When I first spotted this 1966 Corvette Coupe, I was immediately struck by its overall condition and presentation. However, delving into its backstory made me wonder whether the sale is one of the first signs of a trend that may become common in the future. Why not take a look and see what you think?
Okay, it is time we delve into the backstory of this classic. The seller purchased this 1966 Corvette approximately twelve years ago. Its previous owner performed a cosmetic refresh, with the exterior receiving a professional color change from Mosport Green to its current Tuxedo Black. The work appears to have been performed to a high standard, and the fact it has been garage-kept in a dry climate has allowed it to remain well-preserved and rust-free. So, why is the seller parting with a car that they obviously love? The simple answer is that they need the garage space to accommodate the pending arrival of an Electric Vehicle. I can’t imagine making that decision, which makes me wonder whether this will remain a rare occurrence, or if it might become more prevalent with the rise of the EV. It will be fascinating to gauge your feedback on the subject. The chrome sparkles as magnificently as the paint, the glass is crystal clear, and the wider Rally wheels are a later addition.
This Corvette’s exterior might wear a different paint shade, but the seller confirms its drivetrain is numbers-matching. It features a 327ci V8 that sends 300hp and 360 ft/lbs of torque to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission. Chevrolet offered more potent versions of the ’66 Corvette, but this car’s ability to cover the ¼-mile in 14.7 seconds on its way to 131mph would have satisfied most owners. It appears that the previous owner treated the engine to a rebuild as part of the overall refresh, but the seller rebuilt the original distributor to address some free-play issues. It has been worth the cost and effort because this classic runs and drives perfectly. Given its location and the remaining sunny weather, flying in and driving home could prove irresistible for the new owner.
The previous owner didn’t restrict color changes to the Corvette’s exterior, with the interior Green vinyl making way for Black leather. The impact is dramatic, and the presentation is first-rate. There is no evidence of significant wear or abuse, the gauges look crisp and clean, and the teakwood wheel is free from wear. The factory radio has made way for a radio/cassette player, but the seller includes the original if the buyer wishes to reverse that change.
The sad fact is that not everybody has access to a “Garage Mahal” that can safely and securely house a large number of vehicles, and sacrifices are sometimes necessary to make room for future purchases. EVs are becoming a major player in the automotive world, and that is unlikely to change. The seller listed this 1966 Corvette Coupe here on eBay in Los Altos, California, to make room for a new EV. They set a BIN of $69,000 OBO for this classic, and the Watch List suggests it has piqued the interest of a few people. I don’t doubt that it will find a new home, but I find the idea of parting with a classic of this caliber under these circumstances hard to accept. I’m not sure that I could make the same decision. Do you believe this is a one-off situation, or will it become more common in the future?
I suspect that in 2 or 3 years the seller will be banging their head against a wall. Beautiful Vette at what seems like a reasonable price. in my MHO the tires (at least the front) are a bit large in diameter. To make fiberglass in black look that straight is a talent.
Perhaps they need to make room for their new Porsche Taycan GT EV. 0 to 60 in 2.2 seconds, 1000+ HP, 180 mph track speed. A mere $230K +. I can see where someone with the requisite resources might be interested in an EV.
Jack, spot on about regretting the decision in 2 or 3 years. EVs, even the high end ones, have a very crappy resale value – they depreciate faster than anything else.
I’ll admit I never thought of this, but will now be tempted to ask people driving EVs if there’s an ICE car left in their garage….
The ‘Vette is a touch high for me, as I’d first go back to the original color combo, and that would take some bucks to do right. Mosport Green looked just fine on C2s.
As JACKinNWPA says, there will be major Buyer’s Remorse in time….
I agree, the height just doesn’t quite look right to me. Something looks off but I can’t quite put my finger on it!
That’s about the nuttiest reason I’ve ever heard of for selling off a classic Corvette. If someone wants an EV for whatever unfathomable reason it doesn’t need to be kept garaged, the stupid thing can be kept and charged in your driveway (I know people who do that) and you can leave the garage space for your classic – which will no doubt still be on the road well after the EV is relegated to the scrap heap.
