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41 Year Barn Nap: 1960 Chevrolet Corvette

Could you imagine how exhilarating it would have been to have found this 1960 Chevrolet Corvette convertible? After 41 years in a barn, this ’60 ‘Vette began its like as a Fuelie car, that was later converted to carburation. Although the owner planned a for a full restoration, this Chevy looks clean and straight, with only the bumpers and drivetrain removed and disassembled. With no specific price listed, the seller is open to offers. Find it here on craigslist out of New Baltimore, Michigan. Thank you to Barn Finds reader Ryan for this great submission!

Completely dismantled, the 283 is described as complete, and in suitable condition. In the image above you can see the “Fuel Injection” badges that once graced this fine machine. The block is not in view, but other valuable components like the 4 speed transmission are shown in the “parts” images. It does not appear that any of the Rochester fuel injection parts remained with the car though time.

Although described as being original, the seats and door panels were reupholstered with groovy crushed velvet. There is no carpet, but aside from that the interior appears very complete and original. The steering wheel and dash look very nice, with bright vibrant coloring and no cracking. The factory Wonder Bar radio is not currently installed, but is included with the car. This Vette is a convertible and features the optional hardtop. The convertible top frame is present, but the cloth top is no longer of use.

Overall the paint and body work on this Corvette looks great. The paint is still shiny, with no evidence of damage, or sun fade. Appearing as if this was someone’s hot rod back in the day, this sports car is equipped with 5 slot mags. Even though the exterior of this Corvette isn’t perfect, it is still very nice if it is truly original paint. One may consider rebuilding the drivetrain, and making this one a driver in its current condition. Ditch the wheels and interior for original parts, and you would be left with a nice looking original paint Chevy. Although restoring the Rochester fuel injection could get pricey. What would you do with this Corvette? Full restoration, or maintain the paint and rebuild the drivetrain?

Comments

  1. Avatar Gunner

    Put it back together as a Driver using NOS parts, including the fuel injection system. Yes, lose the wheels, and that tacky upholstery. Nice find!

    Like 0
    • Avatar jaygryph

      Cool. Then it can look like every other 1960 vette.

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      • Avatar olddavid

        Yes, all 64 in a country of 300,000,000 cars.

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  2. Avatar DrinkinGasoline

    As I’m sure by now, all the BF folks know that I am no
    “Bowtie Guy” by any stretch of anyone’s imagination even though I worked for GM… but, these were very cool…cough….Vettes.
    There, I said it !
    (Dementia can be used to one’s advantage :) ).
    Why the FI was gropped from it is anyone’s guess, albeit very ignorant to say the very least. As for that “groovy” interior, I attribute that to either drug dependency or,
    a twisted obsession with the Disco Era. This one should be returned to it’s origin.

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    • Avatar Ohio Rick

      Many, many if units were removed the first time an owner had the first problem with them. Few knew how to work on them and the easiest fix was to pull them and replace with a carb. When my brother sold his service station in the late 60s we tossed two Rochester units that had been collecting dust for years after carb transplants.

      Like 0
      • Avatar DrinkinGasoline

        Ohio Rick, I get it….folks were used to normal aspiration as am I. I’m curious…what region of Ohio do you hail from? The service station reference has peaked interest.

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      • Avatar Ohio Rick

        Eastern Ohio near Steubenville

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      • Avatar Richard Caprio

        I owned a 1964 Fuelie brand new… after constant starting problems I switched to the factory Holley 4-Barrel and sold the Injector, intake manifold and distributor for $100.

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    • Avatar grant

      To be fair, there were a lot of poor decisions made in the ‘ 70’s. Those seats are a reminder.

      Like 0
  3. Avatar RicK

    Paintjob looks like it’s orange. I know that color was offered in ’57 but were they painted that color from the factory in ’60? No matter, it’s still an awesome car and an amazing Barn Find, good to know complete early Vettes are still out there hiding (not that I could afford even a cheap one). Wonder how close to $50K the selling price will get on this one.

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  4. Avatar johnd

    Hate to be a pessimist, but I’ll call myself a realist, instead, and say that there isn’t much to make it a fuelie, here, and their pictures do nothing to add to that. I would have hoped we’d be beyond a bare claim and maybe a badge or two to call a car a fuelie (and I didn’t even see the scripts here!). . . .

    Like 0
  5. Avatar JW

    I would love to have this as a daily driver even with a carb, I would have to get the interior to stock but I would most likely go with some updated wheels and tires to my liking.

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  6. Avatar JoeR

    New Jersey plates….early 70s, so plate vintage is correct.

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  7. Avatar doug

    Mallory distributer and Hurst shifter. Tach looks right for 270 or FI.

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  8. Avatar lawrence

    Yep – what was said – Pontiac tried FI as well as Mopar about 1958…..most FI units were pulled and carbs installed….

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Woodie Man

    With those seats, donk it!

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  10. Avatar Dolphin Member

    If what I have read is correct, the Rochester FI on these cars was a very early version of FI that ran at low pressures at low engine speed and much higher pressures at high engine speed.

    Reading some of the sites where this is discussed is a bit scary….like pressures varying from 7.2 PSI at idle to 530 PSI at 6000 RPM, an enormous range that would probably make it hard to tune things right to get both good low and high speed performance.

    That seems like reason enough for people to have gotten discouraged and to take the FI off and replace it with good old carbs.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Brian G.

