One of the most sought-after American cars is a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette with a fuel-injected engine.  There are Corvette collectors who will do unspeakable things for a chance to park one in their garage.  Add to that the fact that undiscovered, original versions of this car are almost unheard of at this point.  So, the day after Christmas, up pops this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Wilmington, Massachusetts.  Pictures show a carburetor on the engine, but it has fuel injection badges on the fenders and trunk.  To add to the amazement, the seller has $29,999 as the price in the ad but also mentions the car going to the highest bidder in the description.  Is this a real fuelie garage find emerging after 40 years in hiding?  Is this a scam?  Thanks go to Jamie G. for this holiday gift!

Before we begin the discussion, let’s go over what the ad has to say.  The text is exactly as follows: Non running vintage corvette. Make an offer. We also have old transmissions and random vette parts. Garaged for the last 40 years. NH title. Sold as is. Already multiple inquiries overnight. If you’re serious make an offer and the deal will go to the highest bidder. There’s already a couple over asking.

Sad to say that just isn’t enough information for anyone to make a firm decision on a vehicle of this caliber.  It is enough to entice someone into making a snap decision and take a risk to secure the car.  I am not saying that is the case.  I have no idea.  Many rare cars get sold for pennies on the dollar because the seller doesn’t know what they have on their hands.  Conversely, we have all seen the ads for rusted-out prewar Fords with asking prices that would do a Duesenberg proud.

We have also seen ads where a rare car’s pictures are copied off the internet by an overseas scammer and used to get “deposits” via Cash App, Venmo, or some form of cryptocurrency.  Any investigations as to where the money went lead to a foreign country that considers fraud a part of its GDP as long as it is perpetrated on foreigners.  It makes you long for the days of emails from African princes who need help securing their rightful fortunes.  These scams are rampant, and, to their credit, social media companies do put a lot of effort into stopping them from happening.  Some feel that they could do more, but how do you stop a flood of fraudsters?  Some even have the backing of their home country and asking for extradition is a joke.

If this is a legitimate ad, then this car is quite the prize.  The pictures reveal a nearly complete 1957 Corvette convertible with the required amount of garage dust on it and stacked up junk in the background.  The car is painted Venetian Red, and it was not apparently gifted with a contrasting color in the cove.  Most of the trim is in good shape, save for the rust in the rear bumpers.  Even that is not so far gone as to prevent re-plating.  The cloth top is likely a goner, and there are enough rough areas that the new owner would be in a conundrum.  Would you polish what is there and try to repaint just the problem areas, or just restore the whole car?

The interior also raises questions.  The car appears to be equipped with the optional AM radio.  The seats, however, must have been recovered by the eight-year-old down the street.  We can also see light in the floorboard area.  That, along with the missing shifter, is not a good sign.  There may be even more light or perhaps a reflection a little higher up on the driver’s kick panel.  The driver’s door panel area is hard to decipher.  There just isn’t enough light to make a good identification of anything.  I think I see a knob, an armrest, and a window crank, but am not certain.  What do you see?

Under the hood, it is good to see the missing shifter.  It appears to be lying in one of those paint roller pans you get at Home Depot.  A used one, of course.  The finned aluminum valve covers are there along with the “ram’s horn” manifolds.  What we don’t see is the fuel injection unit.  Chevrolet made 1,040 Corvettes with the fuel injection option.  As it was cutting-edge technology for the time, mechanics who had no clue how to work on them convinced many owners to ditch the unreliable fuel injection unit and slap on a carburetor as God had intended.  Replacement units are available, but not having the original sinks the value of the car.

It would be nice to have some of our resident Corvette enthusiasts go over these pictures.  Like CIA photo analysts, some of our readers can decipher a lot from the jumbled mess we see here.  As for this being a legitimate ad or a scam, we would love to have your opinion on that as well.