to take their car to several car shows a year, plus cruise nights and some Midwest shows, too. If you have the opportunity to see this beauty, check it out. You won’t be disappointed!

If you have a car you would like to see featured in Classic Wheels, contact Rudy Host, Jr. at Classic.Wheels.Rudy@gmail.com.