    I wonder how this guy plans to sell this thing? He has no asking price, goes on to say he doesn’t want $5G or $15G and then at the very end tells us he doesn’t want any unsolicited offers. So listing on Craigslist does not constitute a solicitation of offers? This is apparently less of a sales listing and more of a “look what I have!” posting.
    OK, fair enough. A not bad fixer upper. But if I want to see what you got I’ll go to Autorama or the local cruise night where the cars are finished, not basket cases.

    Like 0
  12. HoA Howard A Member

    In all my 62 years on this rock, and the literally hundreds and hundreds of vehicles I’ve either ridden in or drove, a car like this is the only time I’ve ever been in a Corvette. :0
    In the mid 70’s a guy I knew, had a Corvette like this, 327, 2,4’s. We were hanging out at McDonald’s and I asked for a ride. I had a small order of french fry’s on my lap, and when he “power shifted” it, the french fry’s went flying. I do remember it being extremely uncontrollable when shifting. And the reason there’s no price, is the old saying, “if you have to ask the price, you probably can’t afford it”, these are that rare. 6 figures all day long. Amazing find here.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Larry K

    Flagged.

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  14. Avatar gbvette62

    Has anyone ever seen a straight axle Corvette for sale, that the owner wasn’t claiming was originally a fuelie? Everyone thinks every old Corvette had FI, and every seller wants you to think theirs did. I get asked all the time if my 62 is a fuelie, it’s not and never was.

    That car may have started life as a fuelie. It has the right redline tach and core support. Unfortunately, without the original engine, or some kind of documentation, it’s just another NOM old Corvette now.

    I looked the pictures over, before the ad was removed. The car had been repainted at some point. The coves originally would have been painted completely white inside the moldings, not just in the indented portion. Also, the recesses behind the (missing) front bumpers, would have been painted flat black, not body color, and the courtesy light switch in the driver’s door jam has been painted over.

    It looks like a good project for someone, though it probably doesn’t pay to restore it. It might be a $60,000 car done, but you’d be in it for more than that. More likely it will become the basis for someone’s resto-mod project.

    Like 0
    • Avatar olddavid

      gbvette – Isn’t there a code in the serial number that would indicate the option of fuel injection? You Corvette guys are a group that exhaustively researches your cars and I would hope that the possibility exists? As an aside – Has it come to the point where a run of the mill straight axle refurbished is worth $60k? I always thought I would end up with one, but if that’s true, it looks like a C5 is as good as I will be able to afford.

      Like 0
  15. Avatar JGeezer Member

    Craigslist link just gives “This posting has been flagged for removal” :-(

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Scuderia93

    Probably in the minority here but I like the car as is. The drivetrain needs to be sorted obviously, but I’d get it running and safe and enjoy it. Plenty of perfectly restored cars out there but few period drivers with all their character intact..

    Like 0
  17. Avatar RAGGUS

    I had a 60 Vette back in 1966 and my cove was body color (Horizen Blue). One thing I would check is the frame. I have a friend who has a 60 that has not been on the road since 1977 and now the frame is gone-rotten away. That car also has the same slotted wheels.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar RAGGUS

    I had a 60 Vette back in 1966 and my cove was body color (Horizen Blue). One thing I would check is the frame. I have a friend who has a 60 that has not been on the road since 1977 and now the frame is gone-rotten away.

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Mark A Nohner

    Might have been bogus. Flagged. The real owner must have seen it for sale.

    Like 0
  20. Avatar Doug Towsley

    Been seeing a lot of bogus ads. To be fair to screw with certain local flippers some friends and I have in the past posted “Too good to be true” ads, often around April 1st but a few times advertising sales in the opposite direction of a cool event we didnt want the usual suspects showing up at.
    I dont mind someone making a buck doing what they love, but be honest,, We ALL know “One of those guys” who annoys the hell out of everyone one, or happily parts out local treasures and then laughs about it.
    However here is a hint to track and ID scams when the prices or deals seem too good to be true. My wife called me the other day and I gave this same advise as one of the engineers was after a vintage MC.
    If you have a desktop, or laptop and running Microsoft, open CHROME… right click the image. a tool bar should pop up in a window. Scroll down and select
    “Search Google for this image”
    **HINT** I did on the lead image for this posting and the same image is listed with multiple websites and several peoples IDs. Searching by description and then selecting images as well is also a great search tool.
    For example try “Triumph Land Speed record project” and then when the google search comes up select “Images” and theres thousands of images related to that search. It can lead to some really interesting discoveries as well.
    But try the above whenever a deal comes up.
    I have a few friends who are brilliant at computers and IT. Similar thing came up for a car. A friend in NJ said Ill go check it out for you for another friend several states away. It turns out the car was being used as part of a scam in multiple cities. Fred did a advanced search and located the person posting them all and tracked their ISP. He showed up at their House,., SERIOUSLY Freaked out the scammers as he confronted them. Not for everybody but this guy works corporate security and considers it fun to screw with scammers. I wont give away all his secrets but its great when you can find a little justice once in a while.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Patrick

    I’d polish up the wheels and paint,clean up everything else and drive it every chance I had. Those things speak to the times this car was enjoyed. Museum quality trailer queens are too common these days and they end up as dust collectors from one guys garage to the next,nobody logging any miles,no fun in that. I’d love to find one like this.

    Like 0

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