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Gold Survivor: 1966 Corvette Barn Find

gold-survivor-1966-corvette-barn-find

Just because a car is a barn find doesn’t mean that it’s original and unmodified. We have seen a number of barn finds that were restored prior to being parked and some had even underdone the process more than once. Finding a true survivor stashed away is a special event, especially when it’s a 1966 Corvette. This ’66 Corvette was rescued from this barn in 2010 and was awarded its Bloomington Gold Survivor Certificate in 2012. This authentic survivor is now being offered here on eBay.

gold-survivor-1966-corvette-front

After freeing it from its resting place, the new owner went about the task of getting it back on the road. They took great care to make sure they kept everything as original as possible. They rebuilt the original water pump, installed a new battery, had a new exhaust system installed, cleaned and detailed the entire car, and left everything else as found.

gold-survivor-1966-corvette-engine

The 350 horsepower 327 V8 is the original and is now running strong. The odometer currently reads just 46k miles and there is plenty of documentation to prove it. To achieve Gold Survivor status the majority of the vehicle must still be factory original and this one easily achieves this requirement both inside and out.

gold-survivor-1966-corvette-interior

The interior looks fantastic, especially given how damaged the convertible top is. The original top is still on the car and retracts and stows as it should, but it won’t be keeping any of the elements out any time soon. The seller claims all the original gauges, switches, and levers still work as they should and even the radio can put out a tune or two.

gold-survivor-1966-corvette-rear

It’s amazing to see how well this one is preserved, especially the interior. The paint and underside don’t look the best, but you can’t help but appreciate the originality. However, I’m left questioning whether the originality makes it work $60k, especially when you can pick up a driver quality ’66 Vette for nearly $20k less. Do you think the asking price is justified here or is this seller dreaming?

Comments

  1. Avatar jack

    beautiful car for sure but, ( in my experience ) not worth 60,000.00. a small block car and needing numerous items replaced after sitting so long, at best in the 25-40,000 range.. a big block car in the same shape might fetch upwards of 60 but i think thats pushing it. good luck on your sale. i hope you get what youre looking for out of it ! some ome will be happy to have it ! its nice car !!

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  2. Avatar Cameron

    Yeah, I agree with Jack, this could be a beautiful car but in its current state not worth 60k (I assume that’s what you meant as 6M seems a bit steep even to people who have collections of Bugatti’s and F1 cars but I have to say I prefer the 70s air ram fire-birds, much much prettier

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  3. Avatar FRED

    I THINK IT IS A BEAUTIFUL CAR BU I AGREE NOT WORTH 60K. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE IT BUT SINCE I CAN’T I WISH THE BUYER WELL WITH WHATEVER HE OR SHE DOES TO IT.KEEPING IT ORIGINAL IS MY VOTE.

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  4. Avatar braktrcr

    We all agree I think. 60 k is a restored price… Gold status is cool, and certainly valuable, just not 60 valuable in my opinion. Would rather have a big block driver for that kind of money.

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  5. Avatar Seth Karpen

    So what was next to it in the barn?

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  6. Avatar paul

    Ditto, 60 seems high, but this car is very nice, I do like it in silver/ black & I like the small blocks, as they handle better & easier to work on…. It would be a hard choice for me not to throw new paint on this, if this was mine.

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    • Avatar FRED

      PAUL I AM WITH YOU ON THE PAINT BUT WHENEVER I PAINT SOMETHING FOR SOME STRANGE REASON IT ALWAYS COMES OUT BLACK. THE ONLY THINGS I OWN THATAREN’T BLACK IS ALL MY HEAVY EQUIPMENT. KEPT THOSE CAT YELLOW.

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      • Avatar paul

        Fred I owned 1 black car in my life & hated it because 3 hours after I washed it , it looked dirty, hate black, like silver.

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      • Avatar paul

        Lost my head my new project is black & will stay that way because it so original but would prefer it in silver or some other color.

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    • Avatar Glen

      Paul,

      You gotta love big block cars! I guess it is either a love them or hate them relationship. I simply thrive on the thump of a big block car……especially with side pipes. Oh yes, silver is the right choice.

      Just me, (bgblk66@gpcom.net)

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  7. Avatar Jeff

    “Unrestored original cars are by definition much more rare than restored ones” given that statement off the “Bloomington” link above and the fact its a collectable vintage Corvette, 4spd, rare high-hp small block, convertible to boot and earning the certification, I would say the asking price is fair in todays crazy market, 40K would be a real bargain.

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  8. Avatar paul

    Glen for me I am a road racer the big blocks are great but I like a car that handles the twisty’s I also like to get my hands dirty but busting knuckles trying to reach around a big block can be not fun, but I do appreciate them for sure & like you say the side pipes & a big block are great just not me.

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    • Avatar Glen

      Paul,
      The last time I posted anything on here I got beat up a bit but here goes. I do have a survivor silver 66 bgblk coupe with black interior. I drove this car home in October of 1965 and am the original owner. Yes, the sidepipes were on the car too. I filled out the order sheet sometime around the end of July, 1965.

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      • Avatar paul

        People shouldn’t beat up people on here we are all car guys, you like big blocks I like the smalls, no reason to kill each other of this or that & I always like to hear A guy buys a car for keeps. Way back in about 72 a guy I new had a 67 427/396HP he wanted to sell me for $2,900 it was mint & low mileage but I was a kid & couldn’t come up with those $’s so he sold it to Bridgehampton raceway for a pace car. I would write on here what goes through my mind when I think about this but I would be banned from all social media for all time.

