As the 1950s rolled on, the Chevy Corvette continued to pick up sales momentum, moving nearly 10,000 units for the first time in 1959. That included 920 cars with some form of fuel injection, offered since 1957 on the 283 cubic inch V8. This 59 Corvette has the correct engine but the “fuelie” part of the motor is gone. The car is being offered by a third party as part of an estate sale and is in Phoenix, Arizona. Though available here on craigslist, no price has been stipulated. The “seller” is accepting offers on behalf of the owner.
The Corvette become one of (if not the) fastest sports cars on the market when fuel injection was added to the mix. The mechanical set-up was provided by Rochester Products and improvements were made from year to year. In 1959, two versions were offered, the first using hydraulic lifters, a mild camshaft profile, and relatively low compression. That produced 250 hp, went into just 175 Corvettes, and we’re told this is the one the “seller’s” car was built with. The other, more aggressive “fuelie” was good for 290 hp and found 745 buyers. Either option added nearly $500 to the cost of a new Corvette, not a small figure in those days.
We’re told the owner of this car is from out of state, inherited the vehicle, and hired a third party to solicit bids to sell the car. So, the third party took some minimally helpful photos and posted the automobile on craigslist for free. Let’s hope the car is offered via other media so that the owner gets top dollar for his wares. However, with the “fuelie” part missing along with the distributor, the car’s value will likely be diminished. We’re also told it starts, stops, and runs, but how can it do that without a distributor?
This ‘Vette has been sitting outside for 25 years, but in the desert, that’s not the worst place it could have been hanging out. With a fiberglass body, there is no rust unless you can find some on the undercarriage. The engine is said to be original to the car and documents exist to verify it’s an authentic fuel-injected Corvette. If you can’t come to see the car in person, the seller can provide a video of it upon request. These Chevies are some of the most sought after because of their performance and low production numbers. They could turn the quarter-mile in 14 seconds!
I don’t understand how anyone could make a generous offer based on that description and those photos or even after viewing a “walk-around” video.
I see a photo of the driver’s door step plate and three shots of the car’s butt. However, there’s no pictures showing the block stamp pad, the VIN plate, or the rest of the engine for that matter.
Cosmetic improvements drive the cost of a Corvette restoration. Mechanical repairs are relatively minor expenses. This thing could be worth $40,000 to $50,000, or it might be worth half that with a bent frame, one-piece front end, and a passenger car engine. It just depends.
I agree wholeheartedly. just a quick visual shows me the trunk lid has been repaired/replaced (missing ‘CORVETTE’ circle), the grille looks to be a ’61-’62 bar grille (or the ’59 grille minus teeth), the top needs all plexiglass windows replaced, the interior is a mess, and if the interior is that bad you can bet the mechanicals (whatever the engine/trans) will be needy, also.
For me it’s a $20,000 car…$25k max. And, as Hank said, be sure on the title before opening your wallet.
Maybe one of the Barnfinds writers with some help from the viewers could provide some Tips on showing and listing a vehicle. Some of these description and pictures actually do more harm then good.
Jerry, it’s a project! you should know that if you have restored many corvettes as i believe you have. Expect the worst when buying these old projects & hope for the best. As for the car itself, i believe it is a very good project that can be restored back to original in the right hands. I would be interested myself depending on price. Have a good one. Roy Ester
Tiresome to see another used up and beaten car that clearly suffered “child abuse” from some young hot rod owner.
No price ? No sale.
Be really careful of sales for out-of-state owners, especially when it comes to payment.
You can make a ’59 fuelie out of any ’59 with the right motor which this one doesn’t have, so why pay more because it was a fuelie?
Actually, DRV, we don’t know in fact, that it was/is a fuelie. Without a trim tag to decode it’s merely another ’59. I once had a fellow brag about his 1972 LT1. His buddy was sitting in the passenger seat so I didn’t have the heart to tell him that none were ever built with an automatic. Just saying it’s a fuelie doesn’t make it one. Now, the tach may tell you something but I don’t know.
There is no trim tag on a 59 Corvette, but even if there was, it wouldn’t tell you what engine it came with. Corvette’s didn’t start using trim tags till 63, and even then, they only told you about “trim”, the car’s interior & exterior colors, along with some codes to identify possible options. Engines were identified in the VIN, but not until 1972. Before that there was nothing on the car to identify the engine.
There are usually some little details that can be used to identify an original FI car, like mounting holes for the air cleaner, or the location of where something came through the firewall. But you really have to know what you’re looking at, and of course just about anything can be duplicated and/or faked.
There are still a few geezers like me who place additional value on a Corvette that was originally something special when it was new. I do believe this ’59 was injected from the factory based on the clues I can see in the few decent photos.
But… there’s a very limited market for a 250hp car in such poor condition. It would take at least $20,000 in mechanical repairs (without adding a $10,000 FI system) to get it back on the road, and maybe a whole lot more. And the cosmetics are just not worth improving on this one. It would be cheaper to just buy a prettier Corvette that can be driven as-is.
