The nice thing about collecting Corvettes is that their previous owners were more likely to baby them than the owners of more mundane collector cars; after all, Corvettes have never been cheap and they’ve always been special. This particular 41,870-mile 1959 model was owned by the same person for over 60 years (until the current owner picked it up). With one repaint in its original Crown Sapphire Metallic (one of only 888 in that color, according to the ad), this Corvette is being sold as a survivor, and bidding here on eBay has been brisk: 21 bids to $34,100 at the time of this writing. It’s located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
To me, the most interesting thing about this Corvette is not its beautiful color, low mileage, or originality; it’s the drivetrain. While we often think of C1 Corvettes with dual quads or Rochester fuel injection, this car has the standard 230-horsepower 283. Even better? It has the three-speed manual, so the running gear is as basic as you could get in a ’59 Corvette. The three-speed wasn’t as rare in ’59 as it would later become: 3,617 out of 9,670 cars had it. Something that many forget is that the three-speed had a non-synchromesh first gear all the way up through 1966 (!), and it was standard even with the top-of-the-line fuel injected engines. Manual-transmission Corvettes came standard with a fairly steep 3.70:1 rear axle ratio, so acceleration was guaranteed to be strong.
The interior is nice but not perfect: The driver’s seat has some torn seams, the carpet is showing wear, and the corners of the dashboard have some cracks. Eckler’s sells upholstery for both bucket seats (in blue) for $559, so that might be an avenue that the new owner will wish to take.
That carpet in the trunk lets you know that this is a car that saw some use back in the 1960s and 1970s. There aren’t any undercarriage pictures in the eBay ad, but the seller says that the car shows no rust, rot, or prior repairs, and although it apparently runs, shifts, stops, and drives well, the implication is that it has been off the road for a while, so it will probably need some debugging before using the car regularly. The old bias ply tires will need to be replaced.
Of course, that’s to be expected for something that has low mileage and has clearly been sitting for some time, but is there anything better than an original(ish) car with a story? If you like solid-axle Corvettes from the quad-headlight era, and you don’t mind that this example isn’t one of the “ground pounders,” it might be worth a look, and maybe even a bid.
What a beautiful color combination. I’m all in on a more basic 283 3 speed combination. Like Aaron said, its basically bullet proof. I did not know about the non syncro first gear on these. No big deal. I like it.
1966 was the first year the all synchro 3-speed transmission was offered in all GM cars. The pickups followed in 1967. Of course the way around was to double clutch into first!
Some call it synchronized or also synchromesh.
Only one thing better than a perfectly restored C1 is an original C1.
Yes this is my kind of Corvette. Just a single 4bbl carburetor. I would rather have a 4spd but three works just fine. And I love the quad headlights. Only thing missing is money…
Just saw a ’60 in this color at Mecum Indy. Sent a picture to my wife. She wants it but has the same problem as geomechs – no money.
You don’t buy a car like this for blistering accleration or 1.2g cornering, you buy it for profiling. That’s something every Corvette has been real good at.
1960 would have been Tasco Turquoise.
This car appears to be a real nice survivor, with repaint. Detail it inside and out, put on new tires, touch up the mechanicals, and head out for a spin.
My guess is this car will sell for close to $60k.
Just flat out beautiful car.