Everyone knows the Corvette. I haven’t been writing very long for Barn Finds and I’ve already done more than one listing on a Corvette, as have most people here. Any car show you go to will have some variant of a “Corvette Alley,” a street lined with dozens of Corvettes of every vintage and configuration. I tend to avoid Corvette Alley because I’m of the opinion that if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. This one’s different. This 1966 convertible model in a beautiful, relaxing shade of light blue has 427 badging…but no 427. No, that original 427 has been swapped with a fuel-injected Chevrolet 502 cubic inch high output big-block V-8 crate motor mated to a TKO 5-speed manual transmission. You can see and bid on this one here on eBay. The current bid at the time of writing is $45,512, with the reserve not met. Still, for nearly $50k, I’d take this over a C8 any day of the week.

It’s been treated to a complete body-off restoration just five years ago, in 2016, and the current owner has only put 3000 miles on it since then. As a result, this is exceptionally clean inside and out, and the included images of the frame show like-new condition. This is to be expected with a five-year-old restoration, but still, with 461 horsepower and 558 pound-feet on tap, you can’t afford to have rusty bones. The previous owner includes a picture of it in their garage, and based on their other vehicles, they know how to keep American classics minty fresh.

The interior is just as clean as the body and frame, with a nice original look with white seating surfaces and a body-colored dashboard. Having said all that, though, the TKO 5-speed has a necessarily updated shift pattern plaque below the shifter, the gauges are supplied by Intellitronix instead of AC Delco, and there seems to be a computer screen on the passenger’s side of the dashboard. The seller doesn’t state what’s displayed on that screen, but undoubtedly some very cool mechanical readouts and stuff that’s pertinent to know.

Reigning in all of this undercover modded Corvette are updated brakes and an F41 suspension system, which added heavier springs front and rear, a thicker front sway bar, and an added rear sway bar. The seller has also made it more drivable by adding power steering and brakes; you get less of a workout that way, but it makes it easier to handle. There’s not much from the outside of this hot rod Corvette that will truly say how powerful it is, but this is for sure a fantastic stoplight racer.