Even the purist have to stop and think about hopping up an old car every once in a while like this ’54 Corvette. Described as a gasser/hot rod, this Corvette is a solid roller with what appears to be original suspension, and no drive-train. Regardless of your preference, this roller is very nice and would make for a great project or restoration for sure. Check it out here on eBay out of Walker, Louisiana.
Stripped to the bones, this engine compartment is ready for a Blue Lightning, or perhaps something a little more hot rod oriented? A 3×2 Hemi would be cool, so would a 3×2 327. Throw some Offenhauser parts in the mix and see where it goes! Still the idea of a big triple carb Blue Lightning with a stick shift sounds like fun to me.
A few odds and ends sit in the cockpit, but there is no interior to speak of. The steering column is included with the car, along with a pair of headlights with buckets, and a rear axle housing. The dash is in fair shape with no apparent cracks or breaks.
Despite some chipping paint, this C1 looks very solid with no major body damage to report. There looks like there may be a minor crack near the trunk, but it is difficult to tell from the images. All of the fenders look good, and the door alignment and hood alignment also appear quite reasonable. The seller is offering side windows and a hardtop to the winner of the auction, so throw your hat into the ring and tell me what you would do with this Corvette!
Well I will be the first to say it- throw the drivetrain and interior in from the wrecked ZR1, maybe leave it white and add some orange stripes, and you would have a beast that spans almost the entire history of front-engined vettes!
How about an old Iron Duke four popper.? Wouldn’t that be about the same HP anyway and it would be cheap to get, plus any high power engine is going to stress the frame and the handling would be poor. It would be fun to see peoples faces when the hood was opened on a pristine restored car. Being the sadist that I am, if I were to ever win the Poweball I think I would restore a Dodge Daytona or Plymouth Superbird, but transplant a slant six under the hood. Of course, I always was a low powered car kind of a guy, in my line of work I see the carnage high HP does to the human body, and it a’int purty, not at all.
That’s the first thing that went through my mind. That would be an awesome car !
There have been later rear quarter panels fitted to the car, so why not build a canyon-cutter style hotrod out of it? For those, like me, who enjoy annoying the purists, drop a Nissan RB26DETT under the hood. Traditionalists could drop a 292 Jimmy (with Wayne Horning head, of course!) between the frame rails.
In any case, it could be a fun project for someone…
@Beatnik Bedouin
CHEVY had the 292…
The Jimmy was either 270 or 302 ….. I had a 3/4Jimmy in my 47 Chev fastback , back in 1958 …. and a 292 Wayne 12 port in the ’49 INDY Car when I had it a few years ago
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-sz-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=sz&p=wayne+chevrolet+indy+car+you+tube#id=3&vid=427e7f52a219e3eb1cac47ca33ce59e3&action=click
I stand (or sit, in this case) corrected, Dave… Can I blame it on a Senior Moment? (cheeky grin)
Both the ’47 Chevy and the Indy Car are pretty damned cool!
You might appreciate this wee tome that has lived in my automotive library for decades (see photo).
Nice to see where this is going! My first thought was an in-period rodder’s solution, a good hopped-up Jimmy. GMC engines, even plain-jane stock ones, were The Trick for making an otherwise-stock 1949-’54 Chevy a more durable car; in Alaska it was pretty common to find one that had gotten its transplant before heading up the Alcan.
that’s a neat item
I still have the March 1954 Popular Mechanics magazine with the 3/4Jimmy article, that was the basis for the motor I built . No Wayne head, it had 3 Carter single barrel carbs with direct linkage and headres, and could easily beat the flathead Mercs and the 265 V8 Chevys.
You’ll probably dig this rail, Dave. Built by the brother of a friend of mine many, many moons ago, I’m told that the car still exists..!
It has good bones for a resto rod project.
Bastardized rear end makes it hotrod material only IMO. There’s a guy in my Corvette Club that took a original 54 body, swapped out the frame and drive train and it’s quite the vehicle. Windows were a bear to get made from what he said.
His is running a 350 and auto, from what he said it’s a bear to keep it cool.
Not my cup of tea here. Hope whoever gets it can make something out of it.
The 56/57 rear quarter treatment must have happened early in its life? What an odd thing to do, I’ve never seen that.
I think this car was running around Rochester NY in the late ’70’s early ’80’s
Body widths must have remained fairly consistent as styling evolved. A young motor-head in my neighborhood grafted a ‘61-62 rear clip to a ‘56-57 front end. That took place in the early sixties…
@BlondeUXB.
Same chassis for those years… basically 1954 passenger car frame
Yup!