Amen to that !!!!
I made the big mistake on selling my 66 coupe that also was the rare one year color. It was silver when I bought it in 1975 for just shy of 4 grand. It was a 327- 300hp, glide car, PW, P steering, Telescoping teak wheel, P antenna, Black interior. And I painted it 62 corvette rally red. I needed a red Vette. Now, if I had been married then, that car would still be in our possession because my wife loves mid sixties vettes and she can only drive an automatic because of a medical reason. So I sold it in the mid 80’s, more than doubled my money but a far cry from what they are worth today. Yes, looking back I would rather have kept it . :-(
Because of the fire hazard wouldn’t park an EV in an attached garage anyway…
A vintage Corvette burning up in the garage is way more likely than anything burning up.
Changing the mossport green was a huge mistake for value!
I’m guessing practicality is the selling issue here.
DRV, not if the battery on the vette or any ICE engined car is disconnected. Even if you could discon the batteries from an EV car, 1 or more of the ton of lith ion batts could still spontaniously combust, burning up the vehicle as well.
Karma, being the female dog she usually is, will see that within two years the EV will catch fire while parked and burn the garage down.
Hopefully the house will survive. At least the Corvette won’t die in the fire.
How did GM treat the first Corvette, known as the Waldorf Corvette, did they keep it? Nope. They wanted to see what fiberglass did in a fire. They tried to set it on fire several ways. Eventually they put gas on it and lit a match.
I have, sadly, seen what happens to a 1965 Corvette parked inside a garage when it burns down. I’m told it made for a very pretty fire, color wise, but there wasn’t much left of the car by the time they put the fire out.
justpaul , I had that very same thought, about the EV being charged in the garage.
Moosie, that was my thought as well- if this Corvette shared the garage with an ev, the odds are for, not against it meeting its end in a fiery manner. When are people going to learn? I guess not in this lifetime.
I have a 62. It’s in the garage, while our 2 EVs sit outside.
Driving 100-300 miles per year? Selling because he’s not a vintage car guy.
He owns a ’66 Vette, so he pretty obviously is a “vintage car guy”. While I will admit that 59,000 miles is not very many miles for a nearly 60 year old car, it aligns with a lot of Corvettes that one sees listed. I myself have a 2000 that has 31,000 miles on it, and having owned 9 Corvettes, as well as a few other “street sweepers”, I would consider myself a “vintage car guy”. Regarding the car itself, it is definitely a looker, and appears to be in excellent shape. As I have a black Vette, I can appreciate the amount of effort that it takes to keep it looking that good. While I would definitely choose a different tire size for it, and a L76 or L79 horse motor would be be cool, it’s a really nice car.
Probably an investor like many owners of vintage cars…you can’t give the reason for a sale as time to flip the car for profit….the EV story, although it leaves important questions, is better than “time to sell my stocks”.
This car belongs in the hands of someone who will appreciate it.
I’ve seen EV’s parked outside. Plus….they sell extension cords in Los Altos CA.
They take forever to change when using an extension cord. There are a couple of large, 25+ charger, Tesla supercharger stations in my area, they are typically in the outer reaches of dying shopping centers in not the greatest areas. Most times of the day about 2/3 to 3/4 of the spots are full, with a bored looking 30 something sitting inside. The only food options within walking distance are a Taco Bell, a run down grocery store, and some Vietnamese noodle shop. Last time I drove by it was early afternoon and there was some out of their mind homeless person screaming at the top of their lungs about 50 feet away. I wouldn’t go near that place at night.
Most of the new houses don’t have driveways, there have been nearly 1,000 built in my neighbor in the last few years, the only houses that have driveways have them due to constraints of the development size or shape. If you can’t park in the garage, you are on the street or one of the handful of overflow spots within the development. All the houses are zero lot, with the space between housed and the area in front of your door as your only outside space. EV’s are a tough fit especially when they start having kids or need to store things in their garage.
The market for used EV’s is weak, check prices, they might be good for some people, but most of those people have already bought one.
