This 1981 Corvette isn’t worth much, perhaps $4,500 if it was running and driving. It’s been sitting in this backyard since 1996 and the seller even built a garage in front of it. How will they get it out? Will they tear out the back of the garage or lift it over the garage with a crane? It would be great to have an address so you could find it on Google earth! The seller is entertaining all offers, so maybe you could get it cheap enough to be worth all the work it’s going to take to fix. But that will all boil down to how cheaply you can get it for. Do you think this will go for parts? How much could it be worth? It seems like a shame to see it scrapped, even if there’s nothing particularly special about this C3 Corvette. It’s listed here on craigslist in Bellmore, New York.
Jun 20, 2015 • For Sale • 14 Comments
1981 Corvette: Trapped In The Backyard
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I would Love to have it!!!!!!!!!!!!
My favorite body style 68-83
I have been looking for a ’83 Vette forever! Does anyone know where one is?
That was a little sarcastic. Chevrolet did not make a ’83 Corvette. They were retooling for the ’84 Vettes.
Yes-there is at least one 1983 Corvette and it can be seen at the National Corvette Museum located at Bowling Green . I saw it about 3 weeks ago!
They actually made a hand full from the St. Louis assembly dies. Some say 7, some say 20. Unregistered, but 83s nonetheless. Bowling Green had issues with 84 production so you are correct, no 83 C3 or C4 titled to public.
I’m guessing they will remove a couple sections of that fencing next to it and get it out through the neighbor’s yard.
It is a crying shame that someone didn’t take care of that C3! That was an expensive car back in it’s day!
If it’s landlocked then they’ll be spending money to get rid of it not making money.
now for sale for $900 and it is out of the backyard. no title or keys. interesting find.
I could use those wheels
They finally got the C3 out of the yard!
http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c3-tech-performance/3662401-81-barn-find-no-keys-2.html
This brings back memories…
I was an a/c repairman in 1986, that was returning from a service call west of Austin, TX, when I just so happen to see an image through the cracks in a wooden privacy fence. Curious, I turned around and went back to see what it was…thinking that it was just another ’61 Chevy hardtop but optimistic that I may have found what others talk about finding.
Sure enough! It was a 1962 Bel Air 2 door Sports Coupe “Bubble Top” sitting in a guys backyard!
I went around to the front door and knocked. The guy must have been in his late 80s. I asked if the car in the backyard was for sale. He said that if I could get it out of his backyard without damaging his shop that he built in front of it and not cut down the tree that was behind it, then that I could have the car. I went out back, looked at the car…saw that it needed rear axles, a front spindle and 4 tires wheels just to get it to move. The plates showed that the last time that the car was on the road was in 1974.The car did not have any rust but the passenger rear quarter panel had a slight bush with something low. The 283 engine could be turned over by hand. The interior wasn’t that bad, just the top of the rear seat was deteriorated from the sun’s beam being magnified through the huge rear glass, but all of that needed to be restored anyway. I also found a glob that once were poker chips. The distance between the front of the car was about 10 feet. The 6″ diameter Oak Tree behind the car was actually about a foot under the car, that wrapped around the rear bumper. After thinking of a plan, I told the gentleman that I would be back tomorrow, Saturday, to get the car.
I called around to my buddies to find the missing parts and borrowed some tires and wheels that evening. Of course, they were all too busy to help…
The next morning, I loaded up my baby blue w/ white top, restored, everyday driver 1972 Chevy pickup with jacks, ,jack stands, hand tools, straps, chains, Come-Alongs (hand cranked cable winches) and my car hauler. Stopped at a lumber yard to get a 1/2″ 4×8 sheet of plywood and headed out.
I installed the 2 rear axles and front spindle. Installed the wheels and tires. Pushed the car forward to about a foot from the back of the building. Jacked up the rear tires. Cut about a 2″ hole in one end of the plywood for a 1/2″ chain to fit through. Slid the plywood under the rear tires and let the car down onto the plywood. I then took a strap and wrapped it around a trunk of another tree that was about 50 feet away at about a 60 degree angle from the rear of the car. Attached my come-along to the strap and chain and pulled the car sideways to miss the tree that had been behind the car. I backed the trailer to the gate and winched the car onto the trailer. This took me about 4 hours after I got to the house where the car was located. The gentleman had been sitting in a lawn chair drinking iced tea, watching me “orchestrate”, as he called it, from the time that I arrived until the time I departed with the car in tow. He said that he would not have believed that anyone, especially with no other help, could have done that task. He said that it was just “Magical and Amazing”. He said that others wanted the car but seeing what it would take to get it out, they all walked away.
I never made the 30 plus odd mile trip back home to my shop with the car. I stopped a gas station when a guy offered to buy the car $5,000.00. I sold it and delivered it to his house that was about a mile away, collect the cash, handed him the title and went on my merry way.
Sometimes the hunt is greater than a car itself.
I was 23 years old then but still keep an eye out and peeking through fences.
In 1988, I was on another service call SE of Austin, TX when I just saw the center of the tailgate through the crack of the barn doors but knew it was a ’67-72 Chevy truck. This time I was caught by the owner when curiosity got the best of me as I peeked into the barn. I jumped back and told him that I saw that he had an old truck. He asked if I would be interested? It was an orange and white, (UT colors) 1972 BBC, a/c, p/s. pdb, tilt tach and cruise, all original Cheyenne Super with a rare load leveling package that had only 17,000 miles sitting in the barn. The 80 something year old gentleman said that he parked it and only used it occasionally around the farm because he could not afford the gas for it. He said that his son and other relatives did not want it. The seat belts were still wrapped in plastic, folded behind the seat. The stickers on the exhaust were never burnt off! I bought it and drove it occasionally to keep it maintained and loose for several years until one day, the only day that I decided to drive it to work, when someone stole it from the parking garage. (I became a Facilities Manager for a high rise building in Austin, TX). Someone found the kill switch or bypassed it. And people get your cars appraised and insured through an antique/collector insurance company that knows cars. Not State Farm, Geico or Nationwide like I had to do with a 18 year old truck. They don’t care how rare or custom your vehicle is, they look at a book and depreciate the age and mileage. I had to threaten to sue State Farm to get more than the fraction of the amount that they were offering and I still felt cheated! The cost for an attorney out weighed what I could possible have won in court.
This post reminds me of my experience as a telephone installer back in 1978 -just west of Lubbock Texas . I was running IW wire thru a customer’s garage and found a 1962 260 V8 Cobra MK1 on blocks .Thick layer of dust on it. This was one of the super rare 260s that were first made-before the 289 V8s Cobras were made. Only 75 were made.
The customer wanted the car out of his garage and wanted to sell it to me. It was in very good condition but it hadn’t been run in years and the customer didn’t know if it would start. I had no spare garage space and nowhere to park it. I didn’t buy it. These 260 Cobras can bring 6 figures or more now ,if complete and original.
Have you retained someone to kick you in the butt daily since??
I had a similar experience with State Farm. I had a 67 Barracuda in my parents garage, off the road, while I was working on it. SF put a value of $700 on it!! & wouldn’t insure it for fire, wind and theft!! I put a value of $5000 on it for $25 a year.