1966 Corvette 427 Coupe

By Jay Hirsch

The 1966 Corvette 427 Coupe seen here in Mosport Green was a GM “Executive Special Order” car, meaning it was a car originally ordered by a GM executive for use as his company car. Dealers used the term “Brass Hat” for such cars, but that was not an official GM designation and does not show up in any paperwork. The executive would order a car, which usually had almost every option available and was in a color that the general public could not always order.

After a few months or 2,000 to 3,000 miles the executive would give the car back to GM, and a GM employee would be given the opportunity to purchase the car at a discount. If no employee wanted the car it was offered to a dealer at a wholesale price. The car would be sold as a new car with a new car warranty, as the car was never registered and would be the first sale of the car. If a dealer did buy such a car from GM, the dealer would sell the car as an Executive Special Order or Brass Hat car.

The 1966 Corvette 427 seen here is such a car. It was ordered by a GM executive and built on Nov. 10, 1965, in St. Louis. Mo. This Corvette has 16 options, which the executive specified since he knew he wanted to keep the car. Some of those options included …

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING ON PAGE 38