Words: Jon Hageness Photos: Chadly Johnson
The year is 1965, and a young Dale Woehning from Minneapolis, MN had just finished serving his country in the US navy. Like many young men, Dale had dreams of a new car, but not just any car would do; it had to be a fast one. Dale decided a new Corvette would fit the bill nicely.
His search for the perfect car brought him to Tomah, WI, where he stopped into a local tavern for a quick beer. As luck would have it, a salesman for Town & Country Motors had stopped into the tavern as well. The two struck up a conversation, and when Dale mentioned he was looking for a new Corvette, the salesman presented him with a deal he couldn’t refuse. After some negotiation, the deal was struck and the papers signed right there in the tavern!
Dale’s purchase was a brand new 1965 Glen Green Corvette coupe, but not just any Corvette – it was a fast one! Dale’s new car featured a 365hp 327 engine backed by a Muncie 4 speed transmission, and a 4:11 posi-trac rear axle.
Dale and his wife Verna’s plan for the new Corvette was for it to be their daily transportation during the week and their race car on weekends. This plan worked well for about 3 years, with them putting around 24,000 miles on the car, and both taking turns racing at Minnesota Dragways as well as Donnybrooke Speedway in Brainerd, MN (now Brainerd International Raceway).
It was now 1968, and it was decided to use the Corvette strictly as a race car – so the transformation began. The first order of business was to build a new motor for a different class. A 292 stroker motor was built by Lyle at Village Engine Supply. A big heavy flywheel and 5:88 gears were also added. The House Color Red, White & Blue paint was sprayed by Dale with the help of Body Specialties, and local pinstriper D.J. Eckel applied the amazing striping and lettering. When asked why US Male was used as a name, Dale really didn’t offer much of an answer other than they thought it was cool. I couldn’t agree more!
For the next 3 years, the Corvette served its purpose well. Many races were won, and the trophy collection kept growing, but so did Dale’s family also kept growing. The year was now 1971, and their second daughter Dana was born. Their first daughter, Denise, was already a veteran at the race tracks, often accompanying Dale and Verna, but bringing two small girls to the tracks would be just too much to handle. The decision was made after the 1971 NHRA World Championship Points Race at Donnybrooke Speedway in Brainerd that they would take a break from racing.
At least two runs were recorded (two time slips and the entree card were found still in the glove box!) One shows a 12.62 ET at 108.64 mph and 12.80 ET at 108.30 mph, but the day’s racing was cut short by a broken ½ shaft in the Corvette’s rear axle assembly. Little did Dale realize, this would be the last time he would drive the car.
Dale is a man who could do most anything, a Jack of all trades if you will. Over the next 40 plus years, he would go from installing in ground swimming pools to owning an auto parts store, to finally owning and operating a trucking company… all the while his dreams of racing his Corvette were never far from his mind. As the saying goes, time marches on, and the Corvette was moved from one storage place to another. At some point the motor was sold, but luckily many of the original 365 hp motor components remained with the car.
The year is now 2014; Dale is retiring and moving to an apartment, and the hard decision is made to sell his beloved Corvette. His daughter Dana is tasked with placing an ad on Craigslist, and this is where I come into the picture. I have been a lifelong car nut and have owned countless cars, but a mid-year Corvette has always been one of my “someday” cars.
To give a little back story on me, we have to go back to 1980. I was fresh out of high school and working the summer before college at Austin’s Body Shop in Eleva, WI. Tom Austin is a local car customizer, and one of his customers brought in a 1965 Corvette roadster for some touch up work… oh, and it was for sale! The roadster was typical of the day: small fender flares, wide-ass tires and screaming loud side pipes… I was hooked.
When I expressed interest in the car, the customer said I should take it for a drive to see if it was something I would like. Holy crap it was fast! When I got back I couldn’t stop smiling and thinking it must be mine. The only problem was the asking price of $6,000. I was already saving my money for college in the fall, and I had yet to finish my ’68 Mustang. So I had an idea, and that evening I approached my parents with what I thought was a foolproof plan. I would postpone school for a year, take out a loan to buy the Corvette (you can never start too young to build a credit rating was another angle to my plan) and spend the next year working, paying down the loan and saving for school.
Even though my parents were very supportive of my old car addiction (I already owned a ’37 Chevy sedan, a ’49 Merc and a ’68 Mustang), they didn’t think much of the idea of me postponing college or of their 18 year old son owning a Corvette. Damn the logic! My father, in his infinite wisdom, proposed an alternative plan. It was simple: forget this Corvette, go to school, get a degree, get a good job, and later on I could buy any Corvette I wanted! Sound advice for sure, so that’s what I did, but I never thought it would take 34 years for me to fulfill my Corvette dream.
Now back to 2014 and that Craigslist ad. It was well known to my friends and family that I am a vintage drag car nut and that a mid-year Corvette was on my radar. It was a lucky November day when my cousin Danny Jacobson, from MN, (I live in WI) was scrolling through Craigslist when he happened upon the ad for Dale’s Corvette. Danny immediately called me, and since the ad had just been placed less than an hour earlier, there was still hope it was available.
I contacted Dana and expressed my sincere interest in her dad’s Corvette. I told her I would give it a good home, that I wouldn’t just flip it, but it would be one of my “keepers.” I also commented that I could be up the next day with a trailer and cash in hand for the full asking price. That would be great, she said, but there was one teeny tiny problem; I was SECOND in line!
Hell, I might as well be 100th in line! No one is going to pass on a chance to own a ’65 Corvette coupe from the original owner with less than 25,000 original miles on it. I basically gave up hope to own this car and tried to forget that I had even seen the ad, as it was haunting me! Three weeks later, the unexpected happened – Dana called and asked when I could come and get the Corvette. I was shocked! The first guy decided it was more than he wanted to tackle and passed. I was there the next day.
As soon as I got it home, I began working on the car. My chopped and channeled ’34 Ford 5 window coupe would have to wait. It took me five months to the take the body off the frame, blast and powder coat everything I could, rebuild all of the mechanicals and reassemble everything. I had a good running 300hp 327 already, so that was chosen to replace the missing 365hp 327.
By April 2015, the Corvette was up and running and slated to be shown at the 59th annual Gopher State Timing Association indoor car show in Minneapolis, MN. Plans were made with Dana to get her dad to the show; he had no idea that his old Corvette would be there. Dale could hardly believe his eyes when he rounded the corner to see his beloved Corvette on display. The next several hours were spent with Dale and his family, enjoying the day, talking with people as they strolled by to view the cars, many stopping to marvel at the old drag strip warrior and sharing stories of watching the Corvette race back in the day. Even D.J. Eckel stopped by to check out the car he had striped and lettered over 40 years earlier. It was a good day indeed.
I am truly honored to be the second caretaker of this amazing car, and I hope to keep it at least as many years as Dale did. Who knows, maybe one day soon I’ll pick up Dale in his old Corvette and we’ll go racing. You just never know…
