If you have ever wanted a little red Corvette, this is one. However, it is going to take quite a lot of time and money to get it from how it sits to enjoying it. For sale is a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, the last year before the body style change. It has an asking price of $35,000 and is located near Cocoa, Florida. No mileage is listed. Thank you, Patrick, for the submission. You can view the original listing here on Craigslist.
The details listed about the engine are that it is out of the car, needs to be rebuilt, and has 340 horsepower. Considering that was stock, a rebuild could bump that up depending on any enhancements made. It is listed as a four-speed manual car. According to the listing, the frame is solid. There are no photos of that though. There are also no photos of anything engine related, though they say all the parts are there.
Inside, or what is an inside of a convertible car, is a dirty set of seats, dash, and floors. While they would need to be cleaned, they look like they need to be replaced as well. The car needs a full restoration and it looks to have been stored inside to prevent the interior from rotting. Since it is a convertible, it is noted in the listing that it is convertible top only, meaning it does not seem to be a removable hard top.
Parts are something that you should be able to find for a C1 restoration. Since the car is made of fiberglass, luckily you don’t have to worry about body rust. Most of your time and effort will more than likely be spent on the engine and interior. The car does have a clean title. There are probably a lot of questions for the seller that need to be answered before handing over that large amount of money.
A good storyline would be “It was one of the several Corvette’s given to each of the astronauts in the Space Race to beat the Russians’.
Nope. John Glenn jr. never had a ‘Vette given to him. Now as for Wally and the rest… that’s a diff’rent story.
Quick… name the seven Mercury Astronauts. Don’t forget Marty and George’s influence in creating the Corvette Crazies.
Jim Rathman Chevrolet forever!
That’s Rathmann. Couldn’t correct fast enough.
Could do it in my sleep: Gordo, Gus, Scott, Alan, John, Deke & Wally!
Even though GM built more than 10,000 Corvettes in the 1962 model year, I continue to be amazed at the number of unrestored ’62s (and other C1s) that continue to emerge from long term storage.
Park 10,000 in the same area. That one hell of a lot of cars.
I just saw a fully restored ’62 for $54K. Buying the restored one would be much cheaper.
Way overpriced.
Having restored two vehicles, Chillymost is correct, cheaper to buy restored one. Unless you are retired and restoration is what you live for, you have to factor in, what is your time worth to you?
Unless you don’t mind always being upside down in ever car you tackle.
And the pure joy of getting another Vette at Cars and Coffee, then ok.
You risk running out of money and enthusiasm and see the car back on some site for sale at potential loss.
I agree 100,000.00 dollars. It’s a loser for the first time rebuilder.
I love to hear that Corvettes are unrustable.. The frame, dog legs section , bird cage, metal under the front nose area that hold the hidden headlights, The body mounts,,, on and on.. these babies can get rust…
It’s like stating a DeLorean is all stainless and cant rust.. when the frames were notorious to rust under the ceramic frame area…
Fastest solution in my mind (discounting a ridiculously high price for the condition it’s in) is something like a RodShop frame, C4 suspension, a LS, Tremec 6 speed. You could drive the guts out of it, spend time properly restoring the originals then slide them back in when desired. Should be able to do it all with literally no modifications to the car as it stands.
You can’t judge all Corvettes the same. If this is a factory 340 horse car with matching numbers it is worth a premium over other lesser cars that are not matching numbers.
Put it back the motor back in it clean and polish and be done a nice little driver. oh wait that would be unheard of for a car like this.
Yep
I guess I get to say it first. Why do sellers of a cars like this , market it so poorly, do they just think buyers are going to fall over themselves to get it, even though, they have done such a poor presentation, of the actual condition of the car.
Joe, I agree with you! My son and I sell things like vintage, rare motorcycles on Bring a Trailer. We cleanup the bikes and take many pictures, including showing the flaws. This Vette is high risk especially without critical photos. Buyer beware is not any way to pull $35 K at all. First time buyers need to do research. I suggest they find in independent person to put eyes on it all over.
For this seemingly low price…I would still need (1) more photos and (2) more description…at least. ’62’s were/are my fav ‘Vettes
We are freshening up my red 62 FI car. I’ve kept it inside since 1973, the seats looked just like this but the foam is as hard as styrofoam. I often wonder how many people who think these stored cars from the 60’s and 70’s have seats like mine. Look fine until you sit on them and they crumble into powder internally.
Yeah, I just replaced my 1969 Camero powderd seat cushions. I’m now remembering how crappy new seats where back then. Feels like a soft rock!