Hunka Burnin’ Love: 1960 Chevrolet Corvette

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If you have a couple of weekends to spare, this one should be easy-peasy. This gorgeous hunk of burning love is (was) a 1960 Chevrolet Corvette. Ha, hey, I kid you not! This hot number is listed on eBay with a current bid price (Really? There’s a current bid?!) of just under $700, or approximately 1/1,000,000th of the tears that had to have been shed when this one went up in flames. It’s located in beautiful Fort Valley, Georgia so you can get a few estimates on shipping (“Hi, do your drivers carry a big dust pan?”).

I’m tellin’ ya, 3-4 tubes of JB Weld, maybe a few Q-Tips, and you’ll be in business. Seriously though, I can’t imagine the heart-wrenching nightmare that it must have been for the seller of this fairly-recently-restored, numbers-matching gorgeous Corvette to have his shop burn with this perfectly-restored car inside! Is that not one of our greatest nightmares as car guys and gals? Thank goodness nobody was hurt, from what I’m guessing, but wow, what a horrible loss here.

The photo above is not the burned car, but it’s probably similar to what it would have looked like prior to the fire. Ugh. Why couldn’t a warehouse full of Kias have been sacrificed instead?! (kidding, you Kia lovers). It was sure one gorgeous car.

The seller says that the “frame still looks good as does the drive-train. If someone had a good body, this would be a good frame to set it on.” I know that most people like a thin, old-school steering wheel, but this one is maybe a bit too thin. You can see that the wheels are also pretty much gone so you’ll have to source those, along with a new body and, and, and..  But, there have to be a ton of great, usable parts on this car. I wonder how much this one will sell for?

You can see that mice have gotten in there and, no wait, that’s melted fiberglass! What a hot mess. There are a million unintended, unwarranted, and probably unwanted, jokes here, like when the seller mentions that this is a relisting because the previous “winner who won it last time wasn’t able to pick it up.” Insert a spatula joke here. But, this really is a shame of the first magnitude in the car world. Hagerty lists the value for a 1960 Chevrolet Corvette in #3 “good” condition (I’m assuming the restored car was closer to excellent condition) with a 283 V8 with a single four-barrel as being $45,900. What would be your guess as to what this charred car is worth? What’s worth saving on this Corvette that you can see from the photos?

Auctions Ending Soon

Comments

  1. Chuck Foster 55chevy Chuck F Chas Foster

    I always wanted an old Vette, I can buy it and say I have one, it’s under restoration LOL. There’s a place selling 58 replica bodies for $5k on Craigslist around Georgia, hey, sounds like a plan. Looks like rear disc brakes, so must have been upgraded.

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  2. Bill

    The motor may be salvageable

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  3. 63Comet

    It would’ve been better to sacrifice some Kias instead, and I offer no apology to Kia lovers.

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    • jaygryh

      Man, that looks itchy.

      Like 0
    • CapNemo

      There are no Kia lovers.

      Like 0
      • Howard A Howard AMember

        Hi Cap, apparently, there’s one.

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      • jaygryph

        Of the 100 or so vehicles I’ve owned, my Hyundai Accent has been the best of them. I bought it brand new and have put 95,000 trouble free miles on it. Replaced one $30 smog system part, and timing belt, general tune up stuff. It was $10,000 brand new with a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty. It’s more comfortable to drive than anything from the 60s or 70s that I’ve owned, the fuel mileage is outstanding, and it has all the airbags and safety stuff of a modern car. It also still has hand crank windows, figure that one out.

        Of all of my cars, that one is my favorite because of it’s sheer dependability. It’s the car that goes into the city, and on short to medium road trips or any trip where fuel mileage is a concern. It’s functioned as a small pickup truck, and been packed to the gills with hundreds of lbs of tools and welders. It’s gone to burning man and functioned as a tiny tent with its own air conditioning. It drives nice and is a great little putt around town car. I even like the color.

