Parsons joined the Kansas City Corvette Club and began competing in Autocross. He then obtained his SCCA racing license and started competing in SCCA B-Production racing events. The car was sponsored by Stafford Performance Racing, raced mainly in Kansas and Missouri, but it also made appearances as far away as Indianapolis, Road Atlanta and Sebring. By the mid-1970s, Parsons decided to quit racing and put the car into storage. Kipp Anderson from Olathe, Kansas, discovered the car and knew that big gas tank was something special. In 1980, he persuaded Parsons to sell him the 1965 Corvette and he became the second owner. In 1984, the Corvette was sold to Joe Malicke of Country Corvettes in Nortonville, Kansas, for a handsome sum of money—given it was completely disassembled. Malicke immediately resold the Tanker to New Jersey-based Corvette collector Ed Mueller. (Interestingly, Mueller purchased the Corvette on January 15, 1985, exactly 20 years, to the day, after Parsons took delivery.) Jay Stahl of Roscoe, Illinois, found out about the car in 1987 at the NCRS National meet held at Osage Beach, Missouri. A close friend told him Mueller had such a car, and he approached Mueller to ask about the vehicle. Finding that the story was true, letters were exchanged between Stahl and Mueller. It soon became evident Mueller intended to restore the Tanker. Stahl continued to keep track of any progress concerning this special Fuelie. In 1988, Ed Mueller traded the Big Tank Fuelie to Jamie Mazzotta. J.D. Purvis then brokered a deal for Stahl to acquire the car from Mazzotta in December 1988. Soon after purchasing the car, Stahl began writing letters and making phone calls to previous owners to learn as much about the car’s history as possible. Stahl embarked on a mission to return the car to exactly how it left the St. Louis assembly plant as a new car. As a Bloomington Gold “Benchmark” and NCRS “Master” judge who specializes in 1965 Corvettes, Stahl’s research on factory production methods and original components helped tremendously during the restoration. Lead by fellow Corvette expert Gary Bosselman, the restoration took more than 20 years to complete. Only original and correctly configured/dated new-old-stock components were sourced, with many parts taking years to locate and purchase. Special care was taken to ensure the exterior lacquer paint, engine compartment, undercarriage and interior finishes were correctly applied to look exactly how they did when it rolled off the assembly line. Even the nose emblem (‘65 only) and the fuel-injection fender emblems are OEM, original, unrestored parts with unique, correct colors. The car retains its original 327/375 HP fuel-injected engine, one of only 771 built during the final year of production. It was also one of only 168 to leave the factory with RPO P91: 4-ply nylon blackwall tires. Stahl states this car has the only complete set of U.S. Royal Super Safety 800 XP non-DOT tires known to the Corvette community, which are mounted on the original Kelsey-Hayes aluminum knock-off wheels. Inside the cockpit, the black leather seats, door panels, complete dash and cluster, glovebox door and carpets are OEM original. The console and seat belts, as well as the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals, are rare GM NOS components. After the restoration was completed, the car earned Bloomington Gold Certification in