Steve R
When the time comes, that my Hot Rods go outside or worse sold for an eclectic vehicle ,will be the day my desire for the car culture is gone and so am I.
It makes no sense to buy expensive RWL BFGs if you are going to turn the tires around & hide the RWLs. Also, they are only S rated, have old tread design, & are each up to 10 lbs heavier than other makes!
On the cover of an old GM! magazine(i forget what it was called), i remember seeing a pic of a real looking clay(i’m guessing) vette coupe(this gen) with an openable hatchback! I wonder if that would have increased sales. I’m guessing there’s no way to preserve such a, or any, clay model(is there?), but what if that car was fiberglass instead & is hidden away somewhere!
With any luck, selling off CA dry climate classics will become a trend. With the CA 2035 ban on new ICE, fear of total ICE ban might be this seller’s motivation. The supply of classics from the West Coast might be a bonus for the rest of us.
The angst displayed against this owner is laughable. They are free to do as they choose (at least for now). This decision doesn’t necessarily indicate that they are crazy. Perhaps they need to make room for their kid’s new EV Hummer (now that they got their drivers license). Based upon the Los Altos location, if the photos were taken at their residence, then they live on a multi-million dollar property. Los Altos= $$$$$. Perhaps the Corvette was the lowliest vehicle in their garage. Let’s see…Corvette, Lotus or Ferrari…gotta get rid of one…hmmm
Somehow, sitting in a gravel parking lot surrounded by empty fields in Los Altos doesn’t conjure up multi-million-dollar homes to me. Not everyone that has an old Vette is rich.
I’m basing it on the photo where it is parked on grass in front of a substantial house in the background, not the gravel trailhead photos. Median household income in Los Altos is 250 K, median home value is 4.5 M (as of 2020). The seller of this Vette owner can likely afford an extension cord…
Every house in Los Altos, even a shack is several million dollars and has been long before the rise of Silicon Valley drive up prices throughout the Bay Area. Old money tends not to have a garage full of newer luxury cars, that’s more common with someone that cashed in through stock options.
The pictures look like they were taken in the parking lot of one of the many hiking trails that dot the landscape.
Steve R
Mossport green is the best color ever applied on a vette along with the green interior. Can’t believe anyone would do that to a beautiful car.
I agree with the last comment. I wonder why someone would change the outside AND the inside colors.
Agree with both these comments. The correct Mossport green is the most beautiful color and a one-year rare color. Looked at one last year but it did not have the original motor so I passed.
There may be a trend, but not just for the reason stated in the ad. NPR’s The World did a story last week on Kei trucks (mini Japanese Domestic Market trucks) being imported now that many are aged out of the 25 year restrictions. The man interviewed said he couldn’t register his latest purchase in Massachusetts because of “lack of safety features” which had never been an issue before. This story was just after Dream Cruise week here in Detroit. It made me wonder if at some point, older cars and vintage classics may run into this problem as well. What 1960s era cars have shoulder restraints? What, no airbags? I don’t want to think about it.
NPR’s The World did a story last week on Kei trucks (mini Japanese Domestic Market trucks) being imported now that many are aged out of the 25 year restrictions.
My car was in a shop for a new exhaust. The guy has a Daihatsu as a shop truck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S_GHYkfztU
One night the Corvette was on the lift and the Daihatsu was underneath it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ea2_lOw6C8
Don’t panic! The Corvette is going back to its original black.
That is actually a valid question, particularly in California. If those folks get what they want and ban ICE, then owning anything that requires fossil fuels becomes useless. In some macabre way it makes me happy to know that at 75, I will in all likelihood not be around to see where this country is going.
They will repeal the law or make dramatic changes. That’s how California works, they pass a law to help them get donations and good press prior to running for a higher office. Laws like the EV mandate are always set to take effect years down the road when the politicians responsible are no longer in those offices. The future office holders are the ones that have to deal with their predecessors incompetence. California has been down this road before, they had EV mandates in the early-90’s, but were quietly pulled a year or two before they were supposed to take place.
