For many, a vintage Corvette is a tale of love and sacrifice. Their long-burning desire to own an older Corvette is matched only by the sacrifices they make to acquire and restore the car of their dreams.  Once the vehicle is acquired, many long hours are spent working to pay the cost of parts or in the garage making the old parts factory perfect.  It is a shame that we often feature Corvettes which are a good way along in the restoration process, yet have to be put on the market for whatever reason.  One such case is this 1960 Chevrolet Corvette for sale on eBay in Walker, Louisiana.  This Corvette is at the tail end of its journey to being fully restored and comes with a plethora of parts to take it across the finish line.  While bidding is sitting at $30,200, you can purchase this project for a reasonable $35,000 if you Buy It Now.  Do you think that is a fair price?  What do you think it will take financially to finish this convertible sports car?

It is hard not to fall in love with a C1 Corvette.  While overshadowed technologically by the C2, there is something special about a vintage Corvette convertible.  Once you get past the styling and start focusing on other aspects of these cars, perhaps their best feature is the drivetrain.  From 1955 to the end of the line for the C1 in 1962, the combination of the legendary small block V-8, a reliable manual or automatic transmission, and a conventional rear axle makes for a sports car that is both reliable and repairable just about anywhere in North America.  If you want to put miles on a vintage sports car, there is a lot to be said for a C1 Corvette.

Whoever decided to embark upon a great financial adventure with this 1960 Corvette must have been in love with the idea of owning one.  Restoring one of these cars is a challenge to both your skills as a restorer and your ability to finance such a costly endeavor.  It is sad to report that they made a lot of headway before stalling out.  To date, the chassis restoration was completed along with a front disc brake conversion.  They have also ordered a complete upholstery kit in blue from Al Knoch Interiors and a new exhaust system with factory off-road mufflers and all-new hangers.  Also purchased was an Electric Limited wiring harness and a new gasket set for the whole car.

As far as labor is concerned, a lot of costly hours have been spent on the fiberglass body.  It was stripped and primed and nearly all of the bodywork is reported to be completed.  There is no mention as to how long ago this work was completed or exactly what bodywork remains.  Once you get the car painted, the seller tells us that “99% of the trim and stainless are with the car.”  We are also told that “all bumpers are good original cores that will need re-chrome.”  It may be cheaper to just sit on the originals and order reproductions as the price of high-quality re-chroming has become quite ridiculous.

The seller tells us that this is a factory DG code Corvette.  This should mean that the car was equipped with a 283 cubic inch V-8 with a 9.5:1 compression ratio backed by a Powerglide two-speed automatic transmission and fed by a four-barrel carburetor.  It states in the ad that “The complete DG 283 and Powerglide are included with the car (air filter to oil pan with ignition shielding).”  The car currently has a 400 cubic inch small block V-8 resting in the engine bay with a Muncie 660 case four-speed transmission bolted on behind it.  Both will be included in the sale and the seller is flexible about putting the 283 on a pallet or installing it in the car at the buyer’s discretion.  There is no mention of the internal condition of either engine, but we do know that the car does not run or drive.

The seller’s Buy It Now price must be pretty close to the market value of the car if the bidding has already reached $30,200.  While there is a long way to go to get to the finish line of this restoration, a lot of hard work has been done.  If you are looking for a C1 Corvette project to finish your way, this may be worth a look.

How much more money will it take to complete this Corvette?  Would you restore it to as close to factory correct as possible, or would you take liberties with this car if it were yours?  How would you finish this one out?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.