We would have loved to been the ones to pull the car cover from this 1962 Chevrolet Corvette. This car has obviously been parked in the seller’s garage for more than a few years and has collected its fair share of dust. The car looks to be in good condition and should look amazing after a good cleaning. The seller is vague about the condition of the car, but the exterior looks great. If you’re in the market for a solid C1 Corvette, this one can be found here on eBay with a BIN of $41,200 and bidding at $20,000.
The seller’s photos aren’t the best, but from what we can tell, the car looks to be in good shape. Someone obviously took good care of this car, but they installed a few aftermarket accessories, such as the wood grain steering wheel and different rims. The seller has the original hubcaps, so we would try to find an original style steering wheel and switch it and the wheels.
This Corvette’s original numbers matching 327 V8 is out of the car, but is still with it and is included in the sale. The 1962 Corvette was the fastest of the first generation Corvettes, due to the amount of horsepower the 327 was capable of producing. The seller claims this car’s original engine is the 340 hp unit. The original engine looks rusty, but should be salvageable. It appears there are parts scattered all over the seller’s garage, so hopefully most of the engine’s internals are still with it. The car currently has a 1966 Nova SS 327 installed, but the seller doesn’t say what condition it is in.
The seller’s asking price seems a bit high to us, especially given that the original engine is going to need a rebuild. If the car is clean and the engine is the only work it needs, then it might be a good deal. It’s hard to tell the exact condition of the car from the seller’s photos, so we would be sure to make the trip to Cincinnati, Ohio to give it an inspection. If anyone is in the Cincinnati area and can go check it out, we would love to hear what kind of condition the car really is in.
The ’62s had some unique features that make them desirable, like the ducktail rear end (also shared with the ’61s) and a black grille, which could be confirmed on this car if there was a photo of the front, but there isn’t…..
A bit of a mongrel—non-original engine, wheels, steering wheel, and likely more. There’s no photo of the engine bay or underside. Does the car run with the current engine? Lots of things to clarify.
If you want it but think the price is too high, go look at it, determine what’s included (e.g., it doesn’t look like there’s a crankshaft or pistons in that rusty block in one of the photos; are there any heads or other engine parts?; does the engine casting # match the VIN of the car?, etc). See what the engine bay looks like, Then you can make a cash offer based on the facts. Money talks, and Ohio is hurting economically, so he might take it, especially if it doesn’t sell on eBay. Best plan: bring a NCRS member along too.
Nice, Corvette, desirable year and engine trans combo. Good color, Steering wheel and wheels easy to replace. Getting towards to money with engine work costs today. Don’t know what else it needs. Wish I had the bucks. Seller also lists fully restored desirably optioned TA for bin price of 63 g’s. So don’t go seeking a bargain.
I loved the slotted mags. You don’t see those everyday.
It needs everything except a lot of body work. It is worth 30k tops. If you just want to just make it a good correct driver it will cost at least 20k to do it.
By today’s standards, the steering is heavy with the stock wheel. Can’t imagine what it’s like with a smaller wheel. IMHO, you need the larger wheel’s leverage.
Will be interesting to see where it goes?
No shots of the engine.
My dad and I drove his 62 from Los Angeles to Tulsa in the summer of 1975.
I thought it would get lots of attention, but it was just an old car.
In 84, I drove it back to Los Angeles. In just those few years it had become desirable. The first time I stopped for gas, I got my first offer!
I’ve never understood the idea of not removing the car cover. Are we supposed to think “this guy is really lazy, hence, the car is unfinished” or “this guy is so busy, probably curing cancer that he doesn’t have time to completly remove the cover.”?
Bob mentions a problem I would have owning this car. The looks and stance would be great, but the driving dynamics would be…let’s say, less than optimal for me.
I read a long time ago that these C1s were built on the Chevy sedan chassis of the day, and without power steering the steering is both slow and heavy. I drove a friend’s ’62 just like this one when it was new and I could not believe how slow and heavy the steering was. Admittedly, I was used to small sports cars like MGs and Healeys, but by any standard the handling wasn’t nimble. He only drag raced it in the stock class, but I thought at the time that there was no way I could enjoy racing this car on a road circuit.
Driving a car like this makes you realize why cars today can weigh more than this Corvette and yet drive like they weigh a lot less: it’s the power steering.
“but I thought at the time that there was no way I could enjoy racing this car on a road circuit.”
There’s a great Shelby quote which is something like “If you can drive one of these, you can drive anything.”
But they did use to road race them with success.
At LeMans in 1960, Fitch was actually gaining on the other cars in the rain.
I’ve always thought it took big ones to race one of these at LeMans, at night, in the rain…
Here’s a video I took of John “Bat” Masterson crashing his 57 at Riverside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRmvF7wSouw
I asked him about it later, because I’ve had mine just take off to the inside of the turn. He said he doesn’t know why they do that, they just do.
Bob,
After I sent my last comment I realized that I should have added that I am not a Charles Atlas type, altho it was probably obvious. I guess that’s why I stuck to small sports cars. And we can certainly agree that it took ‘big ones’ to race one of these at Le mans, at night, in the rain.
Thanks for the link to your video—I had not seen it before.
Stock steering wheel: There’s 62 I see at local show. The owner has the too typical American gut. I’d love to see how he fits that behind the wheel!
Handling: You’ve go to realize that this is basically a shortened 52 (maybe even 50) Chevy chassis.
If you were driving a 50 Chevy would you attempt to keep up with cars in the twisties? Or would you just get into a “cruise” mode?
If you’re in a cruise mode, these are fine.
I was once on the inside lane on a ramp connecting one fwy to another. I thought I was taking the corner pretty fast in our 62….until I got passed by a woman in a Toyota putting on her lipstick!