One of the hard and fast rules of car collecting is that you buy the car not the story. What if the story is a good one and has documentation? If you are looking for a beautiful car with a documented history, then take a look at this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette for sale on eBay in beautiful Miami, Florida. There is proof that this car spent nearly all of its life being pampered under the care of the second owner and his family in California. With a current bid of $50,099, does the story in this case add to the value of the car?
You can’t look at a collectible car and not wonder where it has been all of its life and whose care it was under. With this Corvette, we know. The second owner saw the original 1953 Corvettes when they came out and was “smitten” by the car’s good looks. Vowing to one day own a Corvette despite having been recently married, the fellow saved his pennies until the day fate stepped in.
After finding a job at the General Motors Van Nuys plant, he made friends with the recent buyer of a new Corvette. The original owner obviously purchased the car new and drove it for six months. It was at that point that the car became too much for him. Whether that meant speed or finances is not clear. A “take over the payments” deal was struck and our smitten second owner was behind the wheel of his dream car.
That dream car was used for the first few years on camping trips and outings to the beach and Sequoya. After the arrival of children, the car slid into the life of a daily driver and occasional dates with his wife. The car remained in California throughout its life in the towns of Northridge and Reseda. Sadly, the second owner became ill in 2004 and passed away in 2008. Now the wife of the second owner needs long term care, so the car will now have to have a new home.
This beautiful red Corvette is now in the hands of a Corvette sales and refurbishment outfit in Miami that is handling the car. Arminhott87 is the seller, and we have seen other Corvettes from that seller before on Barn Finds. The seller tells us that they have cleaned the fuel tank, installed a new fuel pump, checked the brakes, and performed other necessary maintenence. The engine and the automatic transmission are advertised as “strong.”
We are also told that everything from the headlights to the gauges in the dash work, with the only exception being the clock. The paint is described as nice, and the interior is given the same description. The picture above makes us think that the interior has been replaced with new carpet and seat upholstery along with a modern set of seat belts. None of this has been addressed in the ad.
The ad does go into detail on some of the part numbers on the car. This is incredibly important information for Corvette collectors, as it allows them to verify which parts are original to the car. It also allows you to ballpark when each part was made by comparing the numbers to those on other cars. The National Corvette Restorers Society is an incredible source for information if you would like to learn more about the intricaces of properly documenting Corvettes. For folks in the market for a car like this, joining the NCRS is money very well spent.
The photos above are from the second owner’s family. There are a few more in the ad that are a window into this car and the family’s life way back then. The only thing that these pictures call into question is the coves. When were they painted a contrasting color? It would also be nice if the purchaser could be granted access to family members to flesh out the car’s story over the years.
So, does the story add value to the car? I would argue that knowing the car has always been a California car adds to the value, as does the continuous documentation of the ownership of the car. After that, it is just a great tale on how the car became a member of the family rather than just transportation. There is a value to that type of story, just not one you can put a dollar figure on.
Would this story motivate you to pay more for this Corvette? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
I care less about the car always being in California, but I would definitely pay more for a car with documented history. To me, that’s worth a premium. Doesn’t hurt that it’s a pretty nice example.
Yeah, that’s a nice story, Admiral Buzzkill here, big deal. 1st, I love the car. To me, it’s what a Corvette is and always was supposed to be. A true 2 seater with an actual trunk. SBC, automatic, didn’t get any better than this. 2nd, however, clean Corvettes are not just California specific, some Corvettes were driven year ’round, but most adorn garage spaces most of the time, so the story, meh, and I hate to quote Rick Harrison, although I think he’s a pretty cool guy for being so rich, “you can’t take a story to the bank”, and the “story” ends with the sale. It’s dear only to the family, who may or may not give a rats rear, but more than likely need to sell to pay dads wonderful healthcare bills. 2 owners from now, nobody will care about the “story”, and this car will continue to reap big rewards for a great many people, just because it was/is such a cool car. A ’57 Corvette, STOCK, screamed America more than any other car. TV shows were made about it, songs written, it was Americas car. Now, it’s just a tool to make money, and that’s enough of that.
I think the story is important or cool. Part of owning a classic car to me is wondering what the previous/original owner was like. It is the history of the car. I love that both my 67 Cougar GT and 69 C10 were bought from original owners. My cougar was bought originally by the aunt of the guy I bought it from. He worked at San Jose Ford back in the 60’s. He was a great guy to talk to and I still give him updates on the car. To me, knowing about the car makes me want to be a better caretaker. Driving along and having a classic song from the 60’s playing is the closest thing to a time machine I can think of.
Tracking the history of a car has become an obsession with many Corvette owners. But unless there is something significant about the history, or it proves it really was a rarer, high horse car, I don’t see much added value in a car’s history.
Personally I’d be real careful about buying this car. The engine compartment’s been treated to a quick engine orange and black rattle can “restoration”. From the painted door hardware and other things I see in the pictures, the exterior looks like it just got a quick resale red paint job.
56-57’s may be the prettiest year Corvette of all, and this could be a nice car, but it will require a very close inspection, by someone who knows what they’re looking at, before bidding.
At least it was not presented with some bull$heet “Celebrity-owned” fantasy. Next shout out to NCRS in the write-up.
“nice” shout-out to NCRS. Thanks! The best $50 a Corvette owner, or potential owner will ever spend. They take a lot of flak sometimes, but I have been a member since 1989 and 3 of the 4 Corvettes I have owned were purchased from the NCRS classified ads. All 3 were exactly as described whether good, bad, or ugly.
While the 57 has a very good history, still there are many issues that need to be address. Paint has been changed, wrong color red! interior looks new, washer jar missing, radio shielding missing, plug shielding missing, fresh air tube missing, generator is a 59, four exhaust? There are more but!!! The price is very high for a power glide car, buyer be aware. Roy
One of the very few I’ve seen without whitewalls. This and models following wore the whitewalls well. Personally, I like the whitewalls on them.
Nothing beats a two owner 58 corvette fuelie, yup only year with most chrome…oh, plus both tops!
Wasn’t this car recently featured ? It looks very familiar and the quote about the 4 exhaust tips was also mentioned before . ????
Correction, distributor is 59,. also, wrong A/C & cross flags not factory, only F/I cars had them, Price is now over $60,000.00 Hmmmm R
The 56 and 57 Corvettes were the perfect American sports car, just beautiful, imo.
The answer to the question, “Why are you selling this car?” often involves some sort of telling or re-telling of vehicle history as the owner knows it; so judging it, is for the buyer to decide upon – not us.
My Aunt had a ’57’ and it had a story…
But, I am always impressed with the keen eye of someone who spots things missing like Roy Ester did; that represents some effective car knowledge and an even handed commentary. GLWTS
agreed, mid to late C1 – B4 the ducks tail rear.
Poor resto can be gone over, more labourous than being
the beginner yourself, but one way to get into the model. As
usual, close in-person inspections turn the deal 1 way or tother.
This seller is quickly becoming the Peter Kumar of Corvettes. Not in the sense of the cars for sale, but the fact that he keeps digging them up.
I hope the original upholstery didn’t look like that! It’s kinda grotesque. And agree with the rattle- can engine paint comment.
It’s enough to keep me away.