        It’s amusing in a head shaking way to see people sh*t on good little cars, in the same breath as waxing on about how great a Nash, or a shoebox ford, or a model A, or a stripper ’57 Chev is. Those are all econo cars. 50 years of age has not changed that, and if anything has made it MORE obvious just how basic and crude those cars are. Yeah they got style, yeah they got nice lines and chrome, but who cares. My aching back could not give a single crap about ‘nice lines’ when I’m 8 hours into a road trip on a coil sprung vinyl covered bench seat, as is typical in any of those old rides.

        That little car, and to some extent all of those little cheapo hatchbacks and sedans, and small pickups, embody the automotive spirit more than many higher end vehicles. Up till recently you could still get crank windows, radio delete, AC delete, power everything delete, and you could get a light weight vehicle that had the same power as the more optioned, heavier models. The stupid little 4 cylinder in that car gets about double the mpg, while making the exact same or better power than my 67 Corvair powered RV. It makes more power than my 73 Cadillac hearse managed to squeeze out of 500, yes five hundred, cubic inches of raw American V8. Yes that’s sad, but that’s not a failure or detriment to the Hyundai. That’s a very serious failure on the part of American builders that something with 500 cu in ever left the factory with such abysmal power numbers.

        And while we’re on power numbers, who cares about those as well. People talk about horsepower and torque and always larger numbers are better, right? Maybe, maybe not. Power is only useful if you can get it to the ground, and that has a lot to do with tires, unsprung weight, suspension, drivetrain and a host of other factors that modern cars have had decades of computer aid to sort out and refine. There is more technology and engineering in that little hatchback than ever went into the vast majority of the vehicles I’ve owned.

        Yeah fine, folks wouldn’t give that car the time of day, but I like that car, and have a respect for cars like it. Folks ignore them now, just like they ignored the hundreds of thousands of cars that are now “classics” and sent them to the crusher. Look through old newspaper ads. There was a time when you could buy a running, driving, used 1959 cadillac for $500. Or less. No, you won’t find that now, not for that car, but if you get on Craigslist and search for vehicles under $2500 you will find a LOT of interesting things that would be fun to play with. You’ll find even more if you have open eyes to unorthodox vehicles and projects.

        Hate it if ya want. What’s a little more uninformed hate in the world right? It’s a boring generic car, that one I daily, but it’s got me to the fun stuff in life, and even got me back, regardless of how hung over I was.

        To me, the best car is the one that reliably works to drive my ass to the parts store to buy parts to fix the less reliable, less safe, less engineered, less efficient, and less comfortable classics in the barn that I only hang on to for nostalgia and because I like the overall look and “lines” of them.

        Besides, a small hatchback with a 5 speed, and no options to weigh it down can be a pretty darn fun car.

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      • grant

        Cars are stupid expensive. For a daily ride that’s comfortable that the average person can afford, there’s nothing wrong with a Kia. Go sit in a brand new Optima. It’s a damn nice little ride and it doesn’t cost 40 grand. This is a site for collector cars and old interesting stuff, so it’s apples to oranges.

        Like 1
      • John H

        I know two — my son and his wife. They both put a lot of miles on a car and their Kias have been absolutely trouble-free. My son’s Spectra is nearing 200k. That car has some of the worst seats I’ve seen in a fairly late model car and the carpeting may as well have been made by glueing cut-off fibers together, but it’s amazingly dependable.

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    • Al

      I could never get past the KIA name, it still says Killed In Action.
      Just how do you love that?

      Like 0
      • jaygryh

        There are a lot of really stupidly named, really interesting cars in the world.

        Like 0
  4. Todd J. Ikey HeymanMember

    Please, there’s no need for any “my old man is a television repairman” jokes…..

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    • waldon herdman

      or “that will buff out” jokes

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  5. Joe Haska

    I was a firefighter 31 years, lots of calls, but I will never forget the new Corvette that caught fire on the fee-way. When we got there , and were fast, it looked just like this. About the only thing recognizable was a glob of metal near the steering column, looked at it and figured out it was the key chain.

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  6. Fred w

    As bad as it looks, probably no reason why the frame,trans, engine and rear axle can’t be salvaged. Making $700 quite a deal.