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      • Avatar jack

        glen ……. wow.. thats awesome. got to proud that you’ve held it all these years !!! congrats on OWNING FROM DAY ONE, a true classic !!!

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  9. Avatar rancho bella

    I will take a small block every time. A car needs to do many things well besides going straight in a hurry.

    As for this car, how many Corvettes of this style can be purchased for less, in better condition. I couldn’t care less how many awards it has.

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    • Avatar paul

      Still an all original brings a little more to the table for me because nothing is hidden behind fresh paint.

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      • Avatar rancho bella

        tooo true. I do like original as well.

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  10. Avatar seth

    As they say on antique road show, original finish is priceless even if it looks tired, was that car, make sure that it is mechanically safe and enjoy driving it

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  11. Avatar FRED

    PAUL I HAVE A KID IN MY SHOP WHOS JOB IS TO KEEP EVERYTHING LOOKING LIKE IT JUST CAME OUT OF THE SHOWROOM.PLUS MY SON WHO IF HE WANTS TO DRIVE ANYTHING HE HAS TO CLEAN IT BEFORE AND AFTER HE IS DONE DRIVING IT.THIS ONE WOULD BE A TUFF CALL.. I DO LIKE THE COLOR COMBO BUT HAVING TO LOOK AT EVERYDAY WITH THE PAINT LIKE THAT WOULD DRIVE ME CRAZY.I AGREE SMALL BLOCKS ARE BETTER FOR SOME THINGS AND THE ONLY BB I HAVE IS IN MY ’83 EL-CAMINO AND MY ’74 VETTE IS WAITING FOR ONE ONLY BECAUSE I HAVE A 454 IN A SERVICE TRUCK THAT NEEDS TO MUCH WORK TO TO FIX IT ALL SO THAT IS THE DONOR FOR THE VETTE AFTER DIGGING SEASON IS OVER OR IT FALLS APART.

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  12. Avatar Dolphin Member

    There’s a dilemma here, if I’m correct in thinking that someone got a bad rattlecan paint match when they touched up the headlight pods and some of the corners on the body years ago. That and the places where it’s down to the red primer aren’t original, which for me would negate any urge I might have to keep it as-is. I would probably opt to have an original-colour repaint that preserved everything else as-is.

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    • Avatar paul

      Agreed I looked at the picks & this paint is too far gone also the chassis needs to be blasted & powdercoated, this needs a complete restore but kept original.

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  13. Avatar Lester Self

    I would like to have been the one to have found it, but $ 60,000 it’s a true survivor, but? I’m not putting it down by no means, just not 60k to me. In all actuality, it’s worth what someone is willing to give for it. I would like to have the $K for it tho….Enjoy it

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  14. Avatar Notch

    I guess I am really out of touch. I don’t understand why you can’t clean the car! Why not polish the chrome? Why not clean and vacuum the interior. I would think a working solid top would be nice when it gets cold after the cruise night.

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  15. Avatar Josh H.

    I can’t help but love that body style. This makes me think of that country song where the guy follows up on a newspaper ad for an “old chevy” in a barn, and ends up getting a ’66 Corvette for $1000. Always put me in an interesting mood, that tune. Some mix of jealousy and depression.

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  16. Avatar volvotechmikec

    To me, its worth it, a car is only factory once, no bonehead restoration, monkey buisness, just real deal gold certified originality. The car is worth what some lucky sob will pay. Wish I was the sob……..

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  17. Avatar twwokc

    The Gold status sure helps but not that kind of premium.
    If a person restores it now does it lose its Survivor staus with Bloomington?

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  18. Avatar Chris A.

    Now that the car has the Bloomington Gold, how about putting together a CD of everything that was done to bring the car to where it is today with all the detail shown even to the small bits and underneath the car. Then do a full restoration taking pictures all along and bring it back to new with a rebuilt interior, new top and a great silver paint job. The current pictures seem to show 47 year old original bias ply tires that I wouldn’t drive one inch. Mount them on the garage wall and put on modern new wheels and replica tires. As it is now, it doesn’t look like a cleaned up Bloomington survivor as much as a spray can touch up scruffy good restoration candidate.

    Fred, my Dad insisted that I treat the family VW as if it was a Mercedes. I had to keep that car immaculate for a year before I got a license. My daughters are both fussy car and van owners that paid off when they traded in small cars for family vans. Talking with them they surprised me with how few young women can drive sticks. As for me, I have a list of people to call when I want to sell my senior citizen Volvo. Don’t even think of eating in it.

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  19. Avatar Matt

    survivor status is only worth something on a car like this if it still looks decent, which this doesn’t. I’ve tried to rejuvenate enough metallic lacquer paint from this era to know that it’ll never shine again. I’d try to give it a lacquer paint job that would have looked like the factory paint… not a modern 2 stage mirror paint job. After you drove it 5,000 miles, it would be chipped up enough that most people wouldn’t know it wasn’t the original paint :-) The design of these cars assures that the sides will get sandblasted by the tires. Worst part is that you’d also have to keep it out of the sun, or it’d be dull again before you knew it.

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  20. Avatar Matt

    well that one bid up to $32,100…. reserve not met. That was a dealer on a fishing expedition :-) $32,100 is about how I’d peg that one. Survivor status doesn’t mean it’s necessarily valuable. There are hundreds of old Corvettes out there in this condition. Unless they’re a survivor that still looks good, they’re just something waiting to be restored.

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