And a pal of mine grafted a ’57 front clip on to a ’61 tub… Wa-ay back in the day.. He is still a Corvette restorer in the Phoenix area. I wonder if that car still exists?
Some of you have GOT to be kidding. This is Corvettes roots and you want turn it into a resto-mod? For shame.If this gets turned into anything BUT a stock ’54 Corvette, I’m truly done with the old car hobby. Resto-mod a ’54 Vette,,,what’s wrong with you? Got to leave some things sacred.
Howard, if the body hadn’t had the later rear fenders grafted on, I would also choose a restoration as a first choice…
Yeah, I didn’t even notice that until after the post. I bet you could throw a lot of people with it, “yep, it’s the experimental job that was never produced” Hey, why not with the crazy stories that come through here.
I’ve got a 53 merc flathead on an engine stand and a T5 that would look great in there. I’ve seen enough small bowtie’s put in my beloved Ford’s
I agree with everyone else here Howard.
The originally factor of this car went out
the window when they put the ’57 rear
quarters on it. What I don’t agree with
is the choice of drivelines. For me, a
turbocharged Buick 3800 V-6 mated to
a Tremec 5-speed and an appropriate
rear axle suits me just fine. Add a road
carving suspension and some sticky
tires and you’d have a winner. You can
solve the cooling problems by mounting
double fans behind the grille and ahead
of the radiator provided you have room
to do so. Nice start for someone out
there.
I say it is just a modified stripped out shell of a former 1954 Corvette. It is easy to dream on what you would do with it. Having the cash in your pocket plus the resources is quite another. Ask the guy selling it why he is bailing? Money.
You see many early Corvettes just like it in roughly the same condition. I say if you have the money,desire and medium build stature without a big belly and wish to manhandle an original Chevrolet BelAir with a fiberglass body it is all you.
Be fair warned you are going to have to have deep pockets to replace all the gauges trim and specific pieces that have been sold off already. I would also venture to say when the paint is stripped you will find the secret of why the newer rear was installed. My guess it was slammed in the rear and the crafty body man couldn’t find an original 54 rear clip. No other reason to saw a perfectly good car in half. I would hate to imagine finding a rear clip although I do know where a correct 6 cyl. Corvette motor is. Forget it. Motor alone wouldn’t make it anymore desirable in my opinion with everything else left to task.
Get a late model wrecked Vette or at least one in the last 20 or so years and swap the 1/2 of a 54 body over to the newer chassis. As another said you will have both a unique and fun car that won’t handle like a 54-62. You will have the same look and it would still be a Corvette.
Blue Lightening?
And not one person has called that out, really?
😆😂🤣
Flame on!
Buick nailhead, muncie, straight axle—done. If you do more than that, your nuts. anyone can restore a car , but it takes a real man to cut one up
Either ‘Rat Rod’ it or put it away in your garage for another 50 or 60 years and make a few hundred $$$’s on it.
To me from all the many stripped to bare fiberglass 53-54 Corvettes I’ve seen , I’ve always noticed that the taillight area looks to be added on. BLUE FLAME 6 with a bolt of LIGHTNING.
Too nose heavy Morely. The V-6 driveline
I mentioned has the right power to weight
ratio compatible to the car. Just my .02
cents! Gotta get a battery for Mom’s Buick. Wait, what?….$190!!! WTF!!!
If you serious about the battery Ken – locally the druggy’s hobby is jumping over the garden wall and borrowing the battery from my Nissan Almera. He forgot to return it 3 times already. I did not realize how easy it is to open the hood on a locked car.
But the real arguments appeared when I bought a battery for the 150 Vespa – and later the 900 Honda – the nice lady behind the sales counter could not explain to me why size does not matter?
Wait till you start buying all those EV batteries Ken.
I say an lt1 350 69 or 70, with a 4 speed, keep it simple, thats monster enough. Then do something with steering box, my 61 was a lot of work to drive, driving in a strait line was difficult, not to mention stopping , so upgrade the brakes. The rear view morror on the dashboard was the coolest thing ever, the big black wheel and speedo was really something. I like how Sidney thinks.
My uncle was into GMC’s….here’s one of his Bonneville car’s with that Howard head….motor went to a rowdy round dirt guy……went 182 mph the last year in 1956
Buyer beware to many 54s from walker la.
Every single project Corvette that I sell on eBay (including this one) end up here on barn finds. And I think it’s cool that people share them.
But EVERY single time you make some negative comment regarding “too many Corvettes from Walker”.
What’s your deal Bob ?
I buy and sell corvettes all day, every day. I chase them day and night and go all over the country buying them.
yeah 433jeff I was thinking 283 4 speed and run the hell out of it. Good luck to the new owner,
Cheers
GPC
Forget it.