Steve R
California had an ZEV mandate 1990 mandating a certain percentage of manufacturers output be “Zero Emission Vehicles” by the mid-90’s, I think it was 10% by 1995. A few years after Peter, before the date it was supposed to be implemented it was quietly withdrawn, I’d be surprised if this current mandate isn’t significantly changed in a few years too.
Steve R
EV’s aren’t of our time…at least in their current form. Twenty or thirty years from now, maybe…IF the politicians allow things to evolve without all their rules and regulations and quotas.
I just read an article about the price of the “average new car” went from 32K in 2021 to 51K in 2024. It is an crease in “options” in other words what the manufacturer wants to add. I drive a 2003 Jeep Wrangler (190,000 miles), 68 MGB and a 74 MGB/GT V8. I told my wife all I want in a new car is PS, PB, and AC. I don’t care about any thing else.
I will walk before I drive an EV. I suspect that most EV buyers will be walking at some point.
Oh, and I forgot………he’s “Nuts”………
Ironically, many of the commentators here- those that grew up in the 50s through the 80s, including me- won’t be around that much longer (relatively speaking), so get your hatred of advances in transportation technology out while you still walk the earth (where were you when automobiles displaced horses?). Someday, after we are all long gone, historians will look back at these exchanges about ICE vs EV and chuckle: “Wow, people used to put gasoline in cars? Weird.”
Perhaps, perhaps not.
“They’ll get the reins to my horse when they pry them from my cold, dead hands.” 😉
I’m not really a Corvette guy, but these mid year vettes are beautiful. The paint on this car looks amazing.
Just to be clear……the market should drive the EVs. It is getting difficult to justify….Ford is going broke…….those who want them have them and the rest do not want them……let the market make the decisions……
We are not Neanderthals because we do not want to give up ICEs for EVs. Let the tech get there and fine……. but it is not even close. Give me an EV that will cover 300-600 miles, charge in 4 minutes, and continue on my trip and we will talk. plus pull 4000 lbs at the same time. Get me on that can get completely off road like my Jeep as long as I have a full tank or gas and a gerry can….go anywhere.
They can’t and I it is unlikely they will in my lifetime. The historians will ask why did they stop using the ICE…..
BTW can anyone tell me a car design in the last 20 years that actually caused you to stop and look like this design did back in the day. The answer is NO. They all look the same……. ugly! You cant tell a KIA from a BWM unless you look at the badges. No Boss 302, Austin Healey, Avanti, Split window Corvette,65 Mustang! Even a 67 Skylark had looked great. An AMC Matador looks great compared to the car we have today.
MY wife and daughter drive newer cars and they do things well but they have no soul…..
The 2024 Corvette E-Ray?
BF: “this car’s ability to cover the ¼-mile in 14.7 seconds on its way to 131mph would have satisfied most owners.”
Except that real life road tests don’t support such figures. In 1967, R&T tested a ’67 Corvette vert (327/300, 4-speed manual) and got 0-60 in 7.8 seconds and 16.0 seconds at 86.5 mph in the quarter. Top speed was 121 mph.
In 2015, Edmunds’ long-term ’66 Corvette coupe (327/300, 4-speed manual) ran 0-60 in 7.8 seconds and 16.0 seconds in the quarter at 83.5 mph. Virtually identical to R&T’s 48-year-old numbers.
The “signature” computer-generated performance figures cribbed from automobile-catalog.com that crop up here aren’t really accurate for ’60s cars. My guess is the computer model doesn’t correct for the overstated “gross” hp ratings used back then and treats them the same as today’s “net” hp ratings. This results in optimistic performance numbers since the cars aren’t as powerful as the computer model assumes.
All excellent points. I do not doubt that sometime within the next 100 years that they will figure out, but I will bet good money that it won’t be any sooner than that. It quite simply is WAY too early to mandate, or even hope for a quick transition from the ICE to EVs. This is not a political thing, it is reality.
Change original mosport green to black? Extremely questionable judgement.
