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Fire Sale: Burned Corvette Collection for $42K

This listing on craigslist is a punch to the gut: five classic Corvettes for sale, all seemingly burnt in a major garage fire. This is the sort of thing I don’t wish on anyone, and I certainly hope the seller had these cars insured with an agreed-upon value policy. He is selling the Corvettes individually or the whole collection for $42K. The worst part? Some of the descriptions note the restorations were just completed. Find the listing here on craigslist in Allentown, PA.

Thanks to Barn Finds reader Ikey H. for the find. This 1964 Corvette coupe appears to have been a largely complete example before the fire, and looks to remain in stock condition from the outside. The interior looks serviceable as-is, and the seller notes this one is a non-numbers matching example. He is asking $18,000 for the four-speed car, which will need a new windshield.

I believe this is the 1970 convertible model the seller references in the ad, which is claimed to have been fully restored at one point and owned by the seller for 34 years. The Corvette was a four-speed, factory A/C car that looks like it was painted Bridgehampton Blue, or some shade of color close to it. It’s listed for $5K, with extensive front-end damage.

This 1961 Corvette also suffered mightily at the hands of the flames, and is described as a completed frame-off restoration project. The asking price here is $18K, but cheaper options exist: a 1974 body-only example, for $1K; and a 1972 convertible with a numbers-matching 350 that just had its frame restored, for $5,000. Which of these burn victims would you save?

Comments

  1. Avatar Classic Steel

    Sweet and thanks for the laughs this Friday on these maybe parts cars at best after tossing parts in the rubbish bins.

    Why not say all were recently restored with 15 grand paint jobs…

    I am sure they will all buff out after putting new bodies on top of charred remains.

    Good luck with the sale and dream of 42 thousand dollars 💵 😂😂😂😂😂🤣😆

    Like 28
  2. Avatar Mike

    I can only assume he was insured,, so he got paid appraised value,,, and now wants to try to double dip by selling them? No thanks

    Like 30
  3. Avatar Larry Tate

    EIGHTEEN THOUSAND for that ’61? Those cars aren’t the only thing that got smoked…and Cheech thinks he knows how the fire started.

    General comment: I’m not 100% sure what glass-shattering heat does to fiberglass, but I’d bet it ain’t good.

    Like 20
    • Avatar Pat

      Clean titles? Would that be the case after an insurance clAim?

      Like 8
      • Avatar sir mike

        In PA.if these cars were deemed total losses…and that’s where you get the full appraised value from the ins co….the next owner gets an R title.And after a rebuild if you want to reg.it in PA.it can be a horrible ordeal.

        Like 6
      • Avatar CATHOUSE

        If you look at the photo of the rear of the blue convertible you can see that it has NJ plates on it. Easton is very near the PA/NJ border.

        Also turning a wreck back into a road worthy car in PA is quite easy. My current daily driver is a PA R titled vehicle. It was more work fixing the accident damage then it was to get it registered.

        Like 2
  4. Avatar Chasman358

    It’s been said that “Everything is For Sale”.

    Like 3
  5. Avatar Mark M.

    No clean titles after insurance pays you, cars given to insurance for larger check or smaller check, you keep cars and all titles stamped salvage, at least in Connecticut.

    Like 5
    • Avatar Ronald

      In Kentucky also

      Like 2
    • Avatar Srt8

      By clean he means like no coffee cup rings, food stains etc…..

      Like 14
    • Avatar Brian6772

      Indiana and most other do not do anything with the title if the original owner doesn’t have a lien on the vehicle or allow the car to go to insurance sale ! Work in bodyshop for 35 years and purchased many cars over the years straight from car owners .

      Like 1
  6. Avatar socaljoe

    Sorry, but I like my Vettes rare and these are well done……

    Like 50
  7. Avatar PaulG

    I could just see the look on her face when you drag these crispy Vette’s home!
    My wife has always been a pretty good sport, even when a firetruck was parked in the driveway. I wouldn’t attempt this purchase with someone else’s $$$…

    Like 10
  8. Avatar OhU8one2

    I have said this before. I don’t care what you clean up the car’s with, or how far you dismantle the car. You will never get the smell of smoke out of the car. Smoke goes everywhere. Any fabric, foam or insulation. It’s done. I myself will never purchase a Car-B-Que.

