With a known history, this 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe is a two-owner classic with a genuine 31,000 miles showing on its odometer. It presents superbly, and with values continuing to climb steadily, it could represent a great investment opportunity. Even if you put that fact aside, its drivetrain combination should make it entertaining when the pedal meets the metal. It is a highly optioned classic that would suit a meticulous owner. If you meet that description, you will find the Corvette located in Tempe, Arizona, and listed for sale here on Craigslist. You could park this stunning survivor in your garage for $88,000.

Before we delve too deeply into this Corvette, we probably need to consider its paint color. The seller refers to it as Roman Red, but this shade was not offered during the 1966 model year. Buyers in that year could select Rally Red, but Roman Red, also known as Riverside Red in some model years, was last offered by Chevrolet in 1964. However, since the seller has access to the Trim Tag and we don’t, we must assume the information that he provides is accurate. It is possible that this may have been a special order, which was not uncommon in an era when manufacturers were willing to bend over backward to accommodate buyer requests. Once we move past that small fact, we are confronted with a Corvette that presents superbly. Its paint shines beautifully, with no visible flaws or defects. It graces fiberglass that shows no evidence of cracks or webbing and no signs of prior accident damage. The seller doesn’t supply shots of the vehicle’s underside, but the overall condition would suggest that the frame should be rock solid and rust-free. The original owner ticked many very desirable boxes on the Order Form, including those for the side exhaust and the aluminum knockoff wheels. Both items are intact and are in excellent condition. The chrome sparkles as impressively as the paint, and the tinted glass appears flawless. There’s little doubt that this Corvette would turn heads wherever it goes.

I’m not sure if I would describe this Corvette’s interior as perfect, but it still rates as pretty impressive. One of the few apparent defects is a warped grill in the dash top. Otherwise, the rest of the interior presents well above average for a vehicle of this age. The Black leather upholstery on the seats shows no evidence of wear or physical damage, while the door trims and remaining dash area look good. The carpet hasn’t suffered the type of fading that can plague Corvettes, and there are no signs of wear on the wheel. If I were to buy this classic, I would ditch the aftermarket console extension because this is out of character with the rest of the interior. The seller offers the opportunity to install vintage air conditioning into this car, but I would probably avoid following that path to preserve this classic’s originality. The original owner ordered the Corvette with an AM/FM radio, which remains intact.

The drivetrain combination raises another point of interest with this Corvette. The original owner ordered it equipped with the L79 version of the mighty 327ci small-block V8 that produces 350hp. What sets this classic apart from its siblings is that he chose to fit it with a three-speed manual transmission. That is an unusual choice because out of a production total of 21,120 vehicles during that model year, a mere 564 buyers selected to pursue the three-speed path. He also ticked the boxes beside power steering and power brakes on the Order Form, removing some of the physical effort from the driving experience. Performance figures should be impressive, with this Corvette capable of blitzing the ¼ mile in 14.2 seconds. The seller indicates that this classic has 31,000 genuine miles on the clock, and it appears that he holds supporting documentation for this claim. He doesn’t provide any information on how well the vehicle runs or drives, but if the overall presentation is an accurate representation, this Coupe should be in sound mechanical health.

There’s no hiding the fact that C2 Corvettes continue to perform strongly in today’s classics market. If you have $88,000 in your pocket, you could go out and spend that money on stocks or shares. However, all you would have to show for it is a piece of paper, which doesn’t seem terribly entertaining to me. Alternatively, you could sink that cash into this 1966 Corvette. Not only would you have something far more interesting than a Shares Certificate to look at, but you would have the opportunity to slip behind the wheel of a genuine American classic. Recent history shows that values will continue to increase, and when you combine all of these factors, I can’t see a downside with parking this Corvette in your garage. Can you?