Can someone tell the guy listing it to turn off the caps lock button? Like others have said, no price, no sale.
gb, I’ll defer to you but I thought the engine block had certain numbers that matched up with the body number (VIN or whatever). I had a ‘64 but sold it back in the 80’s and my memory is fading as time goes by.
The desert kills fiberglass deader than almost any other environment, even if you do want to replace all four fender panels after the 60’s vintage wheel well radius-ing.
Whoever is selling or brokering this car needs to spend a bit more time and effort with a camera. Poor photos create nothing but questions and reflect poorly on the seller’s knowledge of the potential value of this car. Looking at the tachometer and corrosion on the dashboard begs the question: how can a car stored in the desert accumulate rust in areas so remote, lest the windows were left open during monsoon season? How about some shots of the underside and a couple of pictures of the engine?
With a 5500 tach I doubt it was originally a fuelie, that usually comes with a base single carb 283
The 250HP FI motor had a 5500 red line. The holes for the FI air filter (left side) and the bracket for the windshield washer container (right side) indicate it was a FI car. And I stress indicate.
I was thinking the Fulie Vettes had a 6500 redline on the tachs. Might be mistaken as its been a few years since I have been around C-1s.
The tach in the pictures doesn’t appear to be the correct tach for any ’50’s Corvette.
Looks exactly like the one in my ’59.
“That included 920 cars with some form of fuel injection, offered since 1957 on the 283 cubic inch V8”. I never saw a ’59 with FI in person but I did have a 1959 Popular Mechanics magazine that had a full page Chevy ad offering a ’59 Impala with FI. :-) Terry J
TerryJ, I saw a red 59 Impala convertible with FI in a story awhile back, it was awesome. The guy bought a 59 Elco out in the desert and the Impala shell came as a parts car! He took the parts car home first! Look up the article, beautiful car.
The car probably runs with a regular points distributor , the F.I. Unit requires a specific distributor (points also) to drive it ( the F.I. Unit ). The author posed a question as to how could the car drive if the F.I. distributor is missing. This could be a nice vintage Corvette but you’d have to really like it to invest your time and or money to see the finished product.
This is my favorite “59” Corvette:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4uVQ9TDQIo&t=82s
this (’56/60) and the 1st gen Riveria (63/65) along w/early Toranado seem the best on style from GM. I like the late model (last gen) of the Chevelle too (Malibu Classic ’73/7). Vett’s duck tail abandoned the Italianate rear I liked. The coved-in dash (both sides for awhile) and nice binnacle also disappeared. I’m just stuck in time I guess (altho ‘classic car’ to me is late ’30s merican – very early 50s & same for europe up till mid ’70s).
There’s what looks like an Excalibur, that looks like it’s been kept inside. I would have the Corvette inside and the Excalibur outside.
I like the yellow Ford pickup too!
Being sold by a dealer, who probably took the distributor and FI equipment off AFTER starting and running the engine so he could say it starts and drives. Apparently said equipment has a high value, which this dealer isn’t choosing to share with the eventual buyer. Or even the current owner, truth to tell.
Of course “What happened to the FI ?” is pure speculation, but in my own experience a guy I knew bought a new ’65 Stingray back in the day. When it was running right it was like a rocket and was unbeatable, but it often was not. I’ll guess a lot of owners pulled their FI system off and installed a Holley or AFB in it’s place. In those cases and in that day, a used FI set up laying around the shop would not have been thought of as a priceless object of great value. :-) Terry J
I had a football coach/drivers ed. instructor in High School that had a beautiful ’62 Honduras Maroon 2 top Corvette with Fuel Injection emblems on it & talking to him he told me the car ran really great at first, he was the original owner, but it started giving him problems and the Chevy dealer in his small Missouri town couldnt seem to get it straightened out so they suggested an aluminum high rise manifold with a Holley carb, they swapped it out & he said the car felt better than the first day he drove it. Only thing he missed was the whistle sound it made when he got on it. Another little story is about 427/435 & 400 horsepower Corvettes. A friend of mine ran a hot rod & motorcycle shop in Teaneck N.J., one of the first things I noticed the first time I walked into his shop was the shelves with a half dozen tri-power intake, carbs & air cleaners sitting on the shelf collecting dust. He had customers who had a hard time getting the carbs working right (he could though) and wanted a swap to a high rise & Holley, Go figure ? BTW, that ’62 the coach owned was only 2 years old at the time, I graduated in 1965.
Moosie: McEwen High Class of ’66 myself. :-) Terry J
TerryJ Tappan Zee High School Orangeburg N.Y. Class of ’66 (barely)
After buying the 1959 Corvette. It does run and drive.
We found that all drive train is numbers matching and date correct motor trans rearend, exhaust manifolds bell housing and other parts.
It is a true fuel injection car 250 HP by finding all other little thing that go with FI cars and engine stamping.
Under car very clean, still has the part number stenciled on the frame.
One family car since new, unfortunately anyone that knows more about car have passed away.