Ride Of The Week 01/23/2023: The Cawthern Family's 1970 Corvette Stingray

ONE CAR, THREE GENERATIONS

The Cawthern family of Altoona, PA has owned this 1970 Corvette Stingray since 1972. The original owner took delivery on March 9, 1970, at Bill Book Chevrolet in Altoona. He then added the big block hood and side pipes. After two years of ownership, he sold it to Bud Cawthern who drove it year-round, with studded snow tires in Central Pennsylvania winters.

His son, Scott, also drove the car at a young age, learning how to drive a Muncie four speed. This car was not babied whatsoever. As Scott became an adult, Bud passed the car down to him. The side dumps were removed in 1986 and it received a repaint in 1999. Next came suspension work from Bair’s Corvette. Trailing arms, steering, brakes, and rear end were all addressed in 2014.

In 2016, Scott decided he’d like to make the car a bit more forgiving to drive long distances and pulled the original 350 and Muncie M21 in favor of a 355 with EFI and a roller cam from Muscle Car Engine Factory in NJ and backed it up with a Tremec TKO-600 5-Speed from Silversport Transmission.

Now with more reliability and drivability, Scott’s son Caleb drives the Vette. “I drove it when I was 16, so I wanted to make sure he could too.” One car, three generations…doesn’t get much better than that!

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