There is truly nothing like cruising through the countryside on a warm spring day with the top down accompanied by the rumble of a 327. Many people daydream about spending a few hours taking corners at higher-than-normal speeds behind the wheel of a 1963 Corvette Convertible. Many people find themselves buying newer Corvettes to obtain the great handling and V8 power at a price-point that is much more attainable. If you are one of those dreamers, this may be your golden opportunity! This ‘63 327 Convertible was rear-ended in 1965 and has been off the road since, according to the owner’s eBay ad, found here. We recently featured a 1963 split-window coupe that happens to have been owned by the same seller and suffered a similar fate a year earlier, here.
The seller claims that the car retains the original 327 small-block and 3-speed manual transmission. He does supply a poorly-focused image of the engine number in the ad, along with a picture of the frame and trim tags to verify its provenance as a genuine 63 convertible. The pictures in the listing are unfortunately sparse and dimly-lit, and there is no picture of the odometer. The seller does not include the mileage in the listing, but I would think it would be relatively low for being on the road only two years before its accident. I consider this car especially unique (though not necessarily desirable) because of the standard 3-speed instead of a 4-speed.
The good news about this car is that almost all of the components needed to reconstruct this rare find are reproduced. Interior components are available brand new, as are complete fiberglass body panels. The real challenge in selling or buying a car like this is finding the right person to help resurrect it. A project of this scope requires someone who is competent working with fiberglass is absolutely critical- reconstructing a complete, multi-angled surface on a fiberglass body is not something any average-joe can accomplish. Someone with a sizeable catalog of Corvette restoration is absolutely critical in preparing this car for whatever fate it may face.
The accident damage in the rear appears to be pretty severe, with the only picture of the rear just barely showing raw fiberglass threads (or massive amounts of cobwebs) and what appears to be a completely absent rear-end/bumper area. The seller says that the frame is rotted out, but the body appears to be mostly intact aside from the aforementioned accident damage. The damage may make the car a great candidate for a guiltless resto-mod or a well-built track car. With bidding starting at $7,999 and a Buy-It-Now price of $12,000, there is a chance this car may sell for a price that is not too outrageous. What would you do with this unloved ‘vert?
Editor’s Note: James K is a young aspiring journalist and car nut who is still in High School. He reached out to us with a desire to contribute to BF, so we thought we would give him a shot! This is his first post, so be sure to give him a warm welcome to the site!
How many roasted 63 vettes with similar stories can 1 person have. I call BS on this EBay seller.
I think you are right.
You’ve got a better shot of seeing Rex Reed JUNIOR
Love this comment
Great job and keep up the good work. Always great to get younger people in the game.
Total BS. Off the road since 1965??
Not with dual pinstripe wsw tires. They were around in 1970 and 1971…
Good job Jake, I wonder if this is the story the flipper uses on all his junk?
James….who’s jake?
I’m Jake!!! ^^^^
But i’m not a writer :(
Welcome James! Nice write-up! Sounds like a bit of experience in those words.
Full rotisserie restoration project…
I think the rotisserie is broken, It’s only half cooked!
Nicely written James! Welcome aboard!!!
So well composed I though Jesse wrote it! That said why would anyone pay 12 grand for a melted piece of fiberglass?
Rather deal with a burnt rear clip than a burnt firewall, but either way you look at it that isn’t a 12K project midyear.
If you buy it you are sure to get burned .. nyuck nyuck nyuck..
Nicely written James ! Even small additions to your portfolio like this can add up. My son earned a masters in journalism and was so good at it he became a cop ! Best written reports ever.
1) Good job James! I look forward to more contributions from you!
2) I will admit I am an idiot at times. Looking at this vette, I just want to get another frame and upgrade it to replace the rotted one on this one…. replace/upgrade electrical, mechanical…. replace the seats… then roll it as it sits all day long!!! F-glass fibers blowing in the breeze!
Just a big pile of junk. Not worth what he wants for it.
I could wear my smoking jacket as I sit in it and make the noises!
Very articulate BF description James . You have a lot to offer and I anticipate a great future for you . Keep up the good work !
Would you call that a hot or warmed over 327?
Maybe you have to cold-wire to start it.
To: Peter R; This my well be a rotisserie project, but looks to me to have already been on a rotisserie. Good job James.
Welcome aboard, James! Nice job on the write-up, from a former city desk editor. I’m sure I’m not the only one looking forward to more.
Nice report, and that’s from a journalist. I saw this car in the background of the other ad and it just smells like a junk flipper. Let him keep it anothe 40 years.
I don’t think he’s had it for 40 years I think he buys junk and gives a similar story to tug at people’s heartstrings.
Great write up…but now I have a craving for bar-b-que. Can someone pass the sauce?
Something tells me that there is an interesting back story to both these cars. Same year, same color configuration. One owner two nearly identical cars. Street racing? Banged up the convertible 3 spd, wealthy enough to get another one, a split window, 4 spd. If these survived in original condition, this would be a spectacular find, two similar cars one owner, and one a split window. What a waste.
Very nice write up, James. It’s very concise and to the point. I don’t see anything of real value except for maybe the engine and it too would be suspect. This Seller seems to have some sort of money making venture involving charbroiled Corvettes. He must run ads somewhere to seek them out.
I cant see a James. must be my computer missed up. Any way ,I think this vette is a goner. Where did this seller find this stuff and again, blows me away that others would spend that kind of money for a wreck this bad. So Delete repeated word sad these days, Glad I can remember a day when this would not have happened. Please let the carcass RIP.
Oh ,I see now. James is the author. Missed that. Great job and look forward to more of your work.
Good to see James K contributing to Barn Finds, and I hope to see more from him.
I can’t say too much that’s good about this poor Vette. Whether the sale is legit or not, storage in a damp building for decades means that what you get is an engine and 3-speed and maybe some other hard parts plus some tags that you could transplant to another intact Vette that happened to need them. But since they are hard parts, chances are that most ’63 Vettes will already have them unless you find the exact right car that’s missing them….unlikely.
And if you want to move the tags to make another complete car, that brings risk that any serious purchaser of a ’63 Vette would / should detect. Life is too short to bother with this car.
It will buff out.
I have so little time to peruse I usually don’t get a chance to read the intro, go right to the post. I would like to also commend young James on his write up, our daughter writes for a small independent paper in Monterey CA. She is very good, and so are you.
Good job reporting and writing this up, James! Nice to have you here!
Well done James, no pun intended…