[NWHofH_TCB]

In regards to my two black Z16s... Jeff Helms' statements are mostly accurate. Car #54 was sold new at "Courtesy Chevrolet" to Mr. Nobuhiro Oshiro who owned a speed shop in Los Angeles, California.
He immediately pulled the 396 and replaced it with the new 427 that had just landed at the Chevy dealer's parts department. He kept the car until 1967 when Tony Sanzone (now 83 years old), bought it for his son.
In 1969, Tony's son decided a Corvette was more his style and gave the car back to his dad. The car was driven by Tony semi-regularly to the tune of about 59,000 miles.
Tony and his wife moved to Oregon City, Oregon in about 2002 and brought the Z16 with them.
On February 17, 2006 I got a phone call from this ol' boy responding to my "Muscle Cars Wanted" ad. Guess who? Yep, Tony Sanzone. And it turns out that he lives about 2 1/2 miles from me. Needless to say I was in his driveway before hanging up my cell phone.
Obviously I bought the car. When I came back later to pick it up I brought my wife and a couple of buddies to photograph the entire transaction. Let's face it, who is going to believe an 80-year-old man still owns a 59,000 mile Z16 with the Protect-O-Plate still in the glovebox!
As far as the "original" motor is concerned, some guy calls me a couple years ago and tells me the same story Jeff tells (maybe it was Jeff?). However, what good is an overpriced, decked and restamped block to me. I already have one of those. Besides that, how do I know this guy's telling the truth? Had he left the numbers alone I would have paid plenty. So there you have it.