Listed for sale is a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. You can buy the car now for $31,000 or you can make an offer on it. This Vette is listed as having a clean, New Jersey title, even though the car is physically located in San Diego, California. The seller has a VIN posted, but no miles are listed. If you are looking for a vibrant mix of colors and fonts to sell a car, you can find this here on eBay.
A 427 cubic-inch V8 is not under the hood at the moment, but perched atop an engine stand, wishing it could go back home powering this Corvette around. The reason it is out is that it has recently been rebuilt with Crane’s correct valve covers and a Holley carburetor. It has a transistor ignition installed and the engine is balanced. Not only has the engine been rebuilt, but so has the Muncie transmission. Side pipe exhaust has been installed, but that does not seem to be original to the car because the listing says it is “used”. The original 3.55 positraction rear end is still installed on the car. Within the listing are many links to videos that the seller says show many different things. One of them is a clean and rust-free frame.
The convertible hardtop appears to be in good condition. Beyond that, there are no good photos of the interior. One will have to dive into the videos to get a better idea of the condition of the car.
Watching cars come up for sale online is always entertaining. The listing for this Corvette is what I imagine the online equivalent is of the airflow inflatables that are next to used car lots. It is something that you can’t quite look away from, even though you know it is tacky. If you can look past all the crazy colors, fonts, and terrible photos, this Corvette could be a good car. I recently saw a photo going around online of a C3 covered in snow and someone asking if it would be a good daily driver for that. Sure. Why not? Maybe one of you will buy this one and do exactly that!
The asking price is grossly over priced. None of the photos show a good clear view of the frame but it appears to have a lot of rust. This car will require taking a part, blasting/coating the frame, painting the body, replacing unknown missing parts and from reading the word splicing description, has a period correct NON original motor.
You will easily have 50K+ in this car doing all the work yourself and the heavy time and still have a non-original car.
Looks like some frame damage to deal with, the left front wheel is way too far forward and looks like a piece of the front lower wheel well is damaged from the tire hitting it.
The engine is out of the car – could that be the reason the left front wheel looks way off?
Someone tell me the gauges and switches in the picture don’t look like they were under water… Lot of ocean around San Diego.
Good catch Bob! That got me thinking right off the bat, more like possible flooding. Remember Jersey title & in New Jersey just a few short years ago, a LOT of cars were submerged after that hurricane! Wonder if this was one of those & the reason for the engine to be ‘overhauled’? Easy to buy these back there after floods as most are uninsured because of the high costs, especially if sitting in a ‘barn’ (garage).
I know when I was living in CT, even if it’s in the garage, it MUST be registered AND insured. So my ’70 C3 conv sat in the garage & when I wanted to drive, I’d throw my dads ‘Repair’ plates on it. Those were special like dealer plates & dad had 4 for his welding business since the early ’40’s, can slap the plates on anything & be fully insured being my vette would never pass emission w/ Hooker sides & brake issues, wiper door that raised only when you floored it & shift into 2nd, just like the headlights lol. From ’80-’99, just slapped the plates on for a drive w/o reg’in & ins. So one can buy direct from owners after a flood & get a ‘clean’ title. Take back to Cali, clean her up as good as possible & resell as if it was a ‘California car’! Happens a lot.
The N-14 chalk marking tells me this is an original N-14 side exhaust optioned car. I’d love to tear into this car and restore it, but I’d need to get into it for a little less. A ’69 convertible with L71, 4-speed, great color, removable hardtop and side exhaust is a top-tier C3. Too bad the engine is a re-stamp but it’s an L71 block at least.
“Rebuilt” doesn’t count for anything when I’m shopping for a car, unless the rebuild is recent, the rebuilder is a reputable well known builder and there is substantial paperwork from the builder documenting the build. That being said, there is an awful lot of additional cash required to make this a nice car, I’d find a nice one and buy it, probably for less than the additional cash this one is going to require to make it nice…
I assume “restamp” means it’s not the original engine. I thought that was not legal to do as that has a lot to do with the value of a Corvette.
If NCRS Allows re-stamped engine blocks to qualify for flight certificates then I’m sure this has been well vetted. It is not illegal to re-stamp a block. Correct me if I’m wrong.