Here’s a 1961 Chevrolet Corvette that’s said to have been off the road and inside a garage for a very long time, and I’m wondering if what seems like a not-too-serious hit on the driver’s side fender is all it took for a previous owner to lose interest.  We get very little background here, and even though the car needs restoration from what I can tell it looks like a good project, so if you’ve been in the market for a C1 to work on this one’s probably worth a look.  The Corvette is in Manahawkin, New Jersey, and can be found here on eBay, where 42 bids have already taken the price up to $26,300, enough for it to exchange hands once the auction is completed.

We don’t get a whole lot of information about the Chevy’s past, other than it’s been stashed away in a garage for quite some time although no specific period is given.  But the seller does tell us the car is very complete, and other than a cracked fender plus some minor damage on the passenger side quarter and a funky fuel door, the body appears in fairly decent shape for the most part.  The Corvette has been driven over 100k miles and has plenty of imperfections once you begin looking closely, yet overall I’m not spotting too much outside that would cause me to hesitate taking this one on as a winter hobby.

The original motor is said to be still under the hood, which the seller has not attempted to start but he does say it turns over freely.  With the amount of time idle, I’m guessing even if you can get it running a good overhaul would be beneficial, even though paperwork indicates the engine was already rebuilt once by a Chevy dealership back in ’87.  The displacement is listed as 327, but that particular motor didn’t appear until a year later, with 1961 ‘Vettes coming from the factory with a 283 of some sort which this one sure looks like, so I’m guessing that number may be an error.

The inside components are showing wearing and tearing, but the instruments themselves appear surprisingly well-preserved, although whether or not they all remain functional is unknown.  We get several good shots of the car up on a lift which seem to back up the seller’s claim that the frame seems OK, so this one appears to have some solid bones to work with.  Is this 1961 Corvette perhaps the C1 Convertible you’ve been hunting for to take on as a project?