    Like 11
    • Avatar Paul

      Yes, I had a ’76 Mercedes 300 D that survived a fire in a body shop. No visible damage but the smokey smell never left completely, returned especially when in rained.
      The engine lost oil pressure down the road and a bearing failed, always wondered what caused that too, it was a well maintained 5 cylinder diesel, supposed to last forever.

      Like 1
  9. Avatar moosie

    Seeing these burnt up Corvettes makes me sad, I wonder how their owner felt. Its enough to make you give up the hobby, hence the sale ? I too think they maybe priced a bit too high all things considered. But good luck with the sale.

    Like 4
  10. Avatar Comet

    I felt badly for the seller/owner, until I read the majority of them come with clean titles???!!! WHAT??? Now I feel badly for the unsuspecting future owners.

    Like 5
    • Avatar moosie

      I took clean title to mean that there was no liens on them and being the actual titles for the cars, where the vehicles vin # matches the paperwork.

      Like 0
  11. Avatar Brian6772

    An Ozone machine will remove the smell if it left in a bagged or tented car long enough, have done on more than one occasion!

    Like 4
  12. Avatar Brian6772

    Indiana and most other do not do anything with the title if the original owner doesn’t have a lien on the vehicle or allow the car to go to insurance sale ! Work in bodyshop for 35 years and purchased many cars over the years straight from car owners .

    Like 1
  13. Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

    Federal DOT regs require any vehicle that has been totaled by an insurance company be titled as a salvage vehicle. So that leave 3 different possibilities:

    1. No insurance, so the titles have never been salvaged. As long as the current owner makes sure the buyer knows the cars have been in a fire, he can legally sell them without obtaining a salvage certificate, because no insurance company has declared them as salvage.

    2. Titles are marked as salvage. He may be advertising them as “Clean titles” because they are in his name and free of liens.

    3. Owner still has the original titles from before the fire. Problem is, all 5 of the VINs have been processed thru the insurance database, and are now on record with the home state as having been salvaged. The owner would have been issued “red” printed salvage titles once he “bought back” the cars. If he sells one of these cars using the original pre-fire titles, the new owner, upon presenting his paperwork to obtain a new title, will be issued his new title with a salvage mark on it.

    I know from first hand experience, having lost 18 collector vehicles, from a 1932 Rolls-Royce, to a 1956 Packard, as a result of 2 separate lightning-induced building fires, the first in 1973, the second in 1996.

    No state will change a title status from salvage to non-salvage, because a title is part of the continuing history of the vehicle. Most states, upon the car either passing state inspection requirements, and/or an inspection by the state authorities, like the state police here in Maryland, will issue a “REBUILT” title and allow the car to be registered and driven. But it will still have the salvage information somewhere on every subsequent title.

    And gone are the days when you could “wash” a title thru a second or third state, or file a lien on the car to get a clean title. All 50 states are now linked together with VIN information and every insurance company MUST supply a list of all the vehicles they declare to be salvage.

    These cars will always bear the scars of the fire, if only in their paperwork.

    Like 5
  14. Avatar John

    Cathouse- I would hope it was harder to fix the car than to register it!

    Like 1
  15. Avatar JagManBill

    I do feel his pain after my own house fire in which we lost a Zink sports racer and Formula Vee, 62 Austin Princess, 57 3.4 Mk1 Jag and 69 E Type. Thats just what was lost. Several other cars and race cars were damaged but not destroyed.
    None of then insured. (would this be a Hagerty moment?)
    Its a sinking (stinking) feeling. Your numb for months. All the cars except the Mk1 and E were scraped. Sold the Mk1 as a parts car (it was far enough away from the heat the fire just got to the interior due to windows down and hot embers floating). The E…well, I had already had the car 35 years at the time of the fire. Although it was burned out, I’ll make it a racer someday…

    Like 2
  16. Avatar C5 Corvette

    ouch!

    Like 0
  17. Avatar TimM

    The pictures hurt my eyes!!! What a shame!! He might get close to 20k if he were to sell parts instead of asking 42k for ashes!!!

    Like 0

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