Starting an eBay listing with a blurry and poorly shot photo is never a good choice, especially when the car you’re selling is as desirable and sought after as this split window Corvette Coupe is. Of course if your car is as rough as this splity, then maybe you would want to use a blurry photo too! I shouldn’t be too hard on the seller though, they are actually honest in their description about the condition of this project. It is going to need everything, but at least they are up front about that fact. You can take a better look at it here on eBay in Tavares, Florida.
As you can see, this project is really nothing more than a partial shell and will need just about every inch restored and every bolt replaced. The chassis, drivetrain, front end, and most of the interior are missing. The title is also long gone and getting a new one will likely be a nightmare. The seller does have a complete frame and drivetrain they are willing to sell with the car, but they are asking another $4k for the parts package. If it is all in good condition, it would be worth spending the extra to get all the additional pieces and it would make the job of getting this back on the road a bit easier.
This project will not be for the faint of heart and it should probably be left up to the professionals to handle. Being a split window, I have no doubt that it will be saved though. It will just be a matter of finding the right buyer. Given the value and desirability, the seller’s price doesn’t seem unrealistic. If they would throw in the extra parts as part of the auction, it would really sweeten the deal and make it a much better buy. With the parts included, the title would be the only other major concern. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do about that title?
See if the serial numbers and tank tag come up interesting , and if so use it an a better project car….
No “sticker” on the tank in ’63. Not till ’67.
You’re on your own. That’s why mid-year Corvettes are faked a lot with respect to equipment and even engines.
John Draneas penned an article for Sports Car Market titled: Matching-Numbers Blues.
It is in the July ’14 issue. Recommended reading.
Should records for these cars ever surface there will be a lot of unhappy people.
Didn’t mention if there was a vin number, but If there is, run a police check, if it comes back clean most states have some type of bonded title process. It sucks, but it can be done.
I never like it when a seller can’t do any better than some cheap, fuzzy cell phone photos of a car that they expect someone to pay a six digit asking price to own! There are other Corvettes in the background, so the seller is clearly into ‘vettes and knows his stuff. Something … or things … aren’t right here. There is not enough details or information in the ad. If the seller has to remind the buyer that they are getting an amazing deal in the text of the ad, then the only amazing deal is for the seller! No thanks … next candidate please!
National Insurance Crime Bureau. http://www.nicb.org
This car looks like a disaster, waiting to happen. It’s so incomplete, that it would seem to me to be only a parts donor car. I also noticed that there are NO bids on this car. It’s just too sketchy, in my opinion. As the pictures indicate, the owner has lots of other Corvettes and has probably taken all of the good stuff off of this car, and simply wants to get rid of the carcass; albeit at a staggering price!
Problems with this seller / auction:
1) The claim that this $12K partial shell “would be a great start for a Restomod or a driver corvette”. All you have to do is add most of another split window car.
2) He offers some of the parts that would be needed to help make the partial body into a car, separately at an additional price of $4K. Why not put them in the auction to help make claim #1 make sense?
3) As Moxman said, many of his recent auctions are for ’63 split window parts…maybe from the same car that this partial body came from. Looks like a parting out operation where every little piece is sold separately for the maximum $$$. He gets the money and the buyer gets to chase lots of missing parts.
4) More ‘neutral’ & ‘negative’ feedback than I would be comfortable with.
Sixteen thousand for a crappy partial body?
Highway robbery.
Pass. Next…
Plain “scrap”. U tow it away.
Looks like a drag race car body to me. Would be just over a gazillion to restore
No. Just no.
(and also no $12k bids showing on ebay)
this guy must be an idiot to think he can sell this at all much less the price he wants. even the best corvette restorers would pass on this.
Notice how the support bar under where the glove box used to be has been removed? That is where the VIN tag and Trim tag were mounted. There is no legitimate reason for that to be missing!
I worked with a guy in the early ’80s that bought a split window vette.
When he checked the vin out he found that it was not an original split window coupe.
The headliner was removed to see if it was an aftermarket job.
He found that the shell was made as an original split window car, there was no piece patched in.
He sold it, representing it honestly to the buyer.
For the value of a split window you have to believe that body molds exist.
Good luck to the new owner, there won’t be any money made on this one.
A perfect example of whats gone wrong with the hobby. Too much asked for nothing much
This one is very troubling on multiple levels. Run far, run fast.
Are the VIN and Trim Tag in another car? Maybe stolen, rebuilt or otherwise. Once you could “wash” a title pretty easily moving from state to state. AL titles were EASY.
FL is not my favorite place to do any car business. I make no apologies. It’s the last jumping off spot before Cuba for anyone running from their past. Paraphrased from “Cocaine Cowboys”.
SOLD for $12,000 with a single bid…