I’m incredibly excited to be presenting this very special 1963 Corvette Coupe as a Barn Finds Exclusive! Reader David F’s father purchased this Split Window Coupe back in 1965 and it’s been with their family ever since. It’s been parked in their barn since 1992 and hasn’t moved since, but the time has come to find a good home for it. You can find this dusty beauty in Tonawanda, New York with just 36k miles and you can message David via the form below!
This Corvette is really is a part of David’s family, he helped clean it as a little kid, remembers going for rides in it and it’s the car that his father taught him how to drive stick in. He shared a couple of photos of the car when he was a child and it sure is an amazing look at the car’s past, plus you have to love that sailer’s outfit! I’m sure it will be difficult to see it go, but their family is hopeful that it will get put back on the road where it belongs.
His dad had plans of getting it back on the street shortly after parking it, but health issues kept him from getting around to working on it and sadly, he passed away without having the chance to drive it again. His family just couldn’t bring themselves to part away with it, but it’s finally time to let it go to a new family.
Under the hood is the original 327 V8, which is paired to a 4-speed. No attempt has been made to start it, but it was driven into the barn in 1992, so there’s a good chance it will run with minimal work. David isn’t sure which version of the 327 this is, but if the air cleaner is any indication, this is the 300 horsepower version. Paired with the 4-speed, it should be a fun machine to drive!
While there’s lots of work to be done here, the car actually looks to be in decent shape. The interior is complete and while it shows some wear, it looks like you could clean it up. It really is a time capsule, and I’m sure it smells a bit musky, but hey it’s a barn find! The original radio is still in place, all the dials and gauges look to be present and in usable condition. David sent over nearly 200 photos, plus a video of the car. If you look closely at the driver’s side door jamb, you can see service stickers from a Texaco showing the mileage into the 1980s. Given the overall condition and the fact that it has been in the family since ’65, there’s little doubt that this Corvette’s mileage is accurate.
Given how desirable these cars are, I think this one is worth every penny! It’s well documented, complete, all original and has been well-loved by one family for most of its life. What more can you ask for? I spoke with David extensively about the car and between himself, his sister and their mother, he’s confident they can answer any questions you might have about the car. You can use the form below to message him and be sure to check out all the photos in the gallery!
- Asking Price: $49,900
- Location: Tonawanda, NY
- Mileage: 36051
- Title Status: Clean
- VIN: 30837s109027
SOLD
List your car here on Barn Finds for only $50!
Didn’t see anything in these pictures that supports the asking price. Looks like everything on this car is going to have to be restored with the door handles a prime example. Show me a dirty Corvette and I’ll show you a disinterested customer.
Seems like a deal, the SKI RIG and New York connection could be scarry. My best to the family.
I don’t know. If it had been my dad’s and I had learned to drive a stick shift in it, I’d move heaven and earth to keep it, but that’s just me
GLWS
Have to agree with this comment. Though in my case it likely would have been a farm tractor, not a Vette.
Wish the family could bring it back and relish it for years to come but doesn’t look like that will happen.
Good luck to the seller.
My first drive was in a Vette as well… a “Chevette.”
Major dittos…………….
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with President Obama…………in a Splittie…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cOLF9k6FAw
Trying again. Look close. See anything on this car that doesn’t need replacing or restoring? Bit too much money for a total body/frame off restoration. Cleaning it up a bit wouldn’t hurt either.
That one has really a lot of wear for a 36,000 mile Vette. I can’t imagine the carpets worn through with that low mileage and lots of other wear.
63 coupes in vg shape were going for $125K+ at Carlisle last week. I think you could get there with this car for <$50K and a metric ton of elbow grease.
This car is great BUT including the buy, it is going to be north of $125K to get this car to Carlisle condition. Best case scenario is breaking even in my professional opinion. I think the resto will exceed 100K.
Again the good news, everything is there. The bad news is everything needs to be replaced, re-plated, repainted, re-chromed, rebuilt, restored……on and on.
Based on some of the visual clues I would guess this one went around the clock once already. She will need lots of work but it’s all there.
Looks like a good start.
Check the frame as this isn’t a California type state for no rust .., check bird cage and numbers on block and carb etc etc.
Just an FYI . The wheels and side pipes are not original. The chrome wire loom and dust covers are missing but repro is available for the usual vette prices.
The engine setting for that time is likely frozen tight. This is the lower horsepower but hey who cares a split window 👍👀
I just had a 40 year sleeping beauty split window vette engine rebuilt professionally for 4400. Including dyno etc.
The slight bore and stock cam got me 349 ponies (9 more ponies if GM dyno was accurate) I am all numbers from carb to master cyl to engine and trans etc. to wire looms etc
My numbers match and they did not deck the block and didn’t grind the numbers off.👍 which I harped about and checked all the time on process😏
I tried five weeks of marvel miracle mystery oil and other items to no avail to break free.
I bet with your labor and misc items outsourced like paint and engine build that you’ll be 65 grand when done .
It’s possible it could free but don’t bank on it.
The thing that catches me is that in the second picture we see it with a 67 hood(shown in later pics off the car). The strange thing is the turn signals have been shaved off and the front bumpers gone in that pis yet they reappear in later pics. How much of the front end was replaced and why?
Good eyeball Shawn on the shaved turn signals! I had interest until you pointed that out.