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  7. geomechs geomechsMember

    Next time you drive home from the Texas chili cook-off, you’d best leave the top off.
    To put salt in my wounds, ’60 -’62 Corvette is my favorite Vette ever!! I hate to see this happen to any car, especially something like this. This is one Corvette that would be in my budget, for the purchase price anyways. I can see another $30K going into it before you even get to the paint and chrome. I’m surprised at the lengths some people will go to get something like this completely back to running condition again though. I saw an article where some VW people are restoring a beetle that was deep fried. Apparently it has some historical significance so they think it’s worthwhile.

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  8. Peter RMember

    Fire Sale
    I’m not a metallurgist but… what do you think happens when you apply that much heat to the steel frame ?
    You might want to go with stiffer shocks when you put it on the road again…

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    • Pete

      The body has burned quickly. Not enough energy going down to damage the frame etc.. A friend had the alloy wheels from a partially burnt car checked by xray and a chemucal test. No problem.

      So a body from a totally rotted out car together with this one should be a good starting point for a rebuild.

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      • Glen

        I don’t want to sound rude, but you can have this one!

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      • Poppy

        This one’s alloy wheels appear to have melted away.

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  9. Jeffro

    Can we all agree that this is not considered “patina”?

    Like 1
    • ScottyAuthor

      HAA! We need to start a “Comment of the Week” here!

      Like 0
  10. Ed P

    There must be $700 worth of parts in there somewhere. Somebody must need something that’s left of this car.

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  11. Trent Poole

    The owner said is was real hot at one time.

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  12. D

    Is that a knockoff I saw? I also wonder about warpage on what’s left.

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  13. Paul R

    A fire extinguisher is a good investment for an older or classic car.
    Properly used, a little 5 lb. one will put out a large fire.

    P. Pull pin.
    A. Aim.
    S. Squeeze handle.
    S. Sweep.

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    • moosie Craig

      Its says that this one burned up in a garage fire, a little 5 lb.one wouldnt have helped too much I think, but yeah carrying one is a good idea.

      Like 0
      • Paul R

        Understand it was a garage fire, but many burn up on the side of the road needlessly that a small extinguisher could of prevented.

        Like 0
    • ronsclassicrides

      Watch all the on the TV restoration shows and I have not yet seen one fire
      extinguisher!

      Like 0
  14. Ben T. Spanner

    This is a smokin’ deal.

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  15. Anthony

    58 bids on this? I would love to know what the winner does with it. Or more likely the VIN number

    Like 0
  16. Coventrycat

    Unfourtunate, but I’m sure the insurance check took the sting out of it fairly fast.

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    • Mike F.

      Money can’t buy love.

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    • blain st claire

      The sad fact is there was NO insurance due ton the shop being used commercially 25 years ago What a rippoff and the car was in storage so they had no active policy on it. Just the building and contents that the insurance company would not pay on, thanks insurance company.. NOT

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  17. Bob Hess

    With flame on top sucking cool air through the bottom the frame and driveline don’t get that much real heat.

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  18. 68 custom

    Motor and disc brake parts are probably worth far more than current bid. BUY BUY BUY!

    Like 0
  19. michael streuly

    All that will buff out.

    Like 0
  20. Tom Hall

    Should have advertised it as a 356…it’s almost closer to a 356 than some advertised 356’s

    Like 0
  21. grant

    This has been posted here before I think. I’m not a metallurgical expert, but I would think that the frame and other metal bits are no good after that kind of heat. Sad.

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  22. Den

    The engine block and frame would be fine, but I would feel more comfortable saying the new owner should take it for a test drive before purchasing it, I bet the car will burn the tires right off of it !

    Like 1
  23. Scott

    Patina, stance, and the AC needs charging all in one car.

    Like 0
  24. Dairymen

    I would drive it as is.
    It would look good in the preservation class at a car show.

    Like 0
  25. Adam Wright

    I have a piece of a 550 Spyder on my desk that was in a horrible fire, it’s amazing how quickly someone so beautiful can turn to nothing.

    Like 0
  26. Another Bob

    “Ran when parked.”
    I’d shoot some clear coat over it and let it be.

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  27. JW454

    My garage burnt to the ground in September of 1979 as a result of arson. After the fire, you could take my Craftsman and S-K wrenches and bend them into a “U” shape with your hands. I bent the right rear corner of the bumper clear around to the center by hand. When a fire is this hot, there wouldn’t be much left that would be usable.

    Like 0
    • Pete

      If the heat was high enough to change the metal in the frame the alloy valve covers sitting in an even hotter zone would have deformed.

      Like 0
      • JW454

        Whatever, but 1600 bucks for a pair of valve covers is kind of pricey.

        Like 0
  28. Bruce Best

    As a Lotus Europa owner I can tell you after one of those catches fire there is even less left. The worst is the wooden frame Marcos cars. Between that and a fiberglass body there is only the suspension, engine, transmission rear end and four wheels.

    The comments about fire extinguishers is very valid I have three in my shop where I do my work and I make certain that any shop I take parts to is so equipped. Just incase. That save me having to replace a very expensive Maserati Sebring one evening.

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  29. Bruce Best

    I should note on that Maserati Sebring Comment it was the car adjacent to mine in the shop I took it too. They saved it before both cars and the shop went up in flame.

    For those that work on their own cars this is critical. I have seen more than one house nearly burn to the ground because an owner was working on a fuel line, welding or something else and gets a fire started. If it is your beauty you will protect it with at least one extinguisher. If only to stop your wife from making your life a living hell till the put you in the ground for burning the house down.

    NOT ME thank god but I know an ALFA owner that did that to a 3/4 million dollar home in the Kansas City area about 20 years ago. She has not stopped yet, poor soul.

    Like 0
  30. daniel wright

    I am not a corvette guy but I can hear that Arms of an Angel song playing.

    Like 0
  31. DRV

    Four wheel discs and knockoffs is something I’ve never seen on a ’60…

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  32. Jim

    It’s a shame but it happens, it’s probably a good but if you want to part it out. Anything from an old vette has value to a guy who needs something to complete a car. Personally I have fire extinguisher’s in all my cars and a proper fire suppression system in the race car. Thankfully I’ve never used an extinguisher on my own vehicles just others.

    Like 0
  33. D. King

    It has 60 bids on it so far!

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  34. Rustytech RustytechMember

    And this was featured because???

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  35. dogwater

    How can this car a clear title?

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    • racer99

      My guess would be that the owner took the insurance off of it to save some money during the winter because he wouldn’t be driving it. If it was insured and the insurance company paid for it then NORMALLY they would have taken the hulk or let him retain it and assigned it a salvage title. I’ve seen some weird things with insurance companies (I’ve been rebuilding insurance salvage vehicles for 20 years) and nothing is absolute as I’ve seen some companies that pay for the cars without converting the title to a salvage.

      Like 0
    • racer99

      One other thought would be that since the car was inside the garage maybe his homeowners insurance paid for the loss instead of his car insurance in which case all the rules for salvaging vehicles might not have been applied. Just a thought.

      Like 0
  36. JagManBill

    sounds like several of us have had fires. Ours was in 08. When the FD got there they saw the cars outside and said “what in there”. I asked “you mean whats parked in there or stored?” He said “no…whats in there thats not going to do well with water”. I said… “oh…you mean the 150 pounds of magnesium?” (4 gear boxes, 3 VW engine cases, and 2 sets of real (LeGrand) mag wheels).

    All he said as “$heit”….NO WATER!!!!

    Lost a Zink FV, a Zink Sports Racer, 69 E Type, Jag 57 3.4 Mk1 and 62 Austin Princess…

    I know the above feeling….

    Like 0
  37. MGSteve

    I think you all are missing the point. Does it come with a VIN# and title? Think people, think.

    Like 0
    • grant

      Oh, everybody gets it.

      Like 0
  38. Cubs win

    Now that’s a hot buy at a fire sale

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  39. Sebtown

    MGSteve, that was the first thing I thought!

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  40. George

    I’m a afraid you’d have to get a new vin plate made,but what’s left might make a Kellison. I think I know where a Kellison body is sitting next to an Elva less running gear. I submitted and mistyped my email.No idea how to correct that error. BTW I’m trying to buy the Kellison or Elva.

    Like 0
  41. Thomas Allen

    Ran when parked 😇

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  42. ELMER TURNER

    this is to the predjudiced people refering to kias. i never thought i would buy a kia, but i can tell you i bought a 2003 kia sedona. 3.5 l 195 hp. engine, ( probably hp underated due to the speed and high acceleration) every power option available, even floor mat anchors, extendable sun visers. folding center console tray, 12 v. socket front, middle and rear seats outlets. full leather 6 way power drivers and passenger seats. racheting adjustable head and arm rests, electronic push button overdrive, 8 speaker premium stereo radio with cd and cassette player, and the list goes on. plenty of power, very good steering and ride performance etc. don,t judge anything by just a name you do not like. its a worldwide market now and foreign manufacturers have to build quality automobiles etc, or end up like the yugo and several others did.

    Like 0
  43. Stu

    Where do I send the flowers?

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  44. Pappy2d

    Entry level C2?

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  45. Wayne S.K.

    Nice patina. Oh, wait, it used to be plastic…

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  46. BRAKTRCR

    Guessing some one is buying a VIN number, and the title

    Like 0
  47. Ronald Wheeler

    Wonder who will get stuck with a wanabe classic? Or worse yet, a lost vette. Must use lots of caution these days.

    Like 0
  48. racer99

    There’s a pretty good chance that the chassis and drivetrain would be salvagable. The lower part of the motor still shows the plug wires unmelted and the aluminum valve covers are intact so the heat probably didn’t destroy it but it would have to be gone back through. The lower chassis shows the rubber bushings still intact in the sway bar links and most of the rubber brake lines are still intact which would lead me to believe that the chassis didn’t get as hot as the upper portion of the car. Would I have it tested for straightness and metal properties before using it as a basis of a restoration — absolutely.

    Like 0
  49. 8banger DaveMember

    Now I’m not saying I like KIAs but I just tuned up a customer’s 2005 Amanti (we named it The Pretenz) and for as irritating as some of its components are, its 3.5L is shockingly fast. Just sayin….

    Like 0
    • grant

      You’re gonna get thumbed down just for saying “Kia”… as we talk about what decent cars they are for the money, they’ll thumb us down. And then go wax poetic on a stripped down 70’s Honda Civic DX….or a Yugo.

      Like 0
  50. 8banger DaveMember

    Roger, copy that. I still like talking about toasted or shattered vettes though…

    Like 0
  51. Dickie F

    I have just spent a 1/2 hour of my remaining life, reading a feature on a pile of debris lying on the ground.
    And all your comments about that pile of debris lying on the ground.
    I am flabbergasted that we, the crazy bunch that almost worship any automobile this side of the rusted iron
    curtain, found so much interest in a pile of debris on the ground.
    Then the penny dropped, it was not a normal pile of debris on the ground,
    No, there was a reason our minds would not just turn the page.
    Something was just not right about this pile.
    Then I saw it …..it was incorrectly featured, it was actually a ’61 !

    Like 0
    • Jesse Mortensen JesseStaff

      Good one Dickie!

      Like 0
  52. GRAY WOLF

    Hey to the guy with the “H” car and the rambling paragraphs, your car is NOT COOL! It dam sure won’t turn any heads!! It has no curb appeal!

    Like 1
    • grant

      He never said it did. He said it has been dead reliable and drama free. You know, a good car.

      Like 0
  53. DRV

    So after I said 4 wheel disks and knockoffs, I noticed 2 axles and 4 drums laying on the ground next to it…. what is that?

    Like 0
  54. pursang

    Any shots of the interior?

    Like 0
  55. Rolf Poncho 455

    Well done all of u BF’s its so cool reading all of the comments
    on a pile of burned corvette dust and so they say dust to dust

    Like 0
  56. leiniedude leiniedudeMember

    Up in smoke for $5,900.00. 99 bids. Amazing.

    Like 0

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