In the Fall of 1960, a new television show premiered called Route 66. It was about two guys on a mission to “discover themselves” and they did that by touring the country in a spanking new Chevy Corvette. One like the seller’s ‘Vette, a 1961 convertible that’s going to need a lot of work to get it running and looking good again. Located in Wareham, Massachusetts, this Chevy is available here on eBay where the reserve has yet to be triggered at $26,700.
The C1 Corvette was in its ninth year of production and would go through 1962 before the all-new “Sting Ray” would debut in ’63. Noticeable changes in ’61 included a “ducktail” look to the styling in the rear. It was lifted almost intact from Chevy’s Stingray racecar as well as Bill Mitchell’s XP-700 show car. One of the benefits of that change was an increase in luggage capacity by 20%. A 4-speed manual transmission was added to the options list and that set-up found its way into 75% of all Corvettes built that year.
Five versions of the 283 cubic-inch V8 were available in the ’61 Corvette we don’t know which one of them was in this car originally. A 327 from a ’62 ‘Vette resides under the hood now, but it’s hooked up to the car’s original tranny and shifter, so at least that’s numbers-matching. The seller’s version is one of nearly 11,000 Corvettes to leave a Chevy manufacturing plant in 1961.
It’s hard to tell what color this Corvette was painted originally, but it could have been Honduras Maroon. The body will need a bit of massaging when a new finish is eventually applied. The buyer will likely want to work on getting the car running again first, starting with a set of plug wires as none are visible (remember to align the right wire with the right cylinder!). A new exhaust manifold will come with the Chevy along with a spare aluminum radiator. Who’s ready to “get their kicks on Route 66”?
4 speeds were an option before 61. I believe as far back as 57.
Tod and Buz sure made bank while driving Route 66. I remember years ago when all of the original Route 66 signs were taken down they were offered to the public. I saw an ad in Vette Vues magazine but never bought one.
The Nelson Riddle soundtrack is what comes to mind when recalling “Route 66”. I think the writers from Naked City did many of the stories. TV today would kill to have 25 million viewers for a specific program. The Corvette was the real star.
And I was perfectly fine watching on a portable black and white TV that had a speaker smaller than a cell phone.
I had some generator/power steering pump combos, but never one with a cable off the back of the gen. What it for? Couldn’t be tach or speedo, if it is it wouldn’t be very accurate due to belt slippage.
Cable off the generator ran the tach
’61, too bad. 1st yr to go to the duck tail. ’56/60 are the only ones for me~
SOLD for $32,300.