Corvettes Part 1: Leslye’s Surprise

As a photographer, one of the things that I look for in a car to shoot with a pinup model, is not just style and its history, it’s about how iconic this car is. What other car screams pure Americana than a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray Split Window Coupe? 1963 was a special year for Corvettes. It was the first year of the C2 body style and the only year with the iconic split rear window. A lot of these cars had the split cut out of the rear window for full visibility, thus the split was eliminated for 1964 and onward. 1963 was also the first year for the Z06, which was the performance package available for the Corvette. Just 199 of these Z06s were made, and 63 of them were known as Tankers because they were fitted with the N03 fuel tank which could hold 36.5 gallons of fuel, compared to a stock tank which only holds about 18 gallons. From my perspective, this was the car to shoot. It’s one thing to look good on paper, but in front of a camera, it’s a completely different story. The Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum, which was located in El Segundo, CA would host a themed car show every month and would host a pinup girl contest, and that year’s winner was a model named Leslye Rox. Leslye’s role as Miss Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum was to pass out trophies to all the show winners. In May of 2024, the museum was hosting an all-Corvette show and Leslye messaged me saying “Come down. Maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for”. I knew I was still on the hunt for that ’63 split window and thought about trying to find one there. Little did I know was that Leslye had looked at the show’s entry list and two 1963 Corvettes were entered. When I got there before she did, I walked in with my camera gear and found them. Both painted in Sebring Silver (The 1963 Corvette was available in seven colors: Ermine White, Tuxedo Black, Riverside Red, Silver Blue, Daytona Blue, Sebring Silver, and Saddle Tan) over black interior. I walked the show before Leslye got there to see if there were any other ‘63s that were there.

When Leslye arrived, I thanked her for inviting me to come and that I was thrilled to see both ‘63s. We ended up starting with a 1964 Corvette coupe finished in Saddle Tan with parchment interior before heading back to the museum. On the way there, we found a beautiful 1966 Corvette convertible finished in Mosport Green, green vinyl interior, side pipes, and whitewall tires. Next up was a Tuxedo Black 1963 Corvette split window coupe, followed by another Mosport Green 1966 convertible, this time without the side pipes. Just as we were walking into the museum, I saw this flash of a metallic gold color, and I looked at Leslye and asked “What do you think that is?”. We looked and it turned out to be a 1963 Corvette split window finished in Saddle Tan. Saddle Tan is probably the rarest color that was offered for 1963. When we approached the owner and his wife, I asked if we could take pictures with it and if Leslye could sit in it. The owners were nice enough to let us do so, and we did. Leslye’s blue jumpsuit, red shoes, and belt popped against the Saddle Tan paint and the matching Saddle interior. I even tried my best to get not only Leslye in the frame, but I also wanted to showcase the split rear window.

Next up, we caught up with my friend Deven who has been seen across Southern California at numerous car shows, making one of a kind drawings for car owners of their cars. When we finally reached the museum, the first car we shot with was one of the two 1963 split windows that Leslye had surprised me with. This particular car was finished in Sebring Silver with black interior, and a signboard in front mentioned that this car had also been to Europe and Asia as well. Leslye also got to sit in this car, much like its Saddle Tan counterpart. Even at this attempt, I also tried to get the split rear window in the same frame with her. We even took a couple pictures with the other entered ’63 split window before we headed over to where the Zimmerman wallpaper was set up to take some portrait shots.

When the awards ceremony happened, I took pictures of her with all of the award winners, and even one of her and the owner of one of the silver ‘63s and his car. At the end of the show, I took pictures of her sitting in a black 1966 Corvette convertible, as well as taking a video of her thanking everyone for attending the Corvette event at the Zimmerman Museum.