I can’t think of ant EV that I would get rid of for a beauty like this. sure not a tesla.
I think it had the possibility of becoming a “trend” but the greed of the EV manufacturers, the rising cost of electricity and increasing ownership costs (including depreciation) have pretty much ended it.
When I sold our ’57 Chevy is was the end of a lifetime of interesting cars. I don’t call them classics because during my life I have owned so many old cars. But the cost of maintaining them was exponential and I didn’t want the exposure anymore. Sort of like owning an aircraft but not quite as severe.
So while an electric car was a possibility, $60,000.00 entry fee for unproven technology was too steep, and China showed that a decent one could be built for 1/6 that.
So for now the garage is empty and until the cost of an EV (or hybrid) comes down, the reliability goes up and the ownership metrics make sense.
I have a lifetime of other old stuff to tinker with and my 2004 Forrester Turbo keeps me entertained until then.
This is off topic, sort of, but last week I went to a Walgreens to ship a package. There was a beautiful, yellow 66 small block, with factory aluminum wheels and the license plate RONS C2. The owner walked towards it and I shouted “Hey Ron!” He asked how I knew his name?
I said “your license” I asked him where he got the car worked on? he’d just moved here so I told him about a garage I just found.
He was about my age, 80, and he had quite a bit of trouble getting into the car. he sat in the car, and then put his legs in.
In my 62, I kind of put my right leg into the car, and then sit down and bring my left leg in…I think.
When I was 35, I gave a guy from work a ride home. He was 45 and had a hell of a time getting in and out.
My dad bought the car new. He was 6’4″ and had no trouble getting in or out.
Count me in the “I’d rather invest in a bigger garage than an EV” camp
My daughter just bought an EV and she parks it in the driveway, as her home is a 2 story and the children’s bedrooms are above the garage. I thought there must be an opportunity here for a business in either some sort of fire suppression system that could be installed at a reasonable cost, or alternatively an outdoor shelter for the EV.
Battery-electric vehicles are only .03% likely to ignite, compared to 1.5% for gas-powered vehicles and 3.4% for hybrid vehicles.
Barn Finder conversation, circa 2050:
“Honey, I sure wish that they hadn’t stopped making gasoline. I really want to drive my vette.”
Wife: “Oh, honey- you know that you can’t see or hear and need a wheelchair to get around. Besides, we sold your Corvette ten years ago when we took away your keys. We had to after you tried to drive the barbecue to your doctor’s appointment. Here, have some apple sauce.” 🤪
LOL….unfortunately there is some underlying truth to your comment……most younger people (drivers) don’t have much interest in the older cars…..there will come a time when collector cars outnumber the collectors… and perhaps to the benefit of the remaining collectors,…prices will become very affordable again..
Wishful thinking. There aren’t many people left who have memories of driving around in a Duesenberg as a kid and yet prices are still astronomical. The values of true classics are not going to tank. Old guys were saying that kids weren’t into cars when I was a kid and yet somehow the hobby keeps right on growing!
I’m going to the vintage races at Lime Rock, CT tomorrow. I’d hoped to go in the 62 Vet, but it’s still in the shop. Next year!
I’ve been going with a friend for years, but on Tuesday he told me he’s too old for long drives. 2 hours???
I went one time with a friend and a guy with a Bugatti asked us to help him. I doubt my friend ever touched an engine, so I let him do it and I took the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUbJG03Lq3Q
An American working in Germany used to fly over and he’d spend the night at our house and we’d drive there. But unfortunately, he passed away from the Big C.
Another friend has 4-5 cars but he has fibrosis of the lungs and I doubt he could do the walking.
I think that Barn Finds has found the golden combination to get the maximum clicks and comments on a listing. Either list a several hundred thousand dollar hat, a jet fighter or mention the dreaded EV. I can’t wait until the owner of a famous hat or jet fighter lists it because they need the money to buy an EV. Your server will catch fire.
P.S.- don’t wear your newly acquired hat near the front of the MiG if it’s running.
Extremely disappointed this is being moved for a soulless EV