Dave Goller has owned his share of classic cars, and as any classic car lover knows, when you want to buy yet another, one question weighs heavily on the mind: “What will my spouse think of it?” When Dave Goller’s
Dave Goller has owned his share of classic cars, and as any classic car lover knows, when you want to buy yet another, one question weighs heavily on the mind: “What will my spouse think of it?”
When Dave Goller’s wife, Lynn, saw the yellow Corvette, she exclaimed, “Oh, wow!” Dave took that as a good sign, and it sealed the deal.
The car was a Sunfire Yellow 1966 Corvette that Dave had the opportunity to purchase as part of a real estate transaction in Washington state back in 2005.
The car is a rarity — a bone stock, numbers matching American Classic that was completely restored in 1987 by D & A Corvette Restoration in St. Louis, Ill.
To make the deal even sweeter, the ’Vette was a cream puff, driven only 800 miles since being restored.
Because it is a 1966 model, this is a Sting Ray of Corvette’s second generation, produced from 1963 to 1967, and available for the first time as a coupe or a convertible. In 1996, GM produced 27,720 Corvettes; only 9,958 were coupes, and only 2,339 were painted Sunfire Yellow.
Goller’s coupe is powered by a 300-horsepower, 327-cubic-inch engine with a four-speed transmission.
Unlike many “sports cars” of the era, this one is nicely optioned power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, black leather interior, and finned alloy wheels.
The Gollers, Kapa‘a residents since 1985, have owned an impressive array of classic cars, including seven Chevrolet SS, a ’57 Pontiac Safari, a 406-powered ’62 Ford Galaxy 500XL, a ’65 GTO, a ’59 Chevy Apache step side pickup with a big back window, plus a few Porsches and Austin-Healeys.
“This is the first Corvette I’ve owned,” Goller said. “But this car has been the most fun, and is a pleasure to drive.”
Goller, a bank manager in Princeville, may never fall into another deal like the one that netted him the creamy yellow Corvette, but he would probably relish another such opportunity.
