Phil Steiner, 81, of Lima has owned this 1959 Chevrolet Corvette for 62 years. It is one of just 420 Corvettes in 1959 that featured the two-tone paint scheme of crown sapphire and white.
Jim Krumel | For The Lima News
LIMA – A Corvette looking for love?
It’s hard to imagine such a thing.
But when Phil Steiner, of Lima, purchased his 1959 Corvette, that was exactly the case.
He was the fourth person to own the car in the two years after it rolled off the assembly line in St. Louis.
“A young kid had it before I bought it and two others had it before him,” Steiner said. “I knew the kid’s dad. His son tore up the transmission and that was enough for his dad. He made his son sell it.”
Steiner saw the Corvette being worked on at the old White’s Chevrolet dealership in Lima. Before the transmission job was completed, he offered a sales person $20 to hold it as they hammered out a deal.
That was in 1961.
He’s owned the car the past 62 years.
“It’s received good care. In 1999, I had a guy in Eastern Ohio do a frame-off restoration,” Steiner said.
At age 81, Steiner still enjoys taking the Corvette for a cruise, although squeezing in and out of the “cock pit” doesn’t happen as easily.
“I’ve had offers from people who have wanted to buy it, but I just haven’t been able to let go of it,” he said.
The 1959 Corvette is part of the car’s first generation. Only 9,670 Corvettes – all convertibles with a base price of $3,875 – were produced at the St. Louis factory for the 1959 model year.
There are only subtle differences between Corvette’s 1959 model year and those produced in 1958 and 1960.
Two things make Steiner’s Corvette special:
It is one of only 600 made in 1959 that has a 294 horsepower fuel injection engine.
Only 420 Corvettes that year featured the two-tone paint scheme of crown sapphire and white.
GET YOUR CAR FEATURED
The Lima News publishes photographs of vintage cars, 20 years or older, free of charge in Real Wheels. It is easy to get your car featured:
• Mail: Real Wheels, Newsroom, The Lima News; 205 W. Market St., Suite #100A; Lima, OH 45801.
• Email: [email protected]
• Include: Photograph of your car; year of car, make and model; how many years you have owned the vehicle; car’s history; best memory of car; your name, address and telephone number (the phone number will not be published).
If you have further questions, contact The Lima News newsroom at 419-222-6397 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.
ONLY ON LIMAOHIO.COM
Check out cars we’ve featured and discuss your memories on the Real Wheels page at LimaOhio.com/tag/realwheels.
