Whenever you least expect it, trouble is just around the corner. The seller of this very original 1969 Chevrolet Corvette, for sale on eBay in Hutchinson, Kansas, had just purchased this car and was driving it home when trouble struck. A blowout damaged the body after just 10 miles on the road. This was despite the tires looking to be brand new at first glance. Early C3 Corvettes in great condition are getting harder to find, making this calamity all the more heartbreaking. Yet with each disaster comes opportunity. Someone may pick up a great Corvette at a reasonable price. With bidding currently sitting at $12,300 with just two days to go, is this a unique chance for someone to put a nice chrome bumper C3 in their garage? Can it be repaired to the point nobody notices the mishap?
Unfortunately, this can happen to any one of us. We keep hearing that we need to replace tires at regular intervals or disaster will strike. Who can forget all of the stories about a retailer selling tires with date codes that are older than Fred Flintstone and the impending doom from using them? Major factors in this deterioration are oxygen, ultraviolet light, ozone, moisture, and extreme temperatures. Many of us feel protected from these outside influences to an extent due to our cars being garaged and pampered. “I don’t even have 5,000 miles on these tires!” Mileage matters. However, age and exposure are constantly working together to damage your prized possession.
What do you do? I don’t want to drop $1,000 or more on a new set of tires for a car I drive only occasionally. Sadly, I think the car you see here is a cautionary tale for those of us who are too cheap to buy a new set every five years or so. The story is that the seller is someone who purchases Corvettes and flips them on occasion. They were on their way back home with this new purchase and had traveled just 10 miles when it happened. What is missing is how fast they were going. Perhaps they were obeying all traffic laws like a good citizen. Or they may have been doing their best Bandit imitation. We will never know. Regardless of how it happened, the problem was there waiting to strike. Speed just amplifies the damage.
If you ignore the mayhem the tire unleashed, this Corvette is quite a beautiful specimen. The seller tells us that the car runs and drives flawlessly. It is a 350 cubic inch V-8 equipped car with an automatic transmission. There is no mention as to the specific horsepower or even to what level the car is numbers matching. The overall condition is described as very good, and the Fathom Green Metallic paint shows well. There is just something about a Corvette in a dark green. Some variation of this color shows up every few years and invariably doesn’t sell well. It makes you wonder what one of the new mid-engine Corvettes would look like in this color.
The previously mentioned damage is seen in the picture above. According to the seller, a rough estimate for repairing this unsightly mess would be around $1,200. This is from the seller’s preferred bodywork maestro. Since it will take until late July to have the car worked on, the seller has decided to part with the car.
Underneath we see a car that has either been restored or gone through a large amount of cosmetic refurbishment. It is puzzling that the ad doesn’t tell us more about the car. The seller does tell us that it has a Buy It Now price of $32,000. Perhaps this is a cut and paste from an older ad, as no Buy It Now button shows up on eBay. It does state in the ad to contact the owner if you have the cash to purchase the car at that price. Sort of a stealthy way of doing it. Regardless, that is good money for a 1969 coupe without a lot of options. The car presents well, but with Corvettes there are many angles to consider.
Inside we see that the seat covers and the carpet look to be brand new. The rest of the interior, including the green plastic trim also appears to be in great condition. Looking deeper reveals what may be an aftermarket radio with a cassette deck. We can also see that the car comes equipped with the old crank-up windows that now seem to be an endangered species on new cars. Does anyone see any other options for this car?
Under the hood, the engine is cosmetically restored at the very least. I cannot m
ake out the horsepower rating on the air cleaner decal, but this looks to be a low-horsepower model if the painted valve covers are any indication. One interesting note is that the ignition shielding is present and in good shape. Back in the day, you needed this to prevent feedback into your sound system. Infotainment systems and iTunes were way off in the future in 1969. How we survived is unclear.
We are told that the car will sell to the highest bidder, as this is a no-reserve auction. While I wish we knew more about this gorgeous Corvette, winning this auction anywhere near the current bid would be a great way to get into a nice chrome bumper C3. The damage can be fixed, but the fun you could have with this car cannot be understated.
What do you think this damaged Corvette will ultimately sell for? Please drop your guesses in the comments.