It may be that just that small area in front of the wheel was replaced with oem stuff. Just something that should be looked at
I didn’t see any evidence of shaved turn signals. Are you referring to the picture of the exhaust bezels in the lower rear panel? The stock exhaust was most likely removed when the side pipes were installed.
ACZ, front turn signals
Every photo I see has them.
@acz.Check out photo #2. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
To me, that picture is so poor I wouldn’t rely on anything I might see or might not see. Too many shadows and out of focus to provide anything concrete.
I’ll eat my shorts if this is a 36K mile car, more like 136K.
I agree, but I don’t want to eat your shorts.
In new York, there is (to my last personal knowledge (cost me a bundle) ) an $8 a day charge for having plates without insurance. Unless this has been insured , there may be a big state lien against this car!!
There was a stunning 63 coupe at Carlisle last week asking $99,000. It was a 340 hp car. Gold on saddle. This car will cost that much to restore. I lived in upstate NY. This is near Buffalo. Tons of snow. Tons of salt. The control arm shots show plenty of rust to me. At least it was inside so the bird cage and windshield top are probably pretty good. These cars do not fare well sitting outside. I keep my 73 silver coupe in garage always.
I agree with Bobhess- clean it and inflatus the tires for 50 large. Those torque thrust mags go way back according to the pics. Good luck to the new owner, the selling price will set the value.
Cheers
GPC
Speaking of those tires on a $50k asking price: I was wondering … are those “run flats?”
I have no interest in spending up to 125K to have a Carlisle worthy car if I had that much to spend. I’m sure there are many car guys that could and would enjoy getting it back on the road with the safety and appearance back where a quality driver should be. Have it to drive not to just look at it.
A lot would depend on the condition of the paint/interior too. If the paint buffs out good and the interior could be brought back with maybe a good cleaning and some carpet you could always source used chrome from swap meets etc. and wind up with a nice driver
Everything is either rusty, corroded or mildewed. Yes the car appears to be straight but to make it into a driver or a 100 point show car, it’s still going to have to be completely disassembled and reassembled with something done to every part of it. It is, after all, a rust belt car, and obviously driven in the Winter a lot. All that salt sitting for all these years, there’s a lot of metal that isn’t there any more. That doesn’t fix itself.
A project….yes. Worth the asking price…..NO.
I would just clean it up get it roadworthy and drive it the way it is.
Craig, Agreed. Love the color combo
i owned and restored a 62 vette, years ago. decided i wanted to become a judge, filled out the paperwork went to my first show to learn. there was a beautiful 58 being judged. the car was immaculate. i helped judge several cars which took a couple of hours, when i got back to the 58, the owner and restorer were in near tears. the judges ripped the car. to them nothing was right. couple of wrong screws here and there brought their ire. i understand whats right and wrong, i did most of the work on mine and spent countless hours searching for oem equipment, but watching the judges work, they were loving the fact they found stuff wrong. never judged again. i like this 63, considering its been sitting nearly 40 years, looks pretty good to me, but to each his own.
Well, the oil change sticker on the door reads 36,051, and the odometer reads 36,051, so unless they had the oil changed somewhere within a mile of where they stored it just before putting it away….. My guess is the odometer doesn’t work, and hasn’t for some time.
Also agree that the front turn signals were shaved off at one time- you can see it in the video and the pic. I would have to see more of the underside- I bet it’s not pretty. All that being said, I think someone will pay the $50,000 or very close to it, and probably quite soon.
It is time to sell I’ve been hearing……..
To much for all there is to do!! The rechroming will cost a small fortune itself!! There isn’t a piece on the car that doesn’t need it!!!
I think 50k is a little high for this car, would like to see more pictures of the frame
you could have 30k in restoration cost if you did the work yourself.
Strange things here. No doubt the carpets are not of a 36K mile ride.
No doubt there have been a few modifications, though appearing to be just that minor. So question is how true of a restoration is possible?
Finally I have now e-mailed these folks three times with no reply. So is the car for sale, not for sale?
I spoke with the owner. He is very polite and reasonable. Just a fella like us trying to sell a car.
I truly would like to buy this car. It’s nice to see all the patina/dirt, but how about pumping up the tires, washing it, and get it into the sunlight for some real shots? The front turn signal issues make me wonder if the front end is clipped. Too many questions for the $50k asking.
The ask seems a bit high to me, but would bet someone will step up and pay.
Immediately contacted the owner as posted when posted…sent 3 contact requests. …nothing…no response….is this ‘click bait’ posted? I am a real buyer for a 63 coupe but is this a real for sale posting?
Could be he’s swamped or in process of selling it to someone. As stated above, someone here has already spoken to him
I know that when I am selling something, and other people phone or email me, I always respond and tell them there is someone ahead of them in the line, and that I’ll get back to them whether the car is sold or not. It is just courtesy.
As for the car, although I would prefer the single back window over the split window coupes, I still think it is over priced, and is a higher mileage car than the reading in the odometer. I put approximately 70,000 miles on a 64 that I sold in 1970, and the interior looked a lot less worn than that.
In addition to the non date matched extras he added, I would also add that my 64, 300 horse Vette had all the options but still only came with the painted valve covers. I installed the cast Corvette valve covers myself, and it is quite possible that the original owner did the same thing.
I know the car is going to find a good home, but I hope that whoever buys the car will carefully check for rust in the critical areas before making the purchase, so that he knows what he is getting into.
Bob