When it comes to classic American sports car, one car comes to mind, the Chevrolet Corvette. It was one of America’s first true sports cars and has been one of the most successful cars to come from GM. The first generation set the bar for all the Corvettes that would follow. They offered great styling, decent performance, and a fun driving experience. This 1962 Corvette looks solid and has been in a barn for the past 10 years, but there are a few issues that make us leery of it. If you are interested in checking it out closer, it can be found here on eBay with a BIN of $34,000.
For ’62, GM enlarged the 283 cui V8 to 327 cubic inches, making it the fastest of the first generation Corvettes. The 327 could be ordered with up to 340 hp, but sadly this one came with the base 250 hp unit. Thankfully it came with a manual gearbox and not the slushbox, which should make it considerably more fun to drive.
The interior looks good and should be usable just as is, but it could use new carpets. We normally prefer the C1 in contrasting colors, but we like the looks of this color combination just as it is. The seller claims the chrome and stainless pieces are all there and look good for their age, which is a huge plus, as these pieces can get expensive to replace or restore. If you are ever shopping for an early Corvette, make sure to inspect the car to make sure all the parts are still with the car, as some parts can be nearly impossible to find.
Looking this car over initially, you might wonder what makes us leery of buying it. The seller states that all the original bonding strips are present, but that the front passenger fender had repairs performed to it at some time and that the driver’s side rear quarter has cracks in it. The cracks are to be expected from a fiberglass body that’s 50 years old, but the repairs make us nervous. If they were performed correctly, than it shouldn’t be an issue. We would be sure to check the body over very carefully.
i think it is well worth the 35k asking price and would not be surprised to see it go upwards of 50k or more.
As 34K is a Buy It Now price, I don’t think that it would go upwards to anything – and BTW it seems to have gone already as the link doesn’t connect.
you had a ’62 basket case a week ago ?
That sold for nearly half this much.
Take a good guess, which one I would buy.
The other was also a Coupe , I believe…….
62 & earlier had no coupes.
Actually, as many as 360 horses were available.
Drivers door and rear wing do not appear to be same colour
Not bad! For the price of a new loaded Honda, getting an american classic like this is a bargain for the semi-serious collector (not rich lol).
WOW, are you kidding, 34000, I am not in the market, but this is a steel. But I thought that a Fawn 62 was posted a month ago that looked like this one.
The link connected for me. I thought in 62 that it was either a 4 speed or powerglide, the seller says it’s a 3 speed. Did they come with 3 speeds also.
Either way this seems like a pretty good deal.
Don’t change a thing until you check originality and keep it as is. please. Back driver and front passenger has been bumped and fixed. If done properly it is not a big problem for originality. 3 speeds were standard on vettes from ’55 to ’70 but not ordered often for obvious reasons as asked by Larry.. This is a desirable car if all original stuff is still attached and could bring $45k in the right place.
I’m with DRV. I think this may be an OK buy for the right buyer *if* it checks out as described in the listing. As the BF commentary above says, checking out the body is very important. If bad, these bodies can consume a lot of hours by a knowedgeable and skilled Corvette ‘glass man to get them right. So a PPI by a good Corvette restorer is important.
This is the very bottom of the line, entry-level ’62 Vette. It has the low-power 250 engine and even has the standard 3-speed transmission (the 4-speed was optional). In #2 condition these are worth around $45-$65K, but this is not a #2 condition car, and the price reflects that. If someone wants to have a last-year C1 more-or-less original driver for modest cost, this could be it. Yes, it’s had some work done, but it seems to be honestly presented and in decent shape, so should be worth the asking price for someone who has a specific need for this kind of car. However, that’s an unusual and specific kind of buyer, so I’m guessing that the all-or-nothing B-I-N-only approach in this auction may not work.
I think that a lot of Corvette fans would go for a different car because they don’t value the qualities of this particular car enough to pay the $34K asking. For that money you could get into a C2 coupe with modest needs, and that would be my solution to having $34K burning a hole in my pocket.
These are neat looking…….until you sit in them, or, think they handle well. Then the neat looking…….don’t look so neat.
I briefly drove a 60 vette, I’m 35, it was like driving a tractor, I was appalled. But my first love from as far back as I can remember is the C1. Grew up down the street from a guy that lived and breathed vetted he had a bad ass 62 with hardtop red with black twin lemans stripes. I wish I could buy one ……………..
Yeah well welcome to the early 1960’s, nothing in the US drove well or even close to good & if you need to stop or turn, you needed to think about it at least a mile before you had to do it.
People raced these then.. and still do in vintage. How bad can they handle?
The C1s are a 1950 Chevy frame, which has 1937 front end parts. We have two, they handle good enough. One of ours is an old wheel stand gasser, we just freshened it up, stainless valves, an even bigger cam, we about have it ready, converted to the street. They didn’t worry too much about cornering the gas class car.