$1,200 sounds about right for that repair. A close friend had a similar mishap on his every option 1975 L82 coupe. He has several parts cars on his property. We cut out a piece of a quarter panel. A Corvette shop grafted it in, new paint $900. Beautiful job. Nice driver this Fathom Green 69.
About 40 years ago when I worked at Firestone as a tire buster we had a 74 c3 come in with a Firestone 500 that let loose on the LF fender.Blew half the fender off and damaged the door. It’s a nice car why not fix it? Fathom green is awesome.I’d guess 25k like it is.Gotta look at first though.
It’s beautiful but an automatic stingray seems to be missing the point.
I agree
Sketchy.
What? $32k car and the guy didn’t have $1200 to get the bodywork done?
It’s a comprehensive insurance loss (not collision) so the deductible is likely pretty low. No insurance? No one in their right mind is going to buy it for more than the value of the car less a multiple of what it will cost to get fixed.
body guy “cant work on it until late July so the car is for sale now”
don’t know what to think about this flip. personally I would be fixing prior to sell.
It costs $1200 to get an estimate these days. I’d say that number is low …
Anyone who wants the nusiness would do an estimate for free
I have a 69 in Riverside gold for sale on Craigslist Jersey Shore
Something just doesn’t smell right here. The dealer sold this car with those sketchy tires (date code?) makes one wonder what other shortcuts might have been taken to create this silk purse. The seller is willing to part with his treasure at a loss so one does have to wonder what is hiding just under the surface. That blown tire might have actually saved the seller from much more grief. The next buyer is likely to discover it needs a lot more than just new tires and a little body work.
After the blowout “I of course replaced all four of the dated tires.”
Hindsight is 20/20.
What no one seems to understand is that we air up tired with moist air. This causes the steel belts to rust after heat and centrifugal forces push the water into the steel belts. Nitrogen is the answer if you want to run older tires.
That’s silly. Air contains 78% nitrogen, but hey, it’s your money.
I fill my tires with 80% nitrogen. Is that good enough?
And it sold for 23.1K
I can’t believe the guy didn’t look at the date codes on the tires before he bought the car. That’s one of the first things I do before buying a car. It’s so easy to do and to me is a good indication of how well a car was taken care of. Or maybe he did look and didn’t care because he had no plans to drive it after he got it home. Let the next guy worry about it.
I bought a snow tire from MAVIS Tire and found out later it was already four years old, They wouldn’t take it back. They said something about the date, not being as important as where it was stored and some other excuses. It has a slow leak right now that I have to have checked out.
I was prepared to see a lot more damage than that. This is easily repaired – I would much rather have a fiberglass repair than a rust-repaired rear quarter.
I used to park my ’70 Corvette sideways in the rear of the garage over the winter months and one snowy day my wife was pulling in with her Blazer and slid into the side of the ‘Vette, cracking the right front fender. No biggie, called the insurance company (Hagerty), took it for 2 estimates, and then got it repaired and paint matched and blended – looked perfect.
Tires today and in the last 20 years are GARBAGE, and yes they sit on shelves for years in some cases. I purchased a set for vintage hearse and roughly six months into them the tread separated and destroyed the rear quarter. Quarter easily fixed, skirt and moldings not so. I went back and their bs was I didn’t purchase a road hazard protection policy so have a nice day. When I checked the tires were nearly 5 years old but find a suit that will do anything that won’t cost you 20 times what the car is worth. Anyone remember Firestone 721s? Tires and fuel are an old cars worst problems. Forget that 70k wear warranty crap. I just replaced a set on a Lincoln that the tread peeled off of one and was laying on the floor just sitting. That old saying “look at that good tread”, no longer applies. I recently bought a 40 year old Toyota in excellent condition. My wife loves it. I drove it a mile before I bought it and she says what’s that vibration? I told her the tires are square and need to go before this car goes anywhere but around the driveway. The guy that had the thing had that “treads great” attitude. 4 new tires smooth as glass. If they sit, tires are $×!×.
The tyres on my Land Rover are ten years old, plenty of tread but they’ll soon be gone. I’ll put them on eBay and